Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor
Gregg DeMey 0:08
Good morning friends and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church and Sunday is coming. It's Friday, March 8, It's the season of Lent and we are walking with Jesus.
Gregg DeMey 0:20
This week we've been focusing on Jesus' practice of confession. "Wait, hold on! Jesus didn't need to confess, did he? He never sinned!" That is so true, IF the definition of confession is admitting to sin or wrongdoing. But, a better or deeper definition of confession is this: simply telling the truth. To put a more Christian spin on it: telling the truth in the presence of God and/or others.
Gregg DeMey 0:51
In the spiritual realm, practicing silence and solitude results in the ability to more honestly reflect on reality, which results in the ability to confess or tell the truth. In the language of the New Testament, there is a word that captures this; it is the Greek word martus, which means witness. Like our English word, martyr, a willingness to tell the truth, even when it hurts and even when you have to sacrifice to tell the truth. Jesus not only told the truth, he bore witness to the truth and Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the martus (the witness) and the martyr to the truth.
Gregg DeMey 1:34
You can see some of these dynamics play out in Luke 19, verses 1 through 9. Jesus confesses his desire and tells a crowd of people what he wants. "Zacchaeus, I want to go to your house today." The crowd also tells the truth (a little less reflective). They basically say, "that guys stinks! Jesus, you're gonna go to the house of a sinner?" That's real. We don't have an explicit confession of sin and repentance from Zacchaeus in Luke 19, but we do get this statement: "right now," says Zacchaeus, "I will give one half of my possessions to the poor." Zacchaeus makes it clear that his priorities have radically changed in the presence of Jesus. His priority has gone from wealth building, to Kingdom building. Giving away half of your stuff on any one day is more than enough to feel sacrificial to anybody, no matter how much money you have. And then Zacchaeus confesses this: "if I have cheated anybody..." And the way he puts it in that sentence, it implies that he has cheated people, "I will pay it back four times over." Zacchaeus is not going to have much left by the time he's done with this exercise. But, he does have Jesus and that is what confession or telling the truth does. When we confess, we may not have lies to hide behind any longer, but we will have Jesus. When we confess we might not have as much power or reputation to shelter ourselves behind, but we will have Jesus. We might not have as much money, but even better, we will have Jesus.
Gregg DeMey 3:18
Will you pray with me? Lord, this morning as I rise, give me Jesus. In the middle of lifes day, give me Jesus. And when I come to die, give me Jesus. Amen.