It matters where you go to church. If you don't believe that, then behold Judas this night. Judas betrayed Jesus. He handed him over to His enemies because he was greedy. He got paid to do it. Judas thought only of Judas and how he might get some money by giving Jesus up to those who wanted to kill him. But how is this different than Peter? Peter was asked if he knew Jesus. He cursed and said, “No way!” Three times Peter denied Christ. How is that different than what Judas did? Both denied Christ. Both betrayed Him. Both let him die. Both turned their backs on Him. And how is that different than us? We deny Christ. By our words and actions we shout to the world that we don't know Him and at the first sign of something more interesting or exciting, we are ready to hand Jesus over and go running after it. The truth is, Judas' sin, Peter's sin, our sin is the same: we have sent our Lord to the cross.
So what is so different or bad about Judas? What causes him to perish? It's where he goes when his sins trouble him. Was Peter sorry for what he did? Sure. He went out and wept. Was Judas sorry for what he did? Sure. He went and gave the money back. But listen carefully. Judas is faced with his sin. He stands horrified at his betrayal of the Lord. So he goes to the church of the Jewish religious leaders. He confesses his sins: “I have betrayed innocent blood!” Their reply? “How is that our problem? What is that to us? See to it yourself. Judas, if you have a problem, if you've sinned, then you fix it. You're on your own. It's all on you, Judas.” But Judas, seeing that he could not get rid of his own sins, despaired and hanged himself. The tragedy of Judas is not what he did. It's the preaching he heard. For when Judas' sins crushed him, there was no one to comfort him. They just left him to his own sins, to despair and to death.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you bring your sins to Christ, His answer is not, “What is that to me?” His answer is, “Your sins are everything to me. They are why I came. They are mine now. Don't worry; I'll take care of them.” Christ comes to be betrayed, to be denied, to be mocked, tortured and sent to the cross to die because we are sinners. Because we are traitors. Deniers. God-haters. But that is why He came! He didn't come to teach us how to deal with our own sins. He didn't come to show us the right way of handling the things we've done wrong. He came to deal with and handle our sins Himself. He came to touch the rotten, wicked, filthy, contaminated, nuclear waste filled sewage of our sins Himself. To die for our sins. To blot out our sins. To rise again and declare our sins dead and buried and you alive in Him! Whatever you have done, your Lord has taken it upon Himself and you are forgiven.
So now live in that forgiveness. Don't avoid your pastor as if he's not about your sins. Bring them to him and say, “I have betrayed innocent blood. I have murdered. Lusted. Coveted. Stolen. Denied God and despised His name and Word.” Whatever it is you have done, confess it and hear not “Hey, that's your problem!” Hear what Jesus says, spoken by your pastor for your comfort. Here in Christ's church, He's all about taking your sins away. So He says, “I forgive you all your sins!” And so I say, “I forgive you ALL your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Happy Lent in the Name of Jesus! Amen.
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