Wednesday, January 25, 2017

"Grace to the Barren", Part I - Scott Parsons

A man went for a hike one day, and as he was approaching the summit of the hill he was climbing, he paused by the edge of a cliff to rest and take in the view. As he was standing there enjoying his break, the dirt under his feet gave way and he found himself helplessly sliding over the edge of the cliff. As he began to fall his body slammed into a small tree that was growing out of the face of the cliff. He instinctively reached out and managed to grab hold of the tree.  As he dangled from the tree, he quickly realized that there was no way for him to climb up, and no way down except to fall. Even though he had seen no other people on his hike, he cried out in desperation hoping someone would hear him. To his great surprise, he heard a voice respond to him. “Who is there?”, cried the man. “It's God” came the response. “I want you to let go of the tree and trust me.”  After a moment of silence, the man, in a much weaker voice called out, “Is there anyone else up there?”


While the story may cause us to smile, the message of it hits terribly close to home. While we very much like the idea of grace, we are also very much afraid of it. Without question, one of the most powerful driving forces of the human mind is the need to be in control. We fiercely cling to the right to control our own lives even when we are making a terrible mess out of it and things are spinning out of control. Hence the problem with grace. Receiving grace requires that we acknowledge that we are helpless and that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves good enough for God or earn his pleasure. All we can do is do is throw ourselves at his feet, cry out for mercy, and trust his love, his sacrifice on our behalf, and his promises. In our passage for Sunday, Galatians 4:21-31, Paul says that when we try to remain in control by adding our own efforts to God’s grace, we remain enslaved to sin and the law and that we haven't experienced grace at all. Could this be you?  Have you experienced the freedom and joy that comes from surrendering everything (even the control of your life and destiny) to Jesus, or are you afraid to let go and trust him?  Think about it. Pray about it.