Are there times when God is not able to hear our prayers? Is he not willing to listen when we are suffering and in distress? We all ask questions like this more often than we want to admit, even though we ought to know the answer. St. John Chrysostom called sin "this obnoxious" barrier" which has been built up between us and God. When we question God's ability to hear our prayers or doubt the wide reach of his mercy, we are merely acting upon the obnoxious effects of sin in our lives.
"Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save," declares Isaiah, "or his ear dull, that it cannot hear." God remains mighty to save all who will call upon his name. So, why do we often feel abandoned, lost, and beyond the reach of his salvation? The problem is not with God. It is "your iniquities," says Isaiah, which "have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." Sin is the problem. It is a problem of our own making, an "obnoxious barrier" which builds a wall of mud and filth between us and God.
"Obnoxious" is an apt term to describe the effects of sin because the questions we ask, and the conclusions we often reach, under sin's influence are just that--obnoxious. What better word can describe an attitude of the heart that believes separation from God is permanent and irreversible? What better word can describe a view of God which shortens his hand and dulls his ears to the cries of his people for deliverance?
The most obnoxious thing about sin is not that it offends God (although every sin is a gross offense in his sight), but that it so ravages us with guilt that we believe God is so offended that he will never even consider forgiving us. This is indeed an "obnoxious barrier" of our own construction, a most petty view of God, which God longs to see torn down.
"Behind the wall stands Christ the Lord," wrote the Church Father Aponius, "and he waits to be called on by the ungodly, and he summons the sinful soul to penitence." To break down the "obnoxious barrier," God himself has acted in what would seem the most obnoxious way of all, by sending his own Son to pay the penalty for the "iniquities" which "have made a separation between" us miserable sinners and his holy and divine majesty.
Collect of the Day: St. Luke the Evangelist, 19 October (moved from 18 October)
Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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