We stepped into the room and immediately felt out of place. In this tiny Church on a small island on the coast of Nicaragua, in this room full of 100 people, all of them were wearing white. Every single person in the pew was dressed in white from head to toe. Except for us. We were wearing t-shirts that probably resembled the rainbow. Suddenly, we did not belong. Suddenly we were unworthy.
I imagine this might be what it feels like entering heaven and realizing that in all your righteous deeds, you were never washed clean. In all your servings and musings you never let God wash you white as snow.
How tragic that in this season of Easter we still try to cover ourselves up with righteous deeds? We go to church, we say the prayers, we sing the songs. But where are our hearts?
I don't know about you, but it is impossibly difficult for me to to just let Jesus' blood wash me clean. There are two sides of the spectrum for me. On one side, I work really hard. I do all the right things and I say all the right words. But my heart is a mask and I hide what is truly inside. But in my efforts to cover up my sin, I devise my own white garments, and in their off-set white, hope that no one else will notice.
On the other side, I run. I avoid Jesus. Because I know I'm not worthy and I know I will not measure up. I am afraid He will look at me and declare the words, "Guilty." He will look and see my off-set white garment and know he didn't give it to me. Maybe, though, he will tell me I am not worth a garment of his. What if He says, "You do not belong."
It is true, ALL of my deeds are filthy rags. ALL of my works, good and bad, do not measure up. We will NEVER be righteous in his eyes by our own. Isaiah says it best. "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
A polluted garment. An unclean rag. Something that would have been used to birth a child, or clean the dead. Not just our sins are compared to this, but our righteous deeds. The things we bring to Jesus and say, "Look! Look at what I have done for you! Look at what I have done to advance your kingdom! Look how many times I did my quiet time this week Jesus. Look, do you see how righteous I am?"
Our righteous deeds are worthy of destruction. Our righteous deeds are stained by our sin and our pride. Our righteous deeds are unclean.
We feel defeated then. In our society that tells us to do everything we can to measure up, we fall short. We fail. We are hopeless. We are the ones in that room that think we have done enough, but everyone else is wearing white like snow, and we are wearing our own version of righteousness and it smacks us in the face declaring, we are unworthy.
Romans 3:24-26
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
It takes us back to the cross. It takes us to the feet of Jesus. The only one who was unworthy to face the death that he faced for us. The Only one who is worthy to step into Yahweh's presence. He is the ONLY one. But out of his great love for us, he took the cross. He was beaten unrecognizable. Mocked to humiliation. His garments ripped from his body, only to show us perfect righteousness. He is the only one that ever felt what it truly means to be abandoned. Even then, He did it in love for you.
God's words in Isaiah read, "come now, let us reason together though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow."
Take your off-set white rags off and let Jesus adorn you in garments white as snow. Let his blood wash away all your sins this Easter season. Don't let his death be in vain. Stop trying to make yourself worthy, when it is Jesus that makes you worthy. That tiny Church in Nicaragua gave me a forever picture of what it means to stand before Jesus realizing that my deeds are not enough. But his are, and he covers me.
Rest in this fact alone today that because of his death 2000 years ago, you can live, you are clean. You are white as snow.
I imagine this might be what it feels like entering heaven and realizing that in all your righteous deeds, you were never washed clean. In all your servings and musings you never let God wash you white as snow.
How tragic that in this season of Easter we still try to cover ourselves up with righteous deeds? We go to church, we say the prayers, we sing the songs. But where are our hearts?
I don't know about you, but it is impossibly difficult for me to to just let Jesus' blood wash me clean. There are two sides of the spectrum for me. On one side, I work really hard. I do all the right things and I say all the right words. But my heart is a mask and I hide what is truly inside. But in my efforts to cover up my sin, I devise my own white garments, and in their off-set white, hope that no one else will notice.
On the other side, I run. I avoid Jesus. Because I know I'm not worthy and I know I will not measure up. I am afraid He will look at me and declare the words, "Guilty." He will look and see my off-set white garment and know he didn't give it to me. Maybe, though, he will tell me I am not worth a garment of his. What if He says, "You do not belong."
It is true, ALL of my deeds are filthy rags. ALL of my works, good and bad, do not measure up. We will NEVER be righteous in his eyes by our own. Isaiah says it best. "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
A polluted garment. An unclean rag. Something that would have been used to birth a child, or clean the dead. Not just our sins are compared to this, but our righteous deeds. The things we bring to Jesus and say, "Look! Look at what I have done for you! Look at what I have done to advance your kingdom! Look how many times I did my quiet time this week Jesus. Look, do you see how righteous I am?"
Our righteous deeds are worthy of destruction. Our righteous deeds are stained by our sin and our pride. Our righteous deeds are unclean.
We feel defeated then. In our society that tells us to do everything we can to measure up, we fall short. We fail. We are hopeless. We are the ones in that room that think we have done enough, but everyone else is wearing white like snow, and we are wearing our own version of righteousness and it smacks us in the face declaring, we are unworthy.
Romans 3:24-26
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
It takes us back to the cross. It takes us to the feet of Jesus. The only one who was unworthy to face the death that he faced for us. The Only one who is worthy to step into Yahweh's presence. He is the ONLY one. But out of his great love for us, he took the cross. He was beaten unrecognizable. Mocked to humiliation. His garments ripped from his body, only to show us perfect righteousness. He is the only one that ever felt what it truly means to be abandoned. Even then, He did it in love for you.
God's words in Isaiah read, "come now, let us reason together though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow."
Take your off-set white rags off and let Jesus adorn you in garments white as snow. Let his blood wash away all your sins this Easter season. Don't let his death be in vain. Stop trying to make yourself worthy, when it is Jesus that makes you worthy. That tiny Church in Nicaragua gave me a forever picture of what it means to stand before Jesus realizing that my deeds are not enough. But his are, and he covers me.
Rest in this fact alone today that because of his death 2000 years ago, you can live, you are clean. You are white as snow.
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