Impossible Claims

From the Pulpit – October 18, 2020
Omaha World Herald
Reverend Eric L. Jay

“Impossible Claims”

It doesn’t matter what politician or political party it is, I am always amazed at the absolutely fantastic and absolutely impossible claims made by politicians, and especially in an election year.

Every four years someone else tells us they have finally figured out all the answers to all of our problems. Every four years later, we find out that not only does no one have the perfect political answer to our problems, but we can’t even begin to count the number of problems we have! Though most of the world won’t admit it, we know we are sinners, helpless to help and save ourselves, and we specialize in inventing new problems we can’t solve for ourselves.

Despite the evidence of the nightly news, too many people still insist we can do this on our own. I heard yet again this past week someone say that faith in God “is just a crutch for those who are too weak to deal with the reality of the world.” If I could have spoken to them directly I would have retorted, “Sure looks like the world could use a crutch right about now, wouldn’t you say?” Instead, many turn to a different political position, put their hope in the promise of science, trust more in human reason, or worship some other false idol in Hollywood or on a professional sports team. God levels with us in Proverbs 26:11-12, “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

Jesus said, “It is from within a person’s heart, that evil comes.” Christ’s apostle John said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” There are consequences to living in denial of the fundamental reality of our sinful nature. It causes us to turn a deaf ear to important warnings we might otherwise heed. We are the problem. We can’t be the solution. We cannot save ourselves from ourselves. We can only rely on He who is bigger than we are, He who is truly holy and righteous, He who is perfect in both love and justice and He who has provided both to us in Jesus Christ. “Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” -2 Cor. 5:21.

When we acknowledge our need for a Savior and turn to Jesus as the One True savior of the world, God has promised to forgive us for Christ’s sake and to make us a new creation in Christ Jesus and give us a new heart toward God and toward one another. God’s love and transformative grace found only in Christ Jesus is the only hope humanity has – the only hope we have to be saved from sin and death and to be saved from our own wickedness and evil.