Summary: As a bumper sticker announces the (sometimes passionate) views of its owner, a Christian's life proclaims the work and passion of its Master, Jesus Christ. (ELZacharias-Cologne, Minn.)

What Does Your Bumper Say?

What do bumper stickers tell us about others? Perhaps more than we want to know. Bumper stickers tell us that we're driving too close or that its owner has a "Smith and Wesson" on board. Bumper stickers tell us who to vote for--or who they continue to support, even if that person lost the election. Bumper stickers run the range of controversial issues, pushing a point in a pithy phrase. Tourist shops have scads of the fun and familiar ones--and there are shops that will make you one that is all your own.

Expression, and sometimes passion, pushes a person to apply this message to the rear bumper--and to the world. 

My dad has a penchant for stickers--political, issue-oriented, and religious. While at my parent's home in Ohio, I noticed dad's car was down to two stickers. In fact, stickers have come and gone, but two favorites remain. On the bumper was a purple one that announced: "Lutheran Schools Care." The other, a bright yellow one, was in the lower-left corner of his back window, proclaiming boldly: "You are Forgiven!" In smaller letters beneath were the words, "Ask about this at a Lutheran Church." This one was torn along one edge.

"You Are Forgiven!" Of all the words in the Bible, nothing expresses God's intent as briefly and powerfully as these three words. They are biblical. They do catch us by surprise. Consider the words spoken to the paralyzed man who had been lowered through the roof on his mat to Jesus. "Your sins are forgiven you!" Those words seem to surprise everyone. The man had come to be healed--but Jesus first spoke to his greater need. The religious leaders were surprised that Jesus would dare to forgive at all, for this was the exclusive role of the priest who stood before God's altar. Yet the spoken word of forgiveness showed what Jesus' work was all about. He was willing and able to make the man holy in spirit before he ordered that his body was made whole. 

"You Are Forgiven!" Imagine that message swinging into your lane of traffic. Imagine seeing that message while waiting at a red light. For those with a troubled heart, laden with guilt and sorrow, the words are a thing to ponder. They are a word of hope for those who do not know God and a word of rejoicing for the Christian who needed to hear the message once again. We do need to hear the message again and again: in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

On our trip back from Ohio, I spotted a mini-van whose whole back panel was painted with a message of "Law and Gospel." It began with questions like these, " Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen? Have you...? If you have done any of these things, you are a sinner. The punishment for any sin is death. But there is Good News...Jesus died to forgive you your sins.... Believing in him you have eternal life." (That is the short--and inexact--version; but you get the idea.) The message of sins forgiven in Jesus Christ is one that we all can live with, even if we care not to paint it on the back of our cars or apply it by way of a sticker.

What is the message of your life? Bumper stickers aside, what message do you convey? 

Every Christian bears the name of our Lord Jesus and so carries the work and gift that he has done. In turn, God's Holy Spirit moves the Christian's heart to do great things as an expression of that faith. The Christian, forgiven and redeemed by Christ, is poised to do great things. Overflowing with that love, the Christian forgives (even as he has been forgiven); he prays (even as he has been the object of prayer); he teaches (even as he had learned); he gives (even as he has been blessed by God). As natural as seeds coming to life and then to bloom, Christians will rise to do the things God has given them to do.

God has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Your life has been blessed so that you may be an expression of his grace, in Jesus' name. Blessed to be a blessing...in Christ, we go forward in his name.

Pastor Eric Zacharias