Loved (to) Pieces

So my sister invited a friend of hers from our old church to Westside Sauga over the break, someone she knew was open to seeing Westside. Well, 2 of his friends ended up tagging along. Unfortunately, those 3 friends together make exactly one attention lacking 12 year old. My sister was pretty peeved, that those 2 really distracted this one friend from experiencing God fully during service, and really hindered her from speaking to him about her transformation and his spiritual life. That got me pretty ticked too, especially since one of those 2 has been to Westside a bunch, and doesn't like it. Really, it's OK to not like this church. When I first came to Westside, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I thought everyone should be here. But I know now that God has great plans for other places for other people. So people don't have to be here, they don't even need to like it, that's totally cool. But why tag along if you knew you wouldn't like it?!

I look at all of you here and I know each of us has found a home, a family, that we call our own here at Westside Hamilton, but I'm forced to realize now that some people just don't get it. And I thought, well, what makes us different; that people look at us, scratch their heads and say "what's wrong with you people?". The only difference I could come up with is this: that each of us here knows with certainty, knows by experience, and can actually feel every single day, that without God, we are flawed, damaged, and broken. We've all experienced the sort of despair, the sort of pain, the sort of hopelessness that lives far God can bring.

I look back at retreat, at that room of people crying out to God, and I start remembering the stories of brokenness that each of you have shared with this family. Whether it be finances, relationships, family, addictions, failures, sickness; we've been abused, outcast, made fun of, unloved, hurt. Each of us has an area of our lives, past or present, that just won't heal without God.

And that's why Isaiah 53:4-5 are not just verses to us, it's just plain reality. It says

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We don't need to convince ourselves of these words because we know our iniquities are plenty; that even without having to see them through Christian glasses, we know our transgressions are great. But we know most of all that the one reason, the ONLY reason, we are here today, is because Jesus took all of that away; that the punishment due us even in THIS lifetime, He took upon Himself on that cross, that by His wounds, by His scars, we are healed, restored, blessed.

And so, all I wanted to do in this time today, is to thank God. You know what to thank him for in your life. And even if this is your thousandth time thanking him for that one thing He has reconciled, you know he deserves a thousand more.