When God becomes small, sin becomes insignificant.

When our God is too small, sing becomes insignificant.
Numbers 15:32-41
"So that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God."

The offense seems trivial and inconsequential. The man was merely gathering wood on the Sabbath day. A reprimand or perhaps a public rebuke seemed appropriate, but a death sentence! That seems overly harsh and unjust for such a minor transgression. Yet when the man was brought before Moses and Aaron, God declared his punishment. He was to be taken outside the camped and executed by stoning. For some, the sentence seems to exceed the crime and a view of God that was distorted and unpleasant.
To understand the Old Testament laws and the severity of God's justice, we must understand God's nature and holiness. God had called his people to be holy, and this holiness was to be integrated into all aspects of life. In the Old Testament, the life of holiness encompassed the whole person; who he was, and what he did. However, this call to a life of righteousness was not just arbitrary religious rules; they were grounded in the person of God, his holiness, and his redemptive work (vs. 41).  
Sin, no matter how trivial in our eyes, is an assault upon the nature and being of God. In his classic work, "The Existence and Attributes of God," Stephen Charnock writes. "Sin implies that God is unworthy of a being. Every sin is a kind of cursing God in the heart; an aim at the destruction of the being of God; not actually, but virtually; not in the intention of every sinner, but in the nature of every sin." So when this man gathered wood, he was not just disobeying God's command not to work on the sabbath (Exodus 31:14-15); he was belittling and devaluing God.  
When we make God small, we inevitably trivialize and even justify sin. We judge sin by our perspective rather than God's, and we set ourselves up as god in the process. Charnock points out, "A man in every sin aims to set up his own will as his rule, and his own glory as the end of his actions against the will and glory of God. Sin is called a turning the back upon God, a kicking against him, as if he were a slighter person than the meanest beggar." When we sin, we ridicule God. We make God and his character insignificant.
To understand the severity of all sin, even the most minor infractions, we must have a clearer understanding of God and his holiness. We must understand that all acts of rebellion, no matter how trivial in our eyes, are an insult to a holy God, for all sin is a rejection of his sovereign rule in the universe and his righteousness and purity. He remains untainted by sin and finds all sin, no matter how unimportant to us, an insult to his being. We must see God in his exalted glory to maintain a proper perspective of sin. God is infinite in his being and perfect and pure in his character.  
The shocking message of Scripture is not the severity of judgment for what we deem a slight infraction; it is the fact that a holy God can accept any sinner. Rather than judge us as we deserve, he deflected his judgment upon Christ so that we might stand righteous and acceptable before him. This man's story reminds us of the severity of sin and points us to our need for cleansing and forgiveness. When God becomes small, sin becomes trivial and salvation unnecessary. When we see the immensity of God in his holiness, we are reminded of our need for grace, grace given to us at the cross. Only a God infinite in grace and mercy would offer salvation to us.