July 17 Chapters 6-9

So, when I turned to the first page of chapter six and I saw the title "Calling the Corpses" I thought 'wonder who he's talking about this time?'. I knew it wasn't me because I am still alive. Right? Boy was I wrong and in a big way! The focus of chapter 6 is on Romans 3:21-26 but we have to look back at the earlier verses to get the whole context. The gist of it is sin, a breaking of God's law, is bad...you remember the whole "throats are open graves and their tongues practice deceit" thing. But what the Jews and Gentiles alike were struggling with, as we do today, is that our golden ticket to forever paradise in our Father's castle comes in the form of wholehearted faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, not in upholding the law, not in maintaining every facet of the ten commandments. Lucado describes sin as the univeral problem and death as the universal condition. This sin that infects our lives is what rots our souls and renders us dead. This is what seperates us from God. Some choose to deepen the expanse by jumping in with both feet and splashing around in it. Others choose to lessen the great divide by confessing our sins to God and stretching out of our comfort zones to be who HE wants us to be. As Margie says, there is a 100 percent chance of death. Inevitable, unavoidable, death will come to our bodies whether they are old and worn or whether they are young and agile but what of our souls? I believe with all my heart and mind that our creatures, our beings were created with an inate desire to worship. God put in us a need to worship HIM. So what happens when we try to fill this need with something else? Think of the other basic needs; food, water, shelter, and love. So what if I come across someone who is in need of shelter...and I offer them some bologna. Can they make a house out of it? In case of a blizzard, could they wrap up tight in it and stay warm? Or what if someone is in need of food? They have the kind of hunger where it feels like your stomach might eat your right leg if you don't give it something soon. Imagine that starving person chewing on the side of a four bedroom. Tasty?? Filling???? Satisfying??? I don't think so. The person who refuses God or doesn't know him to begin with is not filled or satisfied, there is a constant yearning or longing for "something more". So we are the corpses only Christ is calling for us, He wants to fill us with His grace, mercy and love. Can you hear Him?
Chapter seven begins with a laughable scenario from Lucado's own life. It's all about the car insurance company cancelling his policy after he had proven he was a very worthy client. In other words, after racking up a few blemishes on his record he was kicked to the curb. Is that the standard operating procedure in heaven? You sin one too many times and God says 'it's been real but you're outta here'? No way no how! I loved the part in Lucado's book that says Salvation comes from heaven downward, not earth upward. It's not about what we do or did it is about what Christ did for us on the cross. Salvation has been offered and it is up to us to accept it. God wants to make us right with him. How do we do that? Some might see God's grace as an invitation to run willy-nilly. The willy-nilly runner says 'If God is going to forgive me then why not sin sin sin'? The reality is that if you truly accept Jesus as the Savior of your life then you will want to please him and you guessed it, not sinning is what pleases him. I love this paragraph "My eternal soul is under heavenly coverage, and Jesus isn't known for dismissing clients. He is known, however, for paying premiums and I'm paid up for life. I'm in good hands with him." So my question to everyone and to myself is this: How can we truly accept or even begin to understand God's forgiveness of our sins if we are not willing to forgive others of their sins?
The next chapter talks of the debt of sin. We tried for a minute to put a price tag on various types of sin. You know, how much should we charge for greed? How about envy? Adultery should carry a really high price. I know where the price tag is for greed, envy, adultery, malice, for murder, idolatry, and hatred. The tag hung on the cross. It died there. We are paid up even before we need it. Our sin debt has been canceled. Lucado says that "people accept Jesus as Lord before they accept him as Savior". I completely identified with this. In my mind Lord has always been LORD and Savior has been savior. But unless we accept both parts with equal excitement and reverence we are missing a big part. I love these verses from the MSG translation of Romans 4 "When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do, but on what God said he would do". God said he would forgive our sins and give us eternal life. Let's just trust him to do what he said instead of trying to do it ourselves.
Chapter 9 starts out by recollecting the 95 MLB season. The professional players were complaining and demanding more money, they were refusing to play the game until their demands were met. So the owners decided to allow anyone who was willing and sometimes able to play in their stead. The result: there were players who played for the love of the game, players who cherished their standing with each other, with their fans, and with the people who served them, players who recognized the privilege they had recieved. So based on that brief description, are you a professional player who complains when things don't go the way you plan, who demands that your wants be met, who tries to bargain with the owner? Or are you a rookie who came willingly to the field not because of the fame and fortune but because you love the game, are you willing to play when and where the owner tells you, do you consider your position one of privilege? If we look at Romans 5:1-12 we find all the blessings that will be freely given if you come as the rookies did. Some of the highlights: Peace with God, no doubt about it he loves you and accepts you the way you are; A Place with God, walking hand in hand with Jesus into the throne room; Sharing in God's Glory, which is where we will begin our discussion next time.