Pastor’s Corner
He breaks the pow’r of canceled sin;
He sets the pris’ner free.
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood avails for me.
— Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing LSB #528, st. 4
In just a few weeks we will begin the season of Lent. This is a solemn time for us Christians. It is not necessarily a time to focus upon ourselves. Practices of self-denial are good for Christians to engage in, especially during the season of Lent, but that does not mean our focus is upon ourselves. I would actually propose Lent is a time to take the focus OFF of ourselves and place it where it truly belongs: Christ.
For forty days we enter a period of repentance, a turning away from our sins, and a re-focusing upon the One who takes those sins away. We especially focus upon the price it took for Jesus to take our sins away. Jesus’ own life was given on a cross for each and every one of our sins.
The stanza at the top of this article reflects something I think all Christians struggle with. We know and believe our sins are forgiven because of that work of Christ on the cross, but we still feel sorry for our sins. Our sins still bother us. We still remember our sins. So, what should we do when we are still sorry for sins, they still bother us, and we still remember them? The answer is simple, we are to take our attention off of ourselves and fix our eyes on Jesus. As the hymn stanza above says, “He breaks the pow’r of canceled sin . . . His blood avails for me.”
We all know Jesus died on a cross to forgive sins. Even a child knows this. In fact, it is so simple we adults can easily forget what we are to do when the “pow’r of canceled sin” rears its head and bothers us. Instead of looking at yourself and your sins, look to Christ. Every time you are bothered by present or past sins, look at what Jesus did for you on the cross so that you can be certain without a shadow of a doubt that your sins really are forgiven; He died for them, every single one of them. Believe me when I say this, you truly are forgiven of all of your sins – every single one of them. You are forgiven, just look at what Jesus did to give you that forgiveness!
Pastor Grimenstein
