Forgiving Father

Jeremiah 3:22a, “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.”

There was some snow on the ground in November and I was helping my grampa chop wood for his stove. He sent me to fetch his hatchet to split some kindling. “It’s on top of the wood pile, behind the fence.” I ran to get it and climbed up the fence. With the hatchet in hand, I jumped down off of the fence. My glove caught and my arm slid down across the metal wire. The metal sliced the back of my wrist and I was bleeding. For some reason that I still don’t understand, I pulled my glove on over my hand and never told anyone that I had been cut.

When we get ourselves into trouble, our first inclination is to hide. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they were ashamed of their sin and also their nakedness and they hid. Jeremiah is recording the conversation that the Lord is having with him regarding the nations of Israel and Judah. Both nations have followed other gods and have disgraced themselves. They have every inclination to hide. Figuratively speaking, they have run away and tried to hide from God. But God does not want them to hide, nor is he seeking revenge and destruction for them. He wants to forgive them and help them to heal. “Return…and I will heal your faithlessness.”

Healing comes from God. The call to Israel is a call to repentance and healing. That healing comes from forgiveness. That’s why we have confession and absolution as a part of each worship time. It’s a time of healing. We have been unfaithful to God. He calls us to return to Him. We know that we can’t heal our own unfaithful hearts, but that doesn’t stop us from trying or from trying to hide it. God knows what is on our hearts. He knows the unfaithfulness and sin that we try to hide. He knows it and still sent His son Jesus to die for it. Jesus died so that you and I don’t have to hide our sin anymore.

My arm still bears the scar of that snowy day. It’s what my Dad once referred to as a “distinguishing characteristic.” Jesus bears the scars for our sin, even still in His hands and feet. His resurrected body bears the marks of the cross. They are one of His distinguishing characteristics.

Father, forgive us for our unfaithfulness. In Jesus’ name, amen.