A number of years ago, Chicago had a very nasty winter.
The
weight of snow on the roofs of many homes, apartments and offices
exceeded structural recommendations. Bob McGrath had one such building:
his garage. McGrath wasn't too concerned about things until his wife
went into the garage to get some boxes and, shortly afterwards, he heard
a great crash.
A glance out the window revealed the garage roof
had buckled and caved in. McGrath didn't stop for hat or coat. He ran
from the house, grabbed a snow shovel and called out for the neighbors
to help. The sweat on his face froze, as he dug at the snow and pulled
the debris from the wreckage. Eventually, thankfully, he heard his
wife's voice and saw her hand.
In moments the crying couple was
reunited. Those who were there say it was a touching moment. In answer
to her husband's repeated question, Mrs. McGrath assured him she was all
right, and she was. In fact Mrs. McGrath had always been all right.
That's because she wasn't in the garage when it collapsed. She had
entered the garage through the side door but had come out through the
back. She was in the house and quite comfortable, when the garage roof
went down.
But rather than throwing cold water on her husband's
noble efforts to save her, Mrs. McGrath snuck back into the garage and
waited patiently to be rescued.
The story of the McGraths is a
beautiful story of love. Unfortunately, it is not very similar to the
story of our rescue from this world's forces of darkness. Indeed, there
are a number of differences.
The first difference is that we,
unlike Mrs. McGrath, have never been safe and secure. On the contrary,
the sins of our hearts and minds, and the disobedience of our actions
had condemned all of us to temporal and eternal death.
The second
difference is that we, unlike Mrs. McGrath, had no desire to be saved.
Many of us much preferred to ignore the Lord and try and do those good
works that would eventually balance out the scales of good and evil. In
a futile and false endeavor, we decided to try and save ourselves.
About the only similarity I can see between the McGraths and
condemned humanity is this: we both had a dedicated rescuer. Mrs.
McGrath had her husband, and we have Jesus Christ. So that we might be
rescued from the death and destruction caused by our disobedience the
Lord sent His Son into this world to take our place.
So that we
might be rescued, Jesus lived a perfect life for us. So that we might be
saved, Jesus resisted every temptation for us. So that we might know
death had been transformed from our enemy into a gateway to eternal
life, Jesus rose from the dead.
With single-minded purpose,
without a flaw or a failing in His entire life, Jesus did for us all
that we could not do. His success assures that we have been rescued.
This is the assurance Paul held out to the jailer at Philippi. It is
also the same for us.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, for having
rescued us through Your life and death we must be eternally grateful.
May our lives reflect our appreciation. In Your Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries All rights reserved;
not to be duplicated without permission.
