PASTOR’S CORNER: No more excuses

Now today’s subject is no stranger to any of us. This is a familiar language to every last one of us for all of us have used one at one time or another.

We learned how to make excuses when we were very young. It has been used to make amends for something that we didn’t want to do — or something we did not do also we don’t look bad when we don’t do it! As Christians, we ought to try to live our lives in such a way that we don’t need to make excuses.

We all can be culprits to this word called “excuses” and all of us have been on the other end of excuses from other people; why they didn’t do something, didn’t show up, didn’t follow through or didn’t perform a particular task. We all know — we really know — that excuses are easy to find. You don’t have to look for one, somehow, they will find you. If you do not want to do something bad enough you can find an excuse not to do it.

The word “excuse” means “to offer an apology for; an expression of regret for failure to do something.” Excuses are used in every facet of life. Employers get excuses from employees when they don’t show up for work. Children give excuses to teachers when they don’t have their homework — the dog ate it!

There are excuses for not paying back money that was borrowed. People who commit crimes blame the neighborhood. Young people blame the fact that they were brought up in the projects or a trailer park for being in a gang, being a thug, and not having an active father in their lives. Some young girls blame the system for being the way they are. Those addicted to substance abuse blame society and circumstances.

However, when children grow up they make their own choices, though the environment may contribute to behavior, it is not responsible for behavior. There is no excuse for bad behavior.

Jesus gave a parable of three men who were invited to a great supper. They all gave excuses for not coming (Luke 14:16-24). Those who are not saved are without excuse this morning. The excuse of “I’m not ready to be saved. I’ll do it tomorrow” is not going to cut it if we are not saved and we die in our sins! Eternal damnation awaits all who pass through this life without accepting Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross; as Jesus said, “Unless a man (or woman) be born again they shall not see the Kingdom of God,” (John 3:3).

But community, there are no greater examples of where excuses come into play than when the gospel is presented to a sinner for salvation and at the local church! Y’all know that when it comes to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior and when it comes to church attendance, there is always an excuse for not doing so. The bottom line is that people do what they really want to do and go where they really want to go with no excuses!

There’s a song that I heard some years ago about excuses by a gospel singing group that was called, “Excuses.” Here’s partly how it went, “Excuses, excuses we hear them every day; for the devil will supply them if from church we stay away; when people come to know the Lord the devil always loses; so to keep those folk away from church he offers them excuses.”

Excuses!!! There are excuses for not coming to choir rehearsal, excuses for not coming to Sunday School or being on Bible Study and for some churches it’s on social media live.

Community we need to know that the cross did away with all excuses. Excuses have no place in the kingdom of God for if anybody had a right to have an excuse it was our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came into a sinful world to die on the cross — no excuses. He was hated by the very ones he came to save, but he offered no excuse. His own brothers did not believe in him. The religious leaders called him a devil. They even tried to kill him but he offered no excuse. They arrested him for no good reason and tried him at night in a kangaroo court, but still, he offered no excuse.

Somebody said the night before his crucifixion they plucked the hair from his face with their hand, hit him in the face with their fists and still he offered no excuse. They slapped him, spit on him, put a crown of thorns on his head, and pressed it down into his brain causing blood to run down his face. They mocked him and laughed at him. He had every good reason to turn around. He could have called the whole thing off and gone back to glory but if he did, then the thief on the cross that he saved in the last hour would have been lost. The woman at the well would have remained thirsty. Mary Magdalene, Zacchaeus, the woman caught in adultery, we ourselves, would have all been lost. He offered no excuse.

Aren’t we glad that he didn’t offer an excuse? Instead, he went to the cross, bore our sins, took our punishment and when he died, he nailed all excuses to the cross.

Community God’s been good to all of us…no more excuses.