I woke early on Wednesday and sat down at this same writing desk. I laid my Bible on the wood surface and let it fall open without a particular book, chapter, or verse in mind. The pages spread at Sirach 17. I had penned a circle around the chapter number at some point in the past and since I couldn’t recall the contents of it, I read it through with fresh eyes. God bookended my day-the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday-with “the Lord created man out of earth, and turned him back to it again” (Sirach 17:1) in the morning, and in the evening, ashes pressed in a cross on my forehead accompanied by “remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” Sometimes the Lord speaks more clearly than others.
The first fourteen verses I read through twice, and was tempted to stop there. There’s a comforting reassurance in any description of the Creator’s graciousness toward us His creatures. These verses are no exception and yes, it’d feel lovely to stop there with recounting God’s creation of mankind, a marvel made from the dirt, and His gifts to us. Life, time, authority over His created world, strength like His, and made in His very own perfect image.
There is fine fruit to be born of humble, grateful acknowledgement of how He equipped His highest creatures. We have a tongue for truth and eyes to see all He sets before us, ears to hear and a mind to think. He fills us, not merely gives us a taste but fills us with knowledge and understanding. He shows us good and evil, then places His own vision within our hearts so we might see the glory in all His works.
Couldn’t we call it enough to speak of the resulting praise and proclamation of His marvelous works, and the eternal covenant between Him and His people? I wanted to stay there, where our eyes behold His glory and our ears are filled with the beautiful voice of our God.
The story would be easier if it ended there. Simpler and easier. Freedom does not bear easy fruit though. And God wants nothing less than our hearts freely given. He gave us all we need in His magnificent design and creation, and in the equipment of His image carried in our very selves. He desires our good alone. He wants our good more than we want it for ourselves, to be sure, and this is what causes the story to move on from the comfort of the creator to the need and response of a savior.
Our eyes wander from that “glorious majesty” (v. 13) and we tune out His melodious voice for the sake of lesser sounds. The verses of Sirach 17 shift to the second stage of our collective story where our loving God’s eyes never move from us, every action laid before Him, our sins “not hidden from Him” (v. 20). How often we live as if we are capable of keeping secrets from Him. Is it our brokenness that is primary in His view though? It would be justice for that to be the case. But no, He notes our good gifts and our kindness to our neighbors is “the apple of His eye.”
Brokenness is not our finished state. Brokenness becomes the context, the circumstances made by our sins, where we receive the same love with which God created us in the first place. For even as He keeps His eyes on us and all we do, and sees the just recompense our sins deserve, there is never a pause in His mercy. It is His most generous attribute. “To those who repent He grants return, and He encourages those whose endurance is failing” (v. 24).
In the face of such unrelenting mercy, “turn to the Lord and forsake your sins” (v. 25a).
In the broken moments, “pray in His presence and lessen your offenses” (v. 25b).
When your way has led you into darkness, “return to the Most High and turn away from iniquity” (v. 26a).
When the Spirit opens your eyes to sin in and around you, and it cannot be unseen, “hate abominations intensely” (v. 26b).
Praise and thanksgiving cease in the souls who reject divine mercy unto death. These dead cannot sing any longer. Do not live as if already dead. Sing within your soul and with your words and deeds. “How great is the mercy of the Lord, and his forgiveness for those who turn to him! He marshals the host of the height of heaven; but all men are dust and ashes” (vv. 29, 32). Glory to Him who created us due to love and saves us with the same.
Carrie In Writing 