Dear Faith Family, 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 6:23). 

Introduced a little over twenty years ago in the late nineties, you can find them just about anywhere – in buildings, houses, automobiles, purses, and pockets.  Otherwise known as “Instant Paper Cut Finders”, hand sanitizer is a common commodity. 

The growth in sales of hand sanitizer is, well, astounding.  Consider the first week in March (2020) almost three years ago.  Hand sanitizer sales were up 470% over the first week in March (2019), (cnbc.com)  I know, you know why, right?  It makes perfect sense if you’re familiar with Covid 19.  But do state the obvious. 

Hand sanitizer sales were lackadaisical until we began to find out about a nasty virus.  Once we discovered the virus and its unwelcome consequences, we suddenly became interested in hand sanitizer.  And our interest was in more than how many bottles of the stuff were sold last week.  We were interested in getting some and applying it to our own hands.  We were even interested in sharing our find with those around us. 

Are you getting the point?  Years ago a lady asked why I talked about sin (some people find that uninteresting).  Scripture has a great deal to say about our sin.  Sin is the backdrop of grace.  Think about it.  Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned.  That uncomfortable “virus” is followed (verse 24) by God’s grace as a gift in Christ Jesus.  In fact, the first three chapters of Romans painstakingly weave the backdrop of our sin.  Romans 6:23 reminds us of sin’s paycheck (consequences).  There’s that sin backdrop again, only to highlight the free gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Forget about the virus and the interest in hand sanitizer wanes.  Forget about sin (you know, diminish the holiness of God, downplay His commands to suggestions, and declare that we are all good) and grace becomes unnecessary, uninteresting, and even unattractive.  To carelessly dismiss our sin is to belittle the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. 

Until we are overwhelmed with our own sin and then overcome by the incredible grace of our God, we probably won’t bother to share Jesus with anybody else.  And we probably won’t bother anybody else with our beautiful Savior.  

Apply grace here, 
Pastor Karl