No Turning Back
Ephesians 2:1-10
1. And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins 2. in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 3. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, 5. even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6. and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7. that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God -- 9. not because of works, lest any man should boast. 10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Galatians 4:8-9
8. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods; 9. but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more?
The heading for this Galatians passage in my bible is
No Turning Back. Ah . . . turning back. Now that’s where I am this morning! We went to a Bruce Springsteen concert last night, and every time I hear one of his songs, I am instantly drawn back to my youth! He commented last night that Richmond is one of the few places where he could actually make a living as a performer, “back in the 70’s.” Of course, I remember “back then” and have followed his career. One reason I am a fan is that he looks at life through a disciple’s eyes. As he shared with the audience some of his travels in southern California, he talked about the Mexican illegals who died in the desert trying to cross the border in to the states. And he talked about the steel workers in New Jersey who became disenfranchised in the 80’s as the steel business closed down and moved over seas. But he also shared some joyous experiences -- his children growing up and living a life he lived once . . .
I like him because he has remained true to himself, even in the years when “popular” voices were saying he was out of step, or when people wanted to “feel good” and his ballads seemed too sad and focused on issues that made people “uncomfortable.” And that’s what it means to be a disciple. To say what needs to be said. To say what should be said. Not just to “say it,” but to say it because the voiceless have no other voice, and the blind have no one else to lead them. And people don’t change all that much in 2000 years, do they?
We are each who and what we are by God’s divine choice. Because it is a divine choice, he allows us some say in the matter. Springsteen sang a beautiful ballad about Jesus last night that brought tears to my eyes. It was almost chilling, the passion and the grief, the repentance and the abject humility with which he droned out the words to “Jesus was an only Son.” And we are all the only sons and daughters of God. He loves us just that much -- as much as he loved Jesus. Because that perfect son chose to fulfill God’s divine plan, we have access to the same God in heaven for all eternity. We may not have to physically die, but we must die to ourselves, and to our own desires. We may have to give up the friends we think we want, and the lifestyle we think we need. And we may have to give up keeping quiet, and putting up with immorality, and refuse to conform to a world that lives as if Christ never died or rose from the dead.
Once we know the truth; once we make the choice to follow Jesus; once we decide to fulfill the divine plan God has for us, there is no turning back. Everything is different. And that makes all the difference!
My prayer to day is that you resist the temptation to turn back when faced with a difficult decision. And that you grab hold of the grace that saves you.
Mary
