Focal Passage: Romans 5:1-11
Our son is an avid windsurfer. It is one of his passions,
and he describes his ability level as “expert.”
Avid windsurfers like to live a bit “on the edge.” They savor days with 40 knot winds and white-capping
seas.
On a recent February day he took to the water for an afternoon
of windsurfing on the Chowan River
where we live.
As he was crisscrossing the turbulent river, I thought to
myself, “Lord, please be with him because he has no ‘back-up’ plan.” If his board hit him in the head on one of his acrobatic
leaps, there was not going to be any rescue boat.
He had no plan-B, and neither did we.
As we get older, we tend to become a bit more cautious in
our decision-making.
While I can sometimes be bold, I don’t like to be dangerous.
I like having a safety net. I like having a back-up plan.
Sometimes we may be guilty of thinking about the plan of
God, beginning with the Incarnation and ending with the Cross and Resurrection,
as some kind of plan B, a back-up plan.
We think, “If only we had been better people, if only we hadn’t
sinned so much, if only we had given God more sacrifices,” then God would not
have been compelled to send His Son.
If you have ever thought like this, then know that your
thinking was wrong.
God made us and knows our weaknesses even better than we do. God knew that sending Jesus Christ to be the sacrificial
Lamb was not an option.
It was not plan B, it was plan A all along. “At the right
time” (appointed moment — v. 6) God sent His Son.
The sending of Jesus Christ was the ultimate proof of God’s
love (v. 8). God never said we were deserving.
Neither did He say we would have made the same decision. In fact, Paul concluded that our choosing to die for a good
person, even a “saint,” would be rare indeed (v. 7).
Paul describes this life as the “reconciled” life (v.
10-11). I like his terminology.
This reconciled life is a life to be lived in “peace with
God” (v. 1), but also lived somewhat on the edge.
This life comes at a cost, and there is the expectation that
our goal and passion will be spiritual growth and maturity.
The apostle describes this growth process as including the
following: suffering, endurance, character, and hope.
Each serves as a stepping stone for the next, bringing us
closer to God.
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