DEVOTION//Ungodly, yet God's own

Kathleen Dehmlow was 80-years-old when she passed away on May 31, 2018.

According to her obituary, her two oldest children will not miss her.

She won’t be missed

"She … will now face judgment," the obituary said. "She will not be missed by Gina and Jay [her children], and they understand that this world is a better place without her.”

What had she done that prompted her children to publish such a biting obituary? Almost 60 years before, she had an affair with their father's brother. The result was a pregnancy. She then deserted her family to live in California.

We shouldn’t be missed

Perhaps your reaction to Kathleen Dehmlow's obituary focuses on her children's lack of forgiveness.

I reacted to something else. I thought, "This is the kind of judgment I should hear from the righteous Judge of the Universe."

Week after week at worship, I give public voice to my guilt. I say, "Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words, and actions. I have done what is evil and failed to do what is good. For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity."

That confession is not false humility; it's reality.

I should hear from God, "You will now face judgment. You will not be missed by me or anyone else. This world will be a better place without you.”

Yet we are God’s treasure

But that is not what I hear. Instead my Father tells me, "Christ died for the ungodly," for sinful, disobedient, evil people like you…. Consequently, "Go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [you] have now received this reconciliation" (Romans 5:6,11).

That promise of reconciliation belongs to you and the rest of ungodly humankind. "Christ died for the ungodly" -- every ungodly person.

That truth empowers us to be honest with ourselves and our God. We eagerly confess we are sinners who deserve God's judgment. But we also rejoice that, in place of God's judgment, we have forgiveness, adoption, and heaven.

So say it with me, "Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful…."