It was a full day from beginning to end, Father. Thank You for being with us through our services, our travels, and our time together as a family. Guide a direct us through all of life’s many ups and downs. Amen.
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Readying for today’s services and even preaching through this sermon three times now, I feel compelled to share my closing illustration.
Joni Eareckson Tada, well author, speaker, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization “accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community”, shared a very poignant story on her radio program. It was entitled Taste and See (click the title if you would like to listen to it or read the entire transcript).
My friend, Dan Earl, has a most unusual occupation because he is a beekeeper. Recently my beekeeper friend visited my office…presented me with a gift basket of his bee byproducts – creams, candles, and best of all, his top-selling honey…
…I thought about Dan’s bees recently when I came across a quote by Jonathan Edwards. The old Puritan drew a parallel between honey and Psalm 34:8 where it says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Now Edwards said that one can conclude that honey is honey because it is golden, has a certain viscosity, and has bits of comb in it. When you pour it, it looks like honey – therefore, it must be honey. But Edwards said there is a superior way to know. Put a drop on your tongue, and you’ll see that knowing honey involves much more than understanding facts about it. To truly know honey is to taste and see that it is sweet and delicious and delightful. There’s nothing quite like it!
I thought it was a really cool insight into understanding this passage!
Joni went in a different direction with her thoughts, but the sermon I preached today dealt with forgiveness. And so my application dealt with our need for God’s forgiveness regarding the sin in our lives.
A major contributor to today’s sermon was Rev. Rodney Buchanan, a United Methodist Church elder who has since found his heavenly home. He touched on three lines of thought concerning forgiveness: Universalism – which holds that when all is said and done everyone will be forgiven, Legalism – which places a lot of emphasis on following the rules so that at least in part, we “earn” the forgiveness we receive from God by following all the rules, and Moralism – which has the idea that at least some of us are pretty good people overall and that God will count that in our favor when He forgives.
All of these concepts are wrong. God doesn’t just excuse sin, it’s impossible to keep all the rules, and God does not grade on a curve!
God’s forgiveness is most definitely free, but we must repent of our sins and ask for His forgiveness, which He readily gives. We can’t pay for it, we’re not good enough to really even deserve it, but, well, let these verses proclaim the truth.
But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 AMP
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 NIV
So, my friends, our only hope is to live out Psalm 34:8,
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
Just like honey is best experienced by tasting it, so is the Lord’s goodness to us all! “Taste and see!”
Apr 24th, 2022, Sun, 8:22 pm
