Romans 8:1-4 -- “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
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Well, we find ourselves today at the Third Sunday in Lent. We’ve been on this path together for 19 days, with 28 days remaining on our shared journey. How are you doing? Did you make a commitment at the beginning of Lent to give something up, choosing to live in the penitent nature of this season? Maybe you even started 2012 with a New Year’s resolution. Many of us have targets, goals or pledges we set weeks, months or even years before a seemingly arbitrary turn of the calendar. Have you kept your commitment?
As we reflect on commitments made and broken, we can find ourselves in a place where the burden of falling short, the work required to begin again, appear as an overwhelming endeavor. It becomes easier to stay broken and separate than to be faced with the prospect of admitting the temporary failure and starting anew. This condition can make you feel unworthy of the Gift and cause you to close off from the glory and grace freely available to you. The multiple occasions of missing the mark can put you in the mindset that it is better to live in the mindset of perpetual disappointment as opposed to experiencing the emotional roller coaster of joy which you believe will eventually crash back towards fear and depression. This is a trick the Prince of Lies hopes you will believe. But there is something more, something better.
In Christ, we have the ability to renew ourselves again and again. What great and glorious news! The concept of condemnation...damnation, the antithesis of salvation...literally does not exist for those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We have this ability, thanks to this gift, to be a part of the eternal Kingdom of God,
To some, the phrase “Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior” can sound very cliched, due to its rampant use in the evangelical setting on “church TV”, books and radio. It can also be a bit threatening or frankly, a mystery, to many. What does it really mean? As I have thought about this in the Sunday School setting or while visiting my brothers in jail and prison, when we examine the words more closely and reflect on their meaning, we can appreciate the real power of this statement.
Accept: This is a gift which has been given, freely offered without expectation of payment or trade. Taking this gift and making it your own, a part of you.
Jesus Christ: God who became like us, fully man, in order to live like us, be tempted like us and die as we will one day die.
Lord: An authority whom we obey and follow.
Savior: The one who heals us, makes us whole and delivers us from certain and eternal death.
So, whether it is for Lent, the New Year or a greater commitment of which you have fallen short, do not be afraid to renew it and begin again. Because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have been made clean by His Holy Sacrifice. You are no longer condemned to a life of hopelessness, fear and regret. You may be bent, but your are not broken. Stand. Straighten yourself up looking towards Him with a smile of happiness. You are a new creation, you are perfect. Live your life as a recognition of this fact and go forth with joy and thanksgiving into this new day!
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