Do you remember being thirteen
years old? It’s a memory most of us would rather forget. It is a
time of awkwardness physically—and socially. Learning to dance at the age
of thirteen will hurt a lot of feet. Learning to deal with the opposite
sex can lead to some lifelong scars.
Unfortunately, doing things you
later regret is something which just does not seem to leave the human
species. With as much fondness as you can muster, think back:
· Was
there ever a moment when you said something completely irreversible?
Something so stupid, so insulting, so prickly that even today you cannot
imagine how those words fell out of your mouth. Then you spent years in
remorse, thinking, “If only I hadn’t said that.”
· Other
times it’s what you didn’t say that makes the difference. You had
the chance to speak the tender words of forgiveness. Your opponent gave
in, and you stood there with nothing to say—giving the strong impression that
you didn’t care about another person in the world.
Both have the same
characteristic: I am unable to change things now. I cannot go back
to that time and place; the person I offended may be dead, or perhaps there is
simply no way to fix what was broken. Unscrambling an egg is difficult.
So you pay the price of
remorse. You go through life with the sadness of having wronged someone
you love, and the frustration of not being able to do anything about it.
It is a heavy price for a careless word.
Know, then, that Christ your Lord
can deal with this. He alone can heal the hurts of long ago. He can
lift the pain you caused, if you will but ask. He alone can reconcile the
irreconcilable, for only He enters the argument having forgiven both of
you. Even those who are dead are within His care.
This is His reconciliation, and
it came at an awful price—the very life of the One who knew no sin.
Reconciliation is always expensive—to the reconciler.
So, as you take this Communion, I
say to you “Rejoice!” Your Lord has paid the price of your remorse;
accept His reconciliation as you accept His body and blood. As you do,
Remember. He is the One who died for you; let Him break the chains of
remorse.