Gloves on a Sinner's Hands

Have you ever looked at a sinner's hands?

Have you ever looked at them and realized that they were used to sin?

Have you ever looked at them and been disgusted because you realized they were used to sin?

Matthew 5:29-30 is so commonly sighted.

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (NIV)

Obviously, this scripture isn't literal. Don't cut off your hand or gouge out your eye. Its makes a terrible bloody mess for everyone else to clean up. However, this scripture is literal in a sense. It may not directly be your hand or eye that cause the sinning, but it could most defiantly be the hand or eye that do the sinning. Key word in this is “cause.” What causes you to sin.

Now, I doubt I have to go into this very far to be able to easily get the point across that instead of actually cutting off your hand our gouging out your eye, you should be detaching from the thing that causes you to sin.

This scripture is actually used in the context of adultery. Here, let me show you the begining.

Matthew 5:27-28

27 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery. 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (NIV)

Funny how the first two verses (or rather, the ones you just read) are strictly about adultery, yet the second two verses (the first two you read above) generalize and use the word “sin” rather then “adultery.” Verses 29 and 30 are related to and phrased accordingly with verses 27 and 28 as adultry is a sin. Still, verses 29 and 30 stretch beyond just adultery. They stretch over all sin.

Now the issue I want to get to is whether or not you can forgive the hands that have sinned? And what does it take to keep those hands from sinning again, besides dividing them from the cause? I mean, the hands are constant reminders. You can look at a sinners hands and always connect them with the sin.

Its hard to forgive sinners truly. Truly. When their sin has effected us, we see it like as if it were sharpied on their foreheads “I SINNED.”

Gloves.

Have you ever looked at a sinner's gloves?

Have you ever looked at a sinner's gloves and realized they were covering something?

Have you ever looked at a sinner's gloves and remembered what their hands were like?

Glove are protectors. They keep your hands protected from dirt, weather, chemicals, rough and tough textures, and any other substance or condition that can cause the hands potential damage. And since we are not talking about actual hands, but the cause of sin, I'm going to use gloves as an illustration of the separation between the hands that sin and the cause of the sin. The gloves help keep the hands from sinning in the particular way the gloves are intended to protect.

Too often we see those gloves only as reminders that there was sin, instead of as hand protectors.

Have you ever got your fingers stuck in a pair of gloves? Perhaps you've had two fingers go into the same hole? Its as obvious as when your shoe on the wrong foot. Uncomfortable and funny looking, you feel compelled to either take to glove off or completely rearrange the glove onto your hand.

In life, this stage can be short or this stage can be long. This stage is the struggling stage; when you have to choose between keeping it on or taking it off. This is when people stop are stare. People look at you and know your sin and the uncomfortable expressions on your face give away that you are struggling.

Its hard to forgive sinners truly. Truly. When their sin has effected us, we see it like as if it were stapled to their back sides like a bad “kick me” sign. You just can't help but stare at it and picture the related action.

Have you ever seen a girl wear a shirt that said “I'm up here” with and upwards arrow on her chest. As if to say “stop staring at my chest and look at my face!” this shirt does the opposite and draws attention to her chest. Well, sometimes gloves seem like that when they are in the struggle stage. People notice, not only the hands, but the sin the gloves are protecting them from. As Christians, we aren't meant to do that. We are meant to respect the gloves and love the hands.

Now, it is a little different then a girl with the shirt described above. She's literally asking for you to stare. Sometimes sinners do that too. They get help because they want you to notice the problem. These are the hands that really need you to look away. Respectfully look away. However, the people who are wholeheartedly putting their gloves on need respectful support.

Its hard to forgive sinners truly. Truly. When their sin has effected us, we see it like as if they were wearing white to a funeral. You just can't help but stare and wonder “why?”

Have you ever looked at a sinner's hands and been disgusted? I have. But that is my own sin. Really, I should be loving those hands. Those hands where created in the image of God and fallen, not unlike myself.

Have you ever looked at a sinner's gloves and realized they meant sin was present? I have. But this can be a respectful acknowledgment or a painful one. Gloves are meant to be respected. I'm wearing a pair or two myself.

Have you ever looked as a sinner and hated their sin? I have, and rightly so. Sin is not of God.

Love the hands.

Respect the gloves.

Hate the sin.