This past Sunday, Pastor Kip spoke from Isaiah 6 and Romans 3. Isaiah's "Here I Am" moment comes after a realization that neither he, nor anyone around him, measures up to God's standard. We often compare ourselves to other people, but they're not the standard. God is perfect, and His standard is perfection. What we sometimes fail to realize is that while it is unreasonable for us to expect perfection in others, it is completely reasonable for God to do so, since He can be, will be, and has always been perfect. As a perfect, holy, just and righteous judge, it is both necessary and fitting that God would pass sentence on sin. Isaiah realizes this and can only respond with fear and repentance, because there's nothing he can do to save himself. The Lord provided a sacrifice for Isaiah's sin, He took away his sin and guilt and pronounced him 'not guilty'. In the same way, Jesus takes the sentence for our sin, our penalty is paid, our guilt is taken away, our sin is covered and atoned for. Death couldn't hold Him because He didn't deserve to die, because He is God and He is perfect. In fact, in John 10:17-18, Jesus says, "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. / No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." When we accept His payment for us, we are made holy and righteous in Him, and death has no hold over us either. At this point in Isaiah's story, God asks, "Who will go?" and Isaiah responds, "Here I am." Isaiah's offer wasn't in order to gain something from God, it was a response to what God had already done for him. Our response, in light of what God has done for us, should be the same - to go and share this good news, to do God's work, for His glory, not because we have to, but because we can.
Also on Sunday, after Kip's message, Aliza Latta shared her story of doing missions work in Africa, a dream that was in her heart from an early age. Sometimes God's call doesn't look the way we expect it to, or come at the time we expect it to, but He will always give us the grace to accomplish what He calls us to, in His timing.
I also wanted to take a moment to address all of the commotion surrounding Toronto mayor Rob Ford's indiscretions, admissions and apologies. On the personal side, we can all identify with having done things that caught up with us later, and while I certainly don't condone Mayor Ford's actions in any way, I hope that by bringing these things into the open he will be able to overcome them and move past this personally, building trust with family, friends and coworkers, and will grow as a result. On the professional side, the political office he holds comes with a higher degree of responsibility and expectation than the average citizen, and so it should. Any leader ought to be modelling what they expect from their followers, and that responsibility only increases the more people that look up to them. A private citizen can make choices, and deal with the consequences. When someone in public office makes choices, everyone around them must deal with the consequences. The lesson that we can learn from this is that no matter who we are, someone in some way is watching us, learning from us, looking up to us. No choice that we make is made in a vacuum, there are always repercussions, good or bad, and they don't just affect us, no matter what people might think. Let's make the right choice, not because we have to, but because we can.
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