Knotted Cords

“Who is closer to God,” the seeker asked, “the saint or the sinner?”  “Why the sinner of course,” the elder said.  “But how can that be?” the seeker asked.  “Because,” the elder answered, “every time a person sins they break the cord that binds them to God.  But every time God forgives them, the cord is knotted again.  And so, thanks to the mercy of God, the cord gets shorter and the sinner closer to God.”  

How many knots do we have in our cords?  Some of us have one knot after another very closely tied.  It would seem there is no more rope left.  We are at the end of our ropes.  At this point, we simply are in the hands of God to receive God’s mercy.  Forgiveness is what we receive.  We become closer to God, and we hang on.

This Advent when we break our cords and then re-knot them, let us remember that a knotted, thicker cord makes us stronger.  It is great to be a saint, but forgiven sinners might be in far better shape and much more resilient, as strange as that may seem.  Thanks be to God, we sinners proclaim!

Deacon David Pierce