Dismissed

I had to go to court this morning.

The last time I had to go to court, I had been speeding through a small town, and apparently, court in a small town can be a thing of nightmares. I had to stand, in a courtroom (like the ones on tv), verbally plead guilty - as in, "I plead guilty," and pay the hundreds of dollars in court fees even when my charges (and fines) were dropped.

So that's what I expected for this morning too. As mentioned in the previous post, my license had expired years before and this morning was intended as a reckoning of my sins. I expected to stand before a judge and witnesses, publicly confess my guilt, and pay for my sins. What I got instead was extravagant grace.

The grace-giving itself was not extravagant. I was processed through the system just like everyone else - metal detector and line after line after line of waiting and all. But that was part of the beauty and extravagance of it. Instead of a public confession, I waited in line to stand at a counter and simply hear a woman say the words, "Dismissed. Have a nice day."

And that was it. No public confession. No calling to account of my wrongs. No payment (not a penny!). Dismissed. And I walked away. Free. Cleansed. Washed in grace.

What was that I had been yearning for the night I got the ticket? Wasn't I just wanting a little grace? God, You are so good and kind and generous to me, undeserving and demanding child that I am.

And it is the same with every other sin with which I am blemished:

"...Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Isaiah 6.7

"...as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us." Psalm 103. 12

"...and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1.7

It is not by my merit or efforts; I am undeserving and unworthy. Yet Jesus has covered my shame with His death on the cross. He has blotted out my sins and removed them from me. He, with all authority and supremacy, has declared them, "Dismissed." I am free. What extravagant grace.

Glory!