sin is more than

I gathered at the Communion Table like never seen before. On Sunday, I was faced with the reality of my sin as Pastor Kenny preached on the reality of the cross from the perspective of our sin and the wrath of God.  For a majority of the service I was confronted by my darkness that once separated me from the Light. It is my sin that nailed Christ to the cross, but it is also the cross of Christ that frees me from the bondage of sin. The Gospel is so good! By the end of the service, I had my head in my hands praising a God of grace.

I went home that night and wrote a poem reflecting the passage below:

“And you who were dead in your sins…God made alive together with Him, having forgiven all our sins, but canceling the certificate of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13-14 

 

sin is more than blood and gore

more than neglecting the poor

more than sleeping with a whore

more than being wicked to the core

sin is more than a binge on gin and rum

more than forsaking the lowly bum

more than pretending to be blind, deaf or dumb

more than being compassionately numb

sin is more than committing a vile crime

more than stealing a nickel or dime

more than a mind filled with grime

more than wasting away valuable time

sin is more than one night before the ring

more than an extra-marital fling

more than putting an enemy in a sling

more than having no offering to bring

Sin is slapping a Holy God in the face

defaming the name of His glory and grace

facing a judgement without a case

separating all from His eternal place

 

Sin is recorded on a certificate of debt,

punishable by death; an infinite loss

but Christ has taken the the dirty note

and nailed it to the splintered cross

 

less IS more

less of me

less trash, more treasure

less luxuries, more necessities

less on my looks, more looking to Him

less performance, more praise

less whining, more shining

less wishing, more waiting

less scandalizing, more sacredness

less selfishness, more selflessness

less darkness, more light

less being served, more being served

less fence riding, more boldness

less grudges, more grace

less pity parties, more praying

less duty, more delight

less stalling, more doing

more of GOD

memorial tears

I possess a tear; it is one of many.

Added to oceans of tears in memory.

Looking deep within, reflecting off the surface,

I see what is inside floating, and ponder. 

 

Of all remembrances is the foregoing sin

Causing agony from within to without. 

I deserve the furthest destructive damnation,

In relation to my foolishness and shame.

 

Yet I stumble in and drown in the shadowy depths;

I was miraculously saved and placed upright. 

Breathed in with new life, without strife 

Engrossed in the creation of all that is.

 

Talk of no fairytale in paradise lost,

But obligation to worship and adorn thy name.

Swimming in the vast tears of memory

And gather together the heart of my present being.

 

Am I frozen? Or too cold and unbearable? 

I am compelled to stoke the fire to boil a pleasing aroma.

Professing to confess out to the outstretched arm

Wanting security from the memory of tears.

 

Justin Thomas Hutts

Copyright ©2006 Justin Thomas Hutts  

Psalm 27:14 in a Poem

Wait by Russell Kelfer   Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;  Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.  I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .  And the Master so gently said, “Wait.”  “Wait? you say wait?” my indignant reply.  “Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word.  “My future and all to which I relate  Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?   I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,  Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign.  “You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,  We need but to ask, and we shall receive.  And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry: I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.”  Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,  As my Master replied again, “Wait.”  So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,  And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting for what?”  He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .  and He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.  I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.  I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run. “I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.  You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.  You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint.  You’d not know the power that I give to the faint. “You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair; You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there. You’d not know the joy of resting in Me When darkness and silence are all you can see. “You’d never experience the fullness of love When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove. You would know that I give, and I save, for a start, But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart. “The glow of my comfort late into the night, The faith that I give when you walk without sight. The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask From an infinite God who makes what you have last. “You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee, What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee. Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true, But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I’m doing in you. “So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me. And though oft My answers seem terribly late, My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait.”