Is God Standing At Your Window?
Sermon
A little boy was visiting his grandparents on their farm, and was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods but no matter how hard he tried, he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged; he headed back to dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.
Just out of impulse, he let fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to notice his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes."
But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny said he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn't you Johnny?" And then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?"
So Johnny did the dishes.
Later, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."
But Sally smiled and said, "That's all right, because Johnny told me he wanted to help." And she whispered again, "Remember the duck?"
So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed.
After several days of Johnny doing his chores and Sally's, he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came and told Grandma that he'd killed the duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. But I wondered how long you'd let Sally make a slave of you."
It is, of course, a story to illustrate how God treats us. He doesn't generally point out our sins or our problems to us, but when our lives become so uncomfortable that we just can't stand it any longer, he's waiting there to forgive us and to say, "I wondered how long it would take you!"
But just for a moment, let's look at Sally's part in the story. Sally comes across as not a very pleasant child. She's not exactly blackmailing her brother, but she's certainly making capital out of his misfortune, for Johnny didn't really mean to kill the duck. He hadn't hit anything all morning, so it was mostly bad luck that on the one occasion his aim was true, he managed to hit the duck on the head. It could be argued that he shouldn't have been aiming at anything live in case of accidents, but perhaps our sympathy is with him because we've all done something like that on the spur of the moment and come to grief over it. And there are always people waiting to capitalise on our mistakes.
St Paul sees the Pharisees and the other religious rulers as something like Sally. Like Sally, they stick to the letter of the law and see themselves as very upright people, but also like Sally, many of them are pretty unpleasant. They capitalise on the mistakes of others, as Jesus pointed out in his story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the synagogue. The Pharisee made a great show of his prayers and pompously thanked God that he wasn't a sinner like the tax collector, but the tax collector wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven, for he was only too well aware of his shortcomings. Jesus said very clearly that it was the tax collector who was justified - made right with God - not the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14).
St Paul goes even further and tells the Roman Christians that if there was no law, the law couldn't be broken and then those who lived only by the law would have nothing to live for. Paul says that God doesn't really concern himself with how well people stick to the letter of the law, God looks at how people are on the inside, at their hearts. And it's faith which puts people right with God.
Johnny in the story had faith in his Grandmother. He trusted her, and although he clearly thought she might be cross and therefore put off owning up to his misdeeds, in the end his faith in her love and her forgiveness won. He went to her and confessed. And because of that, he experienced not only immense relief through the removal of his guilt, but also the overwhelming love of his Grandma.
Our faith in God must be like that. We've been told by Jesus to call God, "Abba, Daddy", and that means we must trust him intimately. Paul gives examples of people who have been notable for their faith, and chooses Abraham and Sarah. Abraham didn't weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. And God did do what he'd promised. Abraham and Sarah became the ancestors of a whole race of people, the chosen race, despite their great age when God made the promise.
God also did what he'd promised through Jesus. He raised Jesus through death to a new and astounding life and somehow or other was able to use Jesus' death on the cross to forgive all human sins for all time.
We need to have faith in God through Jesus Christ. We need to believe in the forgiveness of sins, and to act as though we believe in it; not to carry a great load of guilt around with us, but to be joyful in Christ despite our many failings and our many mistakes. We need to believe that Jesus Christ is alive and can be experienced, and if that's true for us, then we'll have an astounding new life too, just like him. We'll have a deep inner happiness which can't help bubbling to the surface even though our lives might be difficult. We'll find we can approach God at any time and anywhere, and that we can tell him everything, even those things which cause us deep shame. And we'll find that he kneels down with us and says, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. But I wondered how long you'd let sin and shame make a slave of you."
Faith - belief in and trust in God, and acting on that belief and trust - justifies us, makes us right with God.
I don't know what's in your past. I don't know what problems make you act the way you do. But whatever it is, I want you to know that Jesus Christ was standing at the window, and he saw the whole thing. But because he loves you, he has forgiven you. Maybe he's still wondering how long you'll let shame and guilt make you a slave. The great thing about God is that he not only forgives, but he forgets. So don't worry about tomorrow, for you might miss what God has for you today.
Just out of impulse, he let fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to notice his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes."
But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny said he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn't you Johnny?" And then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?"
So Johnny did the dishes.
Later, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."
But Sally smiled and said, "That's all right, because Johnny told me he wanted to help." And she whispered again, "Remember the duck?"
So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed.
After several days of Johnny doing his chores and Sally's, he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came and told Grandma that he'd killed the duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. But I wondered how long you'd let Sally make a slave of you."
It is, of course, a story to illustrate how God treats us. He doesn't generally point out our sins or our problems to us, but when our lives become so uncomfortable that we just can't stand it any longer, he's waiting there to forgive us and to say, "I wondered how long it would take you!"
But just for a moment, let's look at Sally's part in the story. Sally comes across as not a very pleasant child. She's not exactly blackmailing her brother, but she's certainly making capital out of his misfortune, for Johnny didn't really mean to kill the duck. He hadn't hit anything all morning, so it was mostly bad luck that on the one occasion his aim was true, he managed to hit the duck on the head. It could be argued that he shouldn't have been aiming at anything live in case of accidents, but perhaps our sympathy is with him because we've all done something like that on the spur of the moment and come to grief over it. And there are always people waiting to capitalise on our mistakes.
St Paul sees the Pharisees and the other religious rulers as something like Sally. Like Sally, they stick to the letter of the law and see themselves as very upright people, but also like Sally, many of them are pretty unpleasant. They capitalise on the mistakes of others, as Jesus pointed out in his story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the synagogue. The Pharisee made a great show of his prayers and pompously thanked God that he wasn't a sinner like the tax collector, but the tax collector wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven, for he was only too well aware of his shortcomings. Jesus said very clearly that it was the tax collector who was justified - made right with God - not the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14).
St Paul goes even further and tells the Roman Christians that if there was no law, the law couldn't be broken and then those who lived only by the law would have nothing to live for. Paul says that God doesn't really concern himself with how well people stick to the letter of the law, God looks at how people are on the inside, at their hearts. And it's faith which puts people right with God.
Johnny in the story had faith in his Grandmother. He trusted her, and although he clearly thought she might be cross and therefore put off owning up to his misdeeds, in the end his faith in her love and her forgiveness won. He went to her and confessed. And because of that, he experienced not only immense relief through the removal of his guilt, but also the overwhelming love of his Grandma.
Our faith in God must be like that. We've been told by Jesus to call God, "Abba, Daddy", and that means we must trust him intimately. Paul gives examples of people who have been notable for their faith, and chooses Abraham and Sarah. Abraham didn't weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. And God did do what he'd promised. Abraham and Sarah became the ancestors of a whole race of people, the chosen race, despite their great age when God made the promise.
God also did what he'd promised through Jesus. He raised Jesus through death to a new and astounding life and somehow or other was able to use Jesus' death on the cross to forgive all human sins for all time.
We need to have faith in God through Jesus Christ. We need to believe in the forgiveness of sins, and to act as though we believe in it; not to carry a great load of guilt around with us, but to be joyful in Christ despite our many failings and our many mistakes. We need to believe that Jesus Christ is alive and can be experienced, and if that's true for us, then we'll have an astounding new life too, just like him. We'll have a deep inner happiness which can't help bubbling to the surface even though our lives might be difficult. We'll find we can approach God at any time and anywhere, and that we can tell him everything, even those things which cause us deep shame. And we'll find that he kneels down with us and says, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. But I wondered how long you'd let sin and shame make a slave of you."
Faith - belief in and trust in God, and acting on that belief and trust - justifies us, makes us right with God.
I don't know what's in your past. I don't know what problems make you act the way you do. But whatever it is, I want you to know that Jesus Christ was standing at the window, and he saw the whole thing. But because he loves you, he has forgiven you. Maybe he's still wondering how long you'll let shame and guilt make you a slave. The great thing about God is that he not only forgives, but he forgets. So don't worry about tomorrow, for you might miss what God has for you today.
