By Jon Wren
One Sunday in Texas, when legendary General Sam Houston attended a service at a small country church, he decided to place his faith in Christ. After the service, the pastor and congregation walked with Houston to a nearby creek for his baptism. As the pastor led Houston into the water, the church began to sing a hymn to thank God for his mercy.
After the song, the pastor took Houstonโs confession, then leaned him into the water and back out again, baptizing the general into Christ. As the crowd began to clap and cheer, the pastor proclaimed, โWell, General, now all your sins have been washed away.โ To which Houston replied, โOh Lord, help the fish!โ
Houstonโs response, while mostly in good humor, makes a point. When we place our faith in Christ, our sins donโt just disappear, they go somewhere. To be more specific, our sins go to someone: Jesus Christ. Sin is a deadly serious problem that canโt be ignored or easily written off. It must be dealt with, and Christโs work at the cross is the only way.
At Communion, we have an opportunity to remember the severity of the cost of our sin. Communion shouldnโt make us feel guilty or ashamed; it should remind us that the price of our redemption was not cheap, easy, or painless. It came at a cost only Jesus could pay. The prophet Isaiah described it like this:
But he was piercedย for our transgressions, he was crushedย for our iniquities; the punishmentย that brought us peaceย was on him, and by his woundsย we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and theย Lordย has laid on him the iniquityย of us all (Isaiah 53:5, 6).
Let us remember together that our forgiveness is complete, our hope is secure, and our sins have been paid forโbut only through Jesus Christ.
Jon Wren works with the Office of Civil Rights, addressing the impact of gentrification on school desegregation. He loves history and college football, and he once got a ticket for driving too slow.
Author: Christian Standard
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