Faith | What leaves us with a sigh of relief? Total forgiveness

Watching leaves burst into autumn shades among the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania can evoke a sense of what it might feel like to float in a bowl of Trix cereal: cool and sweetly colorful.

Sigh.

Thirty-five Octobers ago while ministering on a college campus within this very setting, a sincere freshman named Phillip tole me about a conversation he once had with his parents. As he spoke, it seemed evident he was leaving something out of his story.

So I pretty much asked him straight out, “You never told your parents the truth, did you?”

At this, Phillip looked surprised, yet exposed.

He proceeded to confess not only his deception, but also his desire to come clean with his parents and to know that he was right with them—restored, forgiven.

Referencing the beauty surrounding us, Phillip added that his own pleasant October walks among the leaves could start to elicit a joyful sigh. But upon recalling his deception, his sigh-in-the-making would get cut off abruptly, effectively getting stabbed and deflated by his guilty conscience. He deeply wanted to sigh deeply, once again.

Sigh ...

In Psalm 32 when David sings of the happiness of having his sins covered, a knowing listener can practically hear a sigh of joyful relief: When I kept silent, my bones wasted away ... then I acknowledged my sin ... and you forgave ... rejoice in the Lord ... be glad ... sing.”

In Luke’s gospel when Jesus is anointed by a tearful woman “who was a sinner,” he challenges his judgmental host with a story about two debtors who were unable to repay.

When happily the moneylender cancels both debts, Jesus asks which of the debtors will love the moneylender more.

The host responds, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”

Jesus agrees, and proceeds to proclaim about the woman that, “her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (cf. Luke 7:36-50)

Sigh.

Are your sins “many”? Is your debt before God big? Do you know what it is like to hear the Lord declare that your debt is canceled, covered by another? If so, your response will look like something, feel like something, sound, like something.

I have heard it said that, “hunger is the best spice.” Indeed, have you ever wondered why a 99-cent can of baked-beans transforms into a culinary delicacy when prepared over an evening campfire and consumed after a long hike up into the cool mountain air? This why: hunger is the best spice.

Similarly, the tearful, repentant woman came to Jesus famished, in need of forgiveness and she left full, truly free, loving Jesus “much.”

King David tasted this joy too, and rightly sings to his Savior, his hunger satisfied.

And yes, Phillip found this freedom flavorful, as well. On that next October day he told his parents the truth, received forgiveness and, understandably, could be found breathing a happy sigh, strolling among the festive leaves.