ONE DAY IN YOUR COURTS

From the sparrows perch, it becomes clear that there is a world of difference between the 'courts' of the tabernacle, and the Holy Place where it nests. From it's perspective, sin is a gory detestable business that defies explanation. The unending parade of men, and animals through the gate is punctuated only by the fact that the people come in carrying the lamb on their shoulders only to leave a short time later without the lamb. It is a mystery to the sparrow.  The lamb did nothing to offend the creator, yet it is the one slaughtered upon the smoking altar at the front of the sparrows home. Outside the tabernacle, men have even put out snares for trapping sparrows, that they might be sold as an offering. 

Wouldn't it be easier just to stop sinning? 

From the sparrow's perch it would appear that it is impossible for men to quit sinning. The stench of the courtyard is beyond comprehension as bile, blood, and flesh are cooked in the mid-day sun. 

THIS IS WHAT SIN IS TO GOD.

What I've discovered among those who claim to be Christians, is that there is an unspoken pact not to discuss sin. Don't get me wrong, we're often the first ones to bemoan the woeful condition of the unbelieving masses. Murderers, thieves, child molesters, homosexuals, abortionists, and a host of what we decry as affronts to the heart of God. We make it our job to remind the world of it's deplorable, depraved, and wicked condition. We've become geiger-counters for sin. We are like little children who've been caught with our hand in the cookie jar, only to point out what our sibling did yesterday. 

In my last blog, I hope I proved how stupid this mindset is, especially in light of the fact that there a probably a million things we do everyday that offend the holiness of a HOLY God. Our spiritual geiger-counter would be pegging even when no one else is around. No matter how splendid our religious gown is, no matter how many things we do, there is no way we can avoid the fact that we are naked before the Lord our God. Problem is, we think our rag-tag religious robes cover our shame. Many who call themselves Christians have no real idea of the SIN they've been pardoned of. They are so busy sewing sparrow feathers together, they don't even realize they're still naked before the eyes of God. Suddenly, through the words of Christ, we come face to face with the certain knowledge that the offense isn't outside of us, it is within us. There wouldn't be enough animals to sacrifice to cover our offenses to a HOLY God. Yet, Christianity has become one big animal skin business, chucking out weekly doses of feel good designed to smooth over the fact that very few of us are truly renewed or transformed. From the sparrows perch, it is business as usual. Same courtyard, same stench, different buildings.

I promised you I would explain what God's solution was for our nakedness and shame. You see, there is a notion in the mind of man, that Adam's sin caught God by surprise. IN that one thought you've just robbed God of his omniscience. At best, you've made HIM a bumbling fool, who blindly created this lump of flesh with the naïve hope it would serve him. You've relegated him to being no different than a man or woman wishing to have a child. It negates the fact that the “lamb was slain from the foundation of the earth.” Even in his disappointment, God proclaimed the salvation to come. His promise to the woman was as dear as any husband whose caught his wife in an adulterous affair. You see, even while Eve was Adam's help-meet, she was God's lovely bride. He lovingly formed her from the bone of man, and only after he'd made her, could he pronounce that mankind was “very good.” From this union of woman and man would come death, from the union of God and woman would come life. The promise of pain in birth, is also the promise of life. That salvation wasn't at the cost of countless animals, religious observances, nor the endless bowing to a religious idea. The salvation of man would be the man God intended us to be from the very start. Christ the Son of God, became the atonement, the passover, the sabbath rest, the scapegoat, the redemption and deliverer of all men. That is how the holiness of God is resolved. Outside of man, yet through man. The sin issue becomes a non-issue. In Paul's letter to the Romans, he tries to make it clear how we are saved through the sacrificial work of one man. (Romans 5:19 specifically) From the Sparrows perch, something amazing happens. The unending parade of men and animals ends. The bleating of sheep and goats no longer fills the courts. The lowing of cattle, and the soft call of turtle doves no longer echoes through the tabernacle. The parade of death unto death is over.

In my old age and long walk with the King of Kings, I've come to realize that all the energy I've expended trying to avoid offending God was wasted effort. Through the sacrificial work of Jesus upon the cross, I've stepped into a place of relationship. I don't have to avoid anything, his Holy Spirit leads me now. I know one simple rule and it is all I need to know, if it isn't love, (real love, not lust) then I've missed Him. If I miss him, Jesus is still there to restore me to righteousness. When I am restored, I can join the Sparrow as he flies freely into the presence of God. I can sing joyfully as I embrace the righteousness I could never purchase. Now the tiny sparrow can sing joyfully in my heart as he makes his home in this well worn tabernacle. Sure, it will soon be pulled down, and rolled up, but the presence of the most high will one day restore it to better than new condition.

Sing tiny sparrow, sing.