A pastor received a phone...
Illustration
A pastor received a phone call from a man who said, "You don't know me, but my name is Jack. I'm part of the Alcoholics Anonymous group that meets in your church on Monday nights. I was wondering if you'd be willing to meet with me and I could go through the fifth step?" The pastor knew that the fifth step involved listening to an alcoholic's life story and confession. It was an important step and an emotionally exhausting for both people involved, but the pastor agreed.
Jack's story was heartbreaking. Jack was the son of an alcoholic father. Jack remembered as a young child hiding in a closet with his younger sister, listening to the shouts of anger and screams of pain as his father beat his mother. When Jack was eight or nine years old he tried to protect his mother from his father. On that day he received the first of a countless number of beatings from his drunken father. By the time Jack was eleven, he was stealing his father's alcohol in an attempt to escape the physical, emotional, and mental pain he lived with.
By the time Jack was thirteen, he was regularly combining drugs and alcohol. He supported his habit through stealing and selling drugs. At eighteen, he was living with his sixteen-year-old girlfriend. Jack was a father by the time he was twenty. Soon, he was beating his girlfriend in the same manner that his father had beat his mother. Ten years later, his girlfriend left him after he had beaten his son for stealing his hidden bottle of gin. That was the day Jack attended his first AA meeting. In the ensuing five years Jack had tried many times to stay alcohol and drug free. This was the third time Jack was taking his fifth step.
The pastor asked Jack why he thought he needed to take his fifth step so many times. Jack's explained, "I know that Christ died to take my sins upon him," he said. "But I can't quite let them go. I hear the words telling me I'm forgiven, but I can't believe that Jesus would forgive me if he knew what awful things I've done."
Peter told his readers "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God." Sometimes it's hard to accept that, but it is true.
Jack's story was heartbreaking. Jack was the son of an alcoholic father. Jack remembered as a young child hiding in a closet with his younger sister, listening to the shouts of anger and screams of pain as his father beat his mother. When Jack was eight or nine years old he tried to protect his mother from his father. On that day he received the first of a countless number of beatings from his drunken father. By the time Jack was eleven, he was stealing his father's alcohol in an attempt to escape the physical, emotional, and mental pain he lived with.
By the time Jack was thirteen, he was regularly combining drugs and alcohol. He supported his habit through stealing and selling drugs. At eighteen, he was living with his sixteen-year-old girlfriend. Jack was a father by the time he was twenty. Soon, he was beating his girlfriend in the same manner that his father had beat his mother. Ten years later, his girlfriend left him after he had beaten his son for stealing his hidden bottle of gin. That was the day Jack attended his first AA meeting. In the ensuing five years Jack had tried many times to stay alcohol and drug free. This was the third time Jack was taking his fifth step.
The pastor asked Jack why he thought he needed to take his fifth step so many times. Jack's explained, "I know that Christ died to take my sins upon him," he said. "But I can't quite let them go. I hear the words telling me I'm forgiven, but I can't believe that Jesus would forgive me if he knew what awful things I've done."
Peter told his readers "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God." Sometimes it's hard to accept that, but it is true.
