Letting Go of Sin
Fall is fast approaching and, along with fall, the Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Whenever this time of year comes around, I think about a tradition I grew up with in the synagogue called Tashlich...
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sin into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19, ESV)
...On the first day of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), Jewish people find a body of water and toss bread or stones into the water to represent the casting off of sin. As this ceremony is occurring, someone will read from Micah 7:19 ESV “He will again have compassion on us he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sin into the depths of the sea”. The ceremony reminds us that God has buried our sins. That, as far as God is concerned, our sins are gone.
How often do we find ourselves replaying our sins and failures in our minds? How usually do we live in those mistakes and let them consume us? Today’s text proclaims that our sins are forgiven, buried, and passed over by God.
Why? Because Yeshua has carried and nailed our sins to the cross, they are dead, gone, and forgotten. And we have been united with Jesus in the waters of Holy Baptism where death and sin were drowned and buried, and we were raised to new life with Yeshua (Romans 6:1-11). Whenever you make the sign of the cross, whenever you see water, and — perhaps if you decide to try your own Tashlich this year — you are reminded that your sins and failures have been buried in the water of Baptism. God has chosen not to remember them because our dear Lord Yeshua has covered and taken them away. He trampled your sin underfoot by His death and His rising from the grave.
You may still fall into sin and temptation, but each time you turn to Yeshua, you can remind yourself that God has forgiven you can remember that God has pardoned you, He has passed over your sin, He has buried it Baptism, and He — in His steadfast love — has raised you to new life.
Your sin has been cast into the water, it has been drowned and buried, and you — dear Christian have been raised to new life!
What can we take away from this?
Whether you decide to try your own tashlich this year or not, you can remember your baptism into Yeshua where God has chosen to forget your sins and to remember you. Where you, united with Christ’s death and resurrection, were raised to new life and made God’s child.
When the devil casts your sins in your face, or when you feel guilt and shame because of your past, you can turn to the promises God has made to you and praise God for His salvation. You can remember that your sin is not who you are anymore. You can remember that God has cast those sins into the depths of the sea, that God has forgiven you in Yeshua, that you have been set free, and that God’s steadfast love was, is, and will always be shown to you in your Lord Yeshua.
Finally, sometimes people ask, “What can I say when I have the opportunity to share my faith with others?” Today’s text shows us two things. First, we can proclaim the objective and historical reality of how God has pardoned us in and through the death and resurrection of our Lord. Secondly, we can share how we have experienced and received this forgiveness and how we have seen God’s steadfast love and mercy in our lives.
Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, You have cast our sins into the depths of the sea and have demonstrated Your steadfast love for us in Yeshua, who died and rose for us. Fill us with such an awareness of Your mercy that we would find comfort, freedom, and peace in You and share this hope with others until that day that You call us to Your eternal kingdom. Through Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!
Shalom,
Pastor Peiser
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