MY SON DIED FOR YOU?
ROMANS 8:31-39
Tony Compolo, in his book entitled Who Switched the Price Tags tells the story of a West Point graduate that was sent to Vietnam. This man was in charge of a group of new recruits and they were sent into the combat zone.
This young lieutenant did his job well and tried his best to keep his men safe...to keep them from booby traps and ambushes. And for a while things went fairly smooth.
But one night they were surprised by a whole battalion of Viet Cong. All the men but one was able to get to cover and fight from a safer position. The one soldier that was left behind was severely wounded in a vicious cross fire.
They wanted desperately to reach him and get him medical attention but leaving cover meant being caught right in the middle of the enemy cross fire. From behind the safety of their position they could hear the agonizing cries of their wounded comrade.
After what seemed like an eternity the young officer could stand the cries no more and went out into the deadly area. He reached his wounded man and managed to drag him back toward safety. But just as he pushed the wounded man into the trench, the lieutenant was fired upon, hit, and killed instantly.
Some months later the rescued soldier returned to the states. Somehow the parents of the dead officer learned that this man was in their area, so they invited him over for dinner. They wanted to get to know this man whose life was spared at such a great cost to them.
On the night of the dinner, their guest arrived...drunk! He was loud and rowdy and obnoxious. He continually told off-color jokes, was rude, and showed absolutely no concern for his suffering hosts.
But the parents of this dead hero were also brave, and they did the best they could to salvage the evening...to make it worthwhile. But their best efforts went completely unrewarded.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the visit ended, and the obscene guest left. As her husband closed the door, the mother collapsed in tears and cried, "To think that our son died for somebody like that."
But before we go too far in our criticism of that ungrateful soldier... shouldn’t we consider how much like him most of us are? Jesus died for each one of us, and yet we continue to sin. Jesus paid a terrible price to give us eternal life...and yet we continue to behave in ways that mirror that of the ungrateful soldier.
We owe Him something better, but we fail to deliver what we should. We fail to reflect on the cost that was paid so that we might have salvation. If we did ...our lives would be radically different.
Now, we may at times look at the suffering of Christ, but do we stop to think of the suffering of God as He watched His Son endure all the ridicule, and abuse, and such a horrible death?
God surely must have suffered tremendously during that time, but His suffering did not end at Calvary. The sins we commit here and now bring pain to Jesus here and now.
But in a similar way, I wonder if God might be watching us this day and asking the same question those heartbroken parents asked, "My son died for you?"
So what shall we say in response to this? Vs. 31-32 says, "If God is for us... In his own way, I think Paul is restating what Jesus spoke to His disciples in Luke 12. In vs. 22-23...then look at vs. 31...
This is what God wants for us...what He has promised us...what He has provided for us in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He wants to give us all the things we actually need in life.
He wants to give us not only the physical and material things, but He also wants to meet our emotional needs, our relational needs, and of course, our spiritual needs. Yet in so many areas many of us are lacking?
So what’s the problem? At what point do we break down? What causes us to seek out other sources for our security and for our pleasure? Why is it that we turn our backs...and our hearts...and our souls from our Heavenly Father?
Each one of us has been invited to the meal, and yet so many of us show up in the same condition as that ungrateful soldier. Maybe we aren’t physically drunk...but we come drunk in our own pride...telling God obscene stories of our own self-sufficiency.
Telling God, and trying to convince ourselves that we can make it on our own. God is for the old or the weak, or those who need a crutch. But I can make it on my own...I’ve gotten along alright so far and I can surely continue on doing so.
Besides, I go to church, maybe even on a regular basis...I give some of my money, and I¡¦m not that bad of a person...at least compared to most. That may be okay for you...but I am doing just fine on my own.
Could it be that in the midst of our pride and self-sufficiency God is asking the question..."My Son died for you?"
One of the primary things that contributes to our disregard for God’s sacrifice...the price paid by Jesus on the cross...is our immature way of dealing with sin.
We’ll do almost anything to rationalize away our sin...to explain and to justify them...to make them seem trivial. We have somehow formed a system where we grade different sins.
*Take Jeffrey Dahmer for instance...the man who abused, tortured, and killed several people. I’m certainly better than he is. Now there is a sinner. I’ve never done anything like that.
But I wonder. Am I better than he is? Do I recognize any more than he did the price Christ paid on the cross? Do I hear any better than him the agonized cries of my Father in heaven when I turn away from Him in a fit of temper?
Or when I fail to worship...or when I’m too busy (all legitimately of course) to pray and read His Word...or when I’ve accepted the invitation to come to His house - like we have this morning - and yet have shown up too drunk with myself to pay attention to what He has to say to me?
"My Son died for you? When we downplay or rationalize away our sin, we are, at the same time, downplaying the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In other words, if we don’t think we are wounded or in danger, then we don’t think that we need a lieutenant to come and drag us into the trench.
But that was just what Jesus did for us. Or was Jesus just some poor fool who got caught in a cross fire between Jewish and Roman law? Hardly...because the warning from God is clear..."for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
Some of you are spiritually wounded and trapped in a no-man’s land and crying out for help. But that is the best place to be because there is someone who is not only willing, but able to rescue you...to give you live...abundant life not only here but for all eternity.
But there are also some here this morning that have already been dragged to safety and have escaped death through the cross. But does that mean that we forget about the sacrifice...about the price that was paid? I don’t think so.
Let me ask you...would you have been offended by the actions of the obscene guest that came to that family’s house? I believe we would have been? Let’s look back at ƒaCh. 6 - vs. 1-4 (READ)ƒ`
"MY SON DIED FORE YOU?" the Father asks. And then God Himself answers "Yes, my Son died for you." You were wounded and bleeding and dying, and my Son left His safety and went out into the cross fire for you and dragged you back.
And His reward? He was nailed to a cross. Philippians 2 says, "Your attitude should be like that of Christ Jesus...Who made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness...He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross."
God says, "Yes, my Son died for you. Even when you fail to recognize that you are injured and dying, my Son still came and saved you from death."
God’s forgiveness is given...not to one who is sufficiently qualified to receive it, but instead to one who is entirely unworthy.
If God’s Word is true, then each one of us have been injured and have laid helpless, moving closer to death. But someone came and pulled us away from danger. For His effort He was beaten. He was mocked. He was crucified.
You and I...are we sorry? Does this cause us sorrow, that our life should cause someone else’s death? It should...because it is true that He died for you...and for me.
But wait...look at what the angel told the women at the tomb where He was buried. He is not here...He has risen just as He said. And now God invites us to his meal. He wants to know who it is that His Son died for.
But how will you come? Cursing...foul...hateful...drunk on your own self-sufficiency? Yet the choice is yours to make.
There is a better way.
We can come to Him like one who is grateful for life. We can come as one who has reflected on the cost of salvation. We can come as one who rejoices in the love that was shown by the Heavenly Father.
What then shall we say in response to this...He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?...
READ VS. 38-39)
That same love is available this morning for any who would reach out and receive...
