The "If" of Advocacy

Introduction

One of the biggest tenets of Social Services is advocacy. Typically any social worker, parole, probation officer, teacher, or mentor serves as an advocate for people who cannot advocate for themselves. There are a number of people in this world who are trying to get out of daunting positions but do not know how. A social worker may find resources for a person like housing, education, or even employment. A preacher might write a character witness statement so that the judge knows that there are important and positive people in the community that have the ability to vouch on the behalf of a person that may have made a mistake. Advocacy rest in the ability of the person being advocated for to do what they said they were going to do. Truth be told in life we have all had someone to advocate on our behalf. Some of us wouldn’t be employed right now had someone not wrote a recommendation letter. Some of us would not have been able to get into that prestigious school if no one advocated on our behalf. Advocacy puts people in the positions that they may not have gotten otherwise without the right person in their corner. Jesus works in a similar way, we all have sinned, we all have fallen short but the beauty of falling short as Christian is the fact that we have Jesus who proactively died on our behalf. At the same time He continuously fights for us on our behalf. He provides resources and power to overcome certain issues in our life! When Jesus died on the cross it was for our individual benefit but also for our collective growth.

Isaiah 59:1–4“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”

Sin is a separator, but with Jesus, He is the connector that we so desperately need in our lives. His word is the preventative medicine that we all should trust in, His grace is the bandage that covers the wounds that sin create, and His love is the comfort we need in times of pain and trouble. One thing about Jesus is the preventative measure He takes in effort to ensure that we have everything we need. The challenge is we do not always buy in to the preventative measures. John expresses the idea that these things he has written are to help us avoid the pain of sin. Nonetheless John is not ignorant to the fact that we do not always adhere to the preventative measures properly. Sometimes we make mistakes but even in the manner in which we make mistakes God still loves us enough to circumvent our mistakes by allowing us a second chance. The issue is we don’t always get a second chance so doing it right the first time might be the only time.

Preventative Measures

In life there are things that impact us that we have no control over. Heredity is one of those things. Certain issues run in our families, high blood pressure, cancer, other ailments and sicknesses. One of the things a doctor does is ask about your family history! The goal behind asking about your family history is to prevent certain things becoming a reality in your life. There are preventative measures to side step certain things that can have a debilitating impact on our life.

Sin is a tool of self-harm, for instance a person with a history of harming themselves or even attempting to take their life a Social Worker might inspect the house and lock up all items that could lead to self harm, it’s not a sign of weakness but a sign that some things we cannot handle on our own.

This epistle is the preventative measure we need to hear as it pertains to sin. John’s goal is prevention. “I write these things to you so that you may not sin”. In return it’s evident that we have all fallen victim to some sin therefore we have an advocate in Jesus.

Typically an advocate goes before us on our behalf in spaces that we might not have the privilege to sit. We have an advocate with Jesus because He is righteous enough to approach the throne of God. Listen, I don’t want just anyone advocating for me, I need someone I can trust, someone who has my best interest at heart and that’s Jesus. He paid the price, he made the sacrifice to be that advocate for us.

He is the propitiation, in other words Jesus is the means to our forgiveness, because of His sacrifice I’m no longer shackled by my past sins, I’m empowered in the moment to avoid sin and I can move forward in the future without anything holding me back.

The power is pushed further by the fact that it’s not just for us but for the whole world. If I have a relationship with God, I have an advocate in Jesus. If I request forgiveness and repent I have a chance to live my life in a different way.

The root word for propitiation is mercy! His mercy is the reason I’m standing, the consequences could’ve been worse had it not been for the mercy of God.

Jesus being sent as a sacrifice for our sins is mercy within itself. Jesus standing in the gap kept us from the wrath of God.

Don’t Ignore the Signs

Sometimes we refuse to listen to advocates in life because ignoring is oftentimes easier than acknowledging the fact that we have problems. Ignoring the sin doesn’t make it go away, it actually makes it worse and eventually desensitizes us to the danger of sin.

It’s imperative that we are aware! Be aware of your temptations, we all know what are shortcomings are! Avoiding temptation isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s actually wise to know and understand where the pitfalls are. The only reason we are even here is because of Jesus, let’s honor his sacrifice by being honest with ourselves. I appreciate the writing style of John, because he doesn’t allow us to skip out on accountability. Yes, Christianity has a collective component to it, but there’s certain things we have to do on our own. No one can life a holy life for you, you have to choose to live holy for yourself.

John states, “I write these things to “YOU”, but the nature and the power of Jesus is a “we” component. No one can take this medicine for you but the healthier we are the better we become as a community!

Advocacy should prompt us to acknowledge the fact that we are imperfect, not deny or hide the fact that we have sinned. It’s similar to our families, yes it’s easy to avoid the tough trauma’s but the more we sweep things under the rug the worse we become collectively.

Forgiveness is a reflection of grace not a license to sin because forgiveness is available. Furthermore the community piece suggest that we all have a pastoral responsibility to hold each other accountable.

Be honest about your sin, you do not have to sin and honestly we have the power to avoid it. Understand that if you do sin, there’s still a provision of forgiveness and we can bounce back.

Bad Moments Do not Ruin the Entire Story

This spiritual medicine serves as a comfort, the Holy Spirit is a comforter that soothes us when life beats us down.

When I have a bad moment of sin, I have an advocate or a helper, the help doesn’t just come though, I have to call on that helper in my time of need.

The power of Jesus is profound, He is intercessor and sacrifice at the same time. He can not only protect but advocate at the same time. The difference between Jesus and us is the fact that we may be able to intervene but not necessarily have the bandwidth to sacrifice, Jesus has the bandwidth to do both simultaneously. The Holy spirit has the ability to assist us in our time of need and be that interpreter when life becomes to tough to articulate! The blood of Jesus cleanses every sin! Advocacy removes guilt and protects us from the wrath of God!

How Do We Thank God for His sacrifice

We thank God through obedience. 1 John 2:3 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

A healthy relationship with God is contingent on obedience. The proof of personal relationship depends on obedience. Obedience is experiential in nature, we obey because we’ve seen the blessing of living in God’s will. It’s not just following rules, it’s adhering to the will, it’s purposeful, we are walking in purpose when we are obedient to God. No matter what life looks like we have to remain obedient. Understand the importance of obedience, Keeping God’s commands occurs over 200 times in the bible. It’s repetitive because it’s life saving! When we refuse to obey God we leave our life hanging in the balance of condemnation. My relationship with God is conditional! His love is unconditional but our ability to walk in the will of God is conditional on our ability to be obedient to God.

What’s keeping you from being obedient if you desire a relationship with God?

Are you willing to sacrifice your fleshly desires in effort to have everlasting communion with God?

My relationship hangs in the balance of understanding of understanding my human condition but also longing for a relationship with God.

“Selected obedience is not obedience at all; it is merely convenience”

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Obedience, Reasons For

There are many reasons why we may obey someone, including God. What are yours?

Fear? Obeying because you have to?

Reward? Obeying because you get something out of it?

Love? Obeying because you love Christ and your fellowman?

Don’t allow the “if” of your relationship with God to be reactionary. If I would’ve obeyed then “blank”. Take the preventative measures of your “if”

If I obey God

If I avoid temptation

If I walk in his will

If I love my enemy

If I hold on a little while longer

If I love my wife like Christ loved the church

If I serve with a humble heart

If I each my children the ways of God

Don’t allow your if to be after the fact, because Jesus was sent before us and sustains us so let us be prepared for our relationship with God by doing His will now!