“I don’t think anyone could make my dirty heart clean!”

A story from Australia using a mix of story and discussion/questions:

Tonight I was at a Christmas lights program. There were people everywhere! I met an older man at the entrance to the hall. I told him about Isaiah’s prophecy of someone coming who would make our dirty hearts clean.

At the end of the story, the gentleman said, “How does He do that then? I don’t think even God could make my dirty heart clean.”

I told him that Jesus had died for him, to take away his punishment. That’s what makes his heart clean. He said, “But even if I start with a clean heart, I am just going to make it dirty again. What then?”

I told him that Jesus had died once for everything. “For everything? You don’t understand how much I’ve done. How dirty I am!”

I told him it didn’t matter. God was powerful enough to forgive EVERYTHING. He said, “God won’t forgive me.”

I told him the story of King Ahaziah (2 Kings 1 – son of wicked king, Ahab and wicked himself but he could have been forgiven if he asked God). I said, “God will forgive you if you choose to let Him.” He said, “But what God? I believe in God the Father and the Holy Spirit, but isn’t Jesus just a man?”

I told him the story of Jesus healing the paralytic, where Jesus claims himself equal with God by forgiving a man’s sins. He said, “Bless me for I have sinned. I have not been to confession for 3 months. If I go to confession and say, ‘Father I have done this and this and this,’ then the priest will say ‘It’s OK my child, say three Hail Marys and four Our Fathers and your sins will be forgiven.’ ”

At this point I started shaking my head and said, “No.” I placed my hands on his shoulders and looked him in the face and said, “God says, ‘I already know what you have done and what you are going to do and I have already paid the price for your sins. You are all ready forgiven.’ ”

The man said incredulously, “God knows? Then why am I wasting my time going to confession? Why am I telling the priest what God already knows?” Then he said, “Why doesn’t God come to earth and tell me these things?”

I said, “He already sent Jesus to tell you.”

He said, “But I didn’t see Jesus. Why doesn’t God send someone to me – to tell me?”

I said, “What do you think I am here doing? I am telling you!”

He said, “Yeah, but you could tell me anything. It would not make it true.”

I said, “Granted. You have to decide for yourself if what I am saying is true. You need to look it up your Bible and see if anything I am saying is false.”

He said, “I would like to look these things up. Doesn’t it say somewhere that when Jesus comes again the dead will rise up out of their graves? How can they do that when they have turned into dust?”

I said, “God made man from dust in the first place.” Then I told him the creation story.

He argued, “But what about if you die at sea and get eaten by fish? Then there is no dust left!”

I told him I was convinced God could still put you back together and told him the story of the valley of dry bones. He kept coming back to, “Well, we’ll see. I don’t think God could forgive me.”

He also told me about his dogs and how they keep getting into fights. He showed me the only-just-healing scars he has from them. But he still loves them dearly and wouldn’t give them up for anything. I said,

“That’s the way God sees you. He knows you’re going to cause Him trouble. He knows you won’t always be perfect. He has scars from you. But He still wouldn’t give you up for anything.”

He said, “Well, we’ll see.”

I said, “You don’t want to just see. You want to be sure. You want to know what’s going to happen to you when you die.”

He shared with me how he had already made all his plans for his funeral and was paying it off. I said, “You’ve arranged for all the earthly plans, but what about your spiritual plans?”

He said, “Well, I’ll be down there in hell.”

I told him, “But you don’t want to be there! And you don’t have to be there. The only thing keeping you there in hell is your believing that God isn’t big enough to forgive you. You need to let Him help.”

The gentleman asked if I would be there the next night. He said he would like to come back.

Used with permission of JH.