No Worries, Mate

November 20, 2012

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

Ephesians 1:7

“Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is slight. Sanctification is simply the marvelous expression of the forgiveness of sins in a human life, but the thing that awakens the deepest well of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven sin. Paul never got away from this. When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God.”

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

“No worries, mate…”

I met my first Australian when I was on a solo backpack trip through Europe almost ten years ago. It was my first time outside of the country and everything was new and exciting. I was 21, and very malleable in my attitude and ideas. Although you come across many different people when you skip from hostel to hostel on the European continent, for some reason it was the Australian way of life that really stuck with me.

No matter what happened in the short time I conversed and traveled with this older Australian gentleman, his response was always the same… “No worries, mate…”

And while nothing we encountered was catastrophic – the beer we wanted wasn’t on draft, we missed the bus by a few steps, or the hostel charged a Euro or two more than advertised – the response seemed so much larger than the issue. There really were no worries; things would take care of themselves another time and another way.

So I did my best to adopt this mentality, through the rest of the 8 weeks on the road and when I returned, though I dropped the “mate” part of the expression because I just couldn’t bring myself to keep it. And, to this day, “no worries” is still one of my most frequently used expressions because I have learned (and am still learning!) that most things in life really aren’t worries.

You’re running late? No worries.

You ran out of my favorite ice cream? No worries.

It’s gonna cost how much? Grrrr! No worries.

 But as I read through My Utmost today and reflected on the verse, I felt a little convicted about the times I have been a burden on others. Did they respond with the “no worries” mentality when I did something to inconvenience or offend them? Or was there a deeper level of forgiveness that I have needed?

I have found that most of my slate seems cleaned, after humbling myself in some big ways, and reaching out to people I had offended through time and asking for forgiveness. But I pray each day that more people come to mind, because I know that healing only happens through forgiveness, and that I am still working through my healing process and am in no way done (I will spend the rest of my life in this process!). And I know that with each person that comes to mind – either that I find I need to seek forgiveness from, or to whom I need to release through my forgiveness of them (Matthew 6: 12 … from “The Lord’s Prayer”)- all forgiveness stems from that which I first received from God.

And when I look back on my life and what I have done to others, with little exception, there are only a few times where I feel I have acted in a way that would warrant anything more than a “no worries” response. But that is because I am interacting with people who are, by our very nature, full of flaws.

God, on the other hand, is the very definition of perfection, holiness, and purity. He cannot, in any way, be associated with anything less than that. Which makes me marvel, when I truly reflect upon it, that this God could somehow associate himself with me… as I am far from perfect, holy, and pure.

As Chambers points out, sanctification (more or less, the process by which we consciously choose to sin less and less because we recognize what is right and wrong and are aware of our imperfections and thus desire to be more and more like Christ, in his perfection, holiness, and purity) happens as a result of being forgiven. But I am convinced in my own life, sanctification is only truly possible when I understand what it cost God to forgive me of my sins. And that, to be honest, isn’t easy.

God definitely couldn’t take a “no worries” attitude to the fact that I willfully choose to ignore, go against, or otherwise defame his righteous nature. God is just, which requires that I repay Him for every sin I have committed against Him.

Some people would like to water down the concept that God can accept everyone, as long as they are “good.” Being “good” in no way compares to being “perfect.” Payton Manning is a “good” quarterback. In fact, he is “great” and probably one of the “best” to ever play football. But he’s not “perfect.” Every game he falls short… many times over.

Sin, in the only way it ever really made sense to me, is simply “falling short” of God’s expectations of perfection (Romans 3:23). And whether I am conscious of my sinful nature now and do everything possible to never sin again (yes, laugh… especially if you know me!) the fact remains that I have accumulated a lifetime of sin, and I have fallen short of perfection.

So how does an imperfect man become united again with a perfect God?

The mystery of atonement as experienced through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And what that cost God is unfathomable… which is exactly how much I should be grateful that God, through “the riches of his grace that he lavished on me with all wisdom and understanding,” has forgiven me…