Sunday Reflections: Under the Sea

By Rev. Ronald Breight

He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.     Micah 7:19

Some of the most frightening and horrifying animals on earth live in the seas. As I page through books with my youngest son, Timothy, we often gasp at pictures of these creatures from both past and present. Ancient seas were home to such monster-like creatures as the Kronosaurus, Svalbard Pliosaur and Megalodon. Today’s oceans still harbor beasts such as the Snaggletooth, Viper fish and Goblin Shark. The sheer variety of sizes and shapes in the animal kingdom is breathtaking. Some of these under water beings are simply bloodcurdling!

Lent is a return to baptism. Jesus’ 40 days of temptation began immediately after His baptism by John in the Jordan River. Our 40 days of Lent also return us to our baptisms from whence flow the waters of repentance, self-denial, and a life lived towards God.

The fish mentioned above aren’t the only undesirable things under water. Our horrifying sins are there as well. In the verse from Micah listed above, God says He hurls our hideous and ghastly sins into the depths of the sea. That is a good place for them! We never need to see them again, and God no longer looks upon them either nor does He count them against us. Our grotesque hatred, our hard-heartedness and our carnivorous selfishness are plunged into the deep. Our sharp judgments, our broken promises and empty worship are cast into the depths. God covers our horrible and monstrous sins in the waters of baptism because of the work of Jesus on the cross. As Jesus was buried in the tomb, so also are all our sins buried under water in baptism.

God delights in the honor and praise of His name. Condemned people cannot praise God. As God calls for people to worship Him, He has in mind, therefore, to offer and prepare us for worship and service by forgiving our sins and creating for Himself a holy people. God has sent His only Son to die for us. Our sins are now drowned in the depths of the sea. Our thirst for wholeness, to be truly loved and to be part of something (or Someone) bigger than ourselves is quenched!

God bless us as we travel through this season of reflection. God bless our efforts to draw closer to Him knowing that everything that stands between us and God is now under the sea.

The Rev. Ronald Breight is pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Forest Hills.