But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. – Psalm 130:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 24, 2016): Psalm 129 & 130

North America seems to have been maligned over the past few decades for its Judeo-Christian heritage, but one thing that it has left in us is a willingness to forgive. We seem to freely recognize that none of us are perfect. In most cases we don’t expect perfection. But we do want honesty. We want to know that people can be trusted with the intimate details of our lives. And this might be where our governments have fallen short. They seem to believe that what is needed is to project strength and perfection. And, yes, in the short term there might be some political fallout, but in the long run, the people have proven over and over again that they are willing to  forgive.

I believe that this was Bill Clinton’s biggest mistake. Instead of coming clean with the American people with regard to his sin, he insisted that the world was out to get him and that he had done nothing wrong. We all knew he was lying, and in the end, the Clinton name still suffers from that sin. If Clinton had come forward and simply said “I blew it,” instead of “I never had sex with that woman,” and I ask for forgiveness from my wife and my daughter and the American people, I am convinced that he would have received the forgiveness that he needed. I am not saying that his popularity would not have taken a short and steep decline, but in the end, we all know that we are people desperately in need of grace and forgiveness. We don’t care what you have done in the past. We are concerned with the character that you possess that can carry you into the future - that your mistakes won’t be repeated in an endless cycle. And all of this is a gift given to us by our Judeo-Christian heritage.

The psalmist admits that the people are not perfect. He knows that they stand in need of forgiveness. And he is sure that his God is the author of that forgiveness – that no matter what the sin is that the nation has committed, there will be a way back from the darkness. God will forgive.

Because we are forgiven, we can stand, even in the presence of God. We can serve, not because we are perfect, but because the grace and forgiveness of God has been extended even to us. The Christian ideal has never been a perfect people, it is a forgiven people. Our opponents can rail against us for the sins we have committed, and our response is not that that never happened, but that God has given us the forgiveness that we most desperately needed.

And the need is universal, it is something that we all can understand. Maybe those that criticize our pasts the most are the ones who haven’t received the forgiveness that our God offers to all of his people. But forgiveness is still available for all of us - so that we can stand in his righteousness and serve him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 146