At the Cross

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

I was on my bike today listening to some music when the words of Jeremy Riddle’s song “Sweetly Broken” hit me so hard that I literally found myself weeping as I rode along. Here’s just a few of the lyrics from that song:

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

I was struck by how gracious God is to call me to Himself, and allow me to be reconciled to Him through the cross. This is something I never could have done for myself. It’s not something I could earn or deserve. It’s not something I would have the courage, or even the will to do on my own.


It reminded me of watching my seven year old grandson Elijah at play. When he dons his plastic helmet and shield, and picks up his plastic sword, he is suddenly transformed into a knight in shining armor. As he wields the sword powerfully he looks as though he’s ready to take on any foe that might come at him. Then, suddenly, I realize that this is the same little boy who is afraid to go upstairs on his own when it’s dark. His knightly bravado is just a game, a child’s effort to pretend to be strong and brave.

The truth is that I play the same sort of game, pretending to have life under control, pretending to be strong and brave. But in reality, I know my weakness, my fears, my sins and my failures. When it’s dark upstairs I have to coax Elijah to climb those steps, encouraging him to remember that God is with him, reminding him to turn on the lights as he goes, and reassuring him that I am right there watching over him. Only then does he have the courage to make that daunting ascent.

God has done the same thing for me. If I’m honest with myself I would never come into God’s presence on my own. I’m too sinful to come before a holy God. I’m too broken to enter His throne room. I’m too fearful to make that daunting ascent. In fact, I’m too rebellious to even want to. But there is God, at the cross, beckoning me, drawing me gently by His perfect love, coaxing me to come near, reminding me of His love. I realize that I deserve God’s wrath, that I am under sin’s curse and have earned the wages of sin, which is death. But God is there, at the cross, calling me out of death and into life, undeserved life. So, I don’t have to make a show of make believe bravado like Elijah does in his knight’s armor. No, I can come “sweetly broken, wholly surrendered,” because of the perfect love God has shown me in Jesus. What a wonderful God we have! What a priceless gift we have been given through Christ crucified. Because of Him we have confidence to make that daunting ascent to the throne of God, to worship at His feet. That journey begins “at the cross” where our loving Father beckons us to come.

When evil isn't good enough!

"I'm not satisfied with the term 'evil'," says Simon Baron-Cohen, a Cambridge University psychology and psychiatry professor. “I've been looking for an alternative – we need a new theory of human cruelty." He calls for a kind of rebranding of evil to offer a more scientific explanation for why people kill and torture, or have such great difficulty understanding the feelings of others. His proposal is that evil be understood as a lack of empathy – a condition he argues can be measured and monitored and is susceptible to education and treatment.

Meet the new Savior of the world, Simon Baron-Cohen. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could eliminate evil just by rebranding it as a “lack of empathy” and then educate people to be completely understanding of the feelings of others? Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. Evil is a real as the news we read every day. And evil is the result of another very real human condition – sin. We’ve also tried rebranding sin (human frailty, mistakes, poor choices) and it hasn’t worked either.

The reality is that sin is such an intransigent problem that the only solution was the love of God manifested in His Son Jesus Christ. In order to overcome sin Jesus, who was God come in the flesh, had to live a sinless life as a real human being and then take upon Himself the sin of the whole world. He had to suffer terrible cruelty at the hands of sinfule men and die on a cross in order to absorb the wrath of God and pay the penalty in full for sin. That’s a horrible solution but sin is a horrible problem. Look at the evil that results from it day after day all over the world.

We will not redefine our way out of evil. We will not educate our way out of evil. We cannot talk ourselves out of evil. And we cannot reform ourselves to overcome evil. We need a Savior, a real Savior, whose loving sacrifice becomes the compelling reason for us to live not for ourselves but for Him who died for us and was raised again. Once we have trusted ourselves to Him, then – and only then, by the power of the Holy Spirit – and only by the power of God – can we begin to live a new live in which we say “No” to sin and “Yes” to self-controlled, upright and godly living.

Fitness vs. Temptation

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

At Concordia Lutheran Church we are in the midst of a series of messages entitled "Fit for Life." In this series we are looking at many different aspects of fitness--spiritual, physical, financial, intellectual and relational. God wants us to be "Fit for Life" in all of these areas, but staying fit in any of them can be a real struggle.

I've noted that in the area of physical fitness particularly. Since moving to Texas I've fallen in love with half pound burgers, beefy barbeque, and sizzling steaks. As a result I've put on 20 pounds that have made life on the bike difficult to say the least. Hills seem steeper and longer. Rides of any distance over 20 miles seem endless. Even swift descents are more harrowing with a higher center of gravity (more weight on top of the bike).


All of these issues have conspired to motivate me to try to get back in shape. As a result, I've broken out my stationary trainer, mounted my Giant bike on it in the upstairs guest room, and started sweating to the commands of Coach Troy in my "Spinervals" DVDs. With a pounding heart and quivering legs I've driven my body to try and regain some of the strength and tone I once had.

The equation, however, has not been complete, because I have yet to change my eating habits. This is where the Bible verse above comes into play. The truth is that we all face similar temptations. My situation is not unique. I need to remember that God is faithful. The temptations I've been giving into are the same ones that countless other people have overcome every day with God's help. God promises to provide a way of escape from temptation if I will only take it. Maybe that means passing up seconds, avoiding some of the restaurants where the temptations are the greatest, or just swapping brocolli for a baked potato with butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and bacon.

Fitness in every area means relying on God's help to overcome temptations. Financially it may mean refusing to lay down that credit card to purchase a luxury you can't really afford. Spiritually it may mean disciplining yourself to spend those few minutes each day in God's Word. Intellectually it may mean refusing to buy into the futile thinking of the world's philosophies. Relationally it may mean saying no to self-indulgence in order to serve those you love.

Ultimately, fitness as a self-improvement project is rarely successful. But when we rely on God's faithfulness and his strength to overcome tempation, then we can succeed in becoming more fit for service to Him.