Coming Home

It is no use bringing humanity home to God if we are not at home with God ourselves. If you are dropping over a cliff to rescue someone, you make sure that your harness is securely attached first. That is also true when we rescue people from sin, we need to be aware of our own sinfulness before God.

Jesus once told this story:

'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax colector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, "I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of men, and in particular that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get." The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." This man, I tell you, went home at rights with God;the other did not. For everyone who raises himself up with be humbled, but anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.'(Lk 18:10-14)

When we go into the presence of God to pray and we are not moving with the Spirit, we can always fall back on this prayer; it's our "default" prayer:

"God be merciful to me a sinner."

We can keep saying that prayer until we sense that we are at rights with God. We can sense whether or not we are connecting with other people; it is the same with God.

We are told that people in the world have lost "the sense of sin." Well, we are not going to help them get home to God unless they find it. Here is an easy way to do it:

Everybody has experienced being 'sinned against'. Simply ask them, "Has anybody ever hurt you?" When they tell you about it, you can say, "So they have sinned against you." When they recognise that, then they have found their sense of sin.

Then you can ask, "Have you ever hurt or harmed anyone else?" Listen for the Spirit moving in their hearts. They will come out with a "Yes", though they might need a little help from you. Stay alongside them as they work through the sense of conviction with the Holy Spirit.

When the time is right, tell them that they have also sinned against God because God made and loves that other person. Then you can tell the story of the tax collector, because it is also your story. Encourage them to do the same. You will have started them on the journey home to God.

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