As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:1-10
So, when I was researching for the content of the last day of Bible study for the Holy Yoga Retreat I stumbled onto this story.
Ah, how a good, fiery story can grip my heart!
"A pastor friend told me about the day a very disturbing telephone call came into the church office. A part-time staff member, who had been out in his neighborhood walking his dog, had been mugged, stabbed in the heart and rushed to the hospital, and was now in intensive care with virtually no prospect for survival. When the word spread among the church staff, they gathered spontaneously to pray. Standing around the communion table, each person prayed. My friend told me that he and the others offered sincere prayers, but mostly polite and mild petitions, prayers that spoke of comfort and hope and changed hearts, but prayers that had already faced the hard facts of almost certain death.
Then the custodian prayed. My friend reported that it was the most athletic prayer he had ever witnessed. The custodian wrestled with God, shouted at God, anguished with God. His finger jabbed the air and his body shook. "You’ve got to save him! You just can’t let him die!" he practically screamed at God. "You’ve done it many times, Lord! You’ve done it for others, you’ve done it for me, now I am begging you to do it again! Do it for him! Save him, Lord!"
"It was as if he grabbed God by the lapels and refused to turn God loose until God came with healing wings," my friend said. "When we heard that prayer, we just knew that God would indeed come to heal. In the face of that desperate cry for help, God would have been ashamed not to save the man’s life." And so it happened."
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3334
This leads me, with great joy, to a FIERCE Jesus. A passionate, energetic Warrior. A King who hears the CRY of the forsaken, the broken, and the lost and DOES something about it!
The Rescuer is someone comes to save us from danger, harm, or violence.
We're talking about a hero here.
This IS a King. This is THE Warrior. This is a scene from a movie.
This is William Wallace (if you haven’t seen Braveheart, now is the time!). His only love is wronged and destroyed, so he rises up - he takes a stand against the enemy.
But THIS King does not sit up on his horse, off to the side, overseeing the battle. THIS King paints his face blue and stands on the front lines with his people. He gets dirty and he risks everything to win the freedom of the people he loves.
If you’ve seen Braveheart then you KNOW that the last scene is powerful and, yes, spiritual.
Unlike our Hero, William Wallace is killed and he does not come back from the dead. His story is simply a shadow - it invokes so much emotion in us because it is a mere reflection of an even greater story.
In WIlliam Wallace's story he refuses to bow to the King who is the inflictor of injustice and evil. He is sentenced to be tortured to death - humiliated and mutilated before he is finally beheaded. The Queen to be, who loves him, begs him to take a drug that will numb the pain - knowing that he is going to be tortured.
But WIlliam Wallace spits it out and goes to face his death with a clear head. Throughout his torture he is tempted by the man destroying him, "Just say you were wrong.... just swear allegiance to the King and it will all be over."
He offers him a quick death. All William Wallace needs to do is surrender the fight; give up the one he loves.
William turns his head and makes eye contact with a little boy. He sees a vision of his murdered wife, the very reason he started the fight, walking through the crowd. He sees his men, tears streaming down their faces.
And then William's last breath comes in a loud cry of "FREEDOM!"
The people who have gathered to watch are stunned and William's men stand in the midst of them and weep for their King.
It is the most moving scene I have ever seen. Ever.
It is moving because Jesus is in it. The story that shapes our lives is wrapped up in this true story of a King who fights and dies for freedom.
Our King, Jesus, does more. He comes back. And THAT is what makes him the Rescuer.
We love stories of heroes because a hero defies the odds; a hero does the impossible; a hero stands up to the darkest and strongest enemy and WINS.
If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
romans 14:8&9
Death has been the enemy from day one. Death entered the world through sin - it created a deterioration of human life. The body can only live so long when separated from God.
Death is to mankind what the King of England was to Scotland.
It kept us from a free life; it violated and threatened us throughout every moment of our lives.
Who can rescue us?!
How can we ever be free?!
Ah, there is a Rescuer. And he has come.
Our Rescuer, OUR King, stood on the front lines, surrounded by the sea of humanity, painted with the colors of freedom. He spoke words of courage and hope into the hearts of every human being who placed their trust in him and then he raced into the battle.
Yes, he was killed. It seemed like the enemy had won.
Imagine the sick feeling Jesus' followers carried in the pits of their stomaches. They, like WIlliam Wallaces' men, watched the complete torture and mutilation of the man they had placed the value of their lives on. He was the bearer of their hope. They loved him. They heard that cry come from the depth of his soul "Forgive them! They don't know what they are doing!"
And then they watched him die.
The Rescuer. Dead.
And nothing else seemed to happen. He was dead. Buried. Hope had died with him.
It was all gone.
But OUR Rescuer did MORE. The battle wasn't over. It had only begun.
We may never know what truly happened when the Spirit of God left the body of Jesus on that cross.
But we DO know that the Spirit of God came back into that body. Jesus came back.
Our King did not fail.
And in coming back, he paved a way for us.
It's as if William Wallace had thrown off the chains that bound him, jumped off of that torture table and marched into the King of England's chambers and killed him then and there - taking the victory and declaring freedom for Scotland.
Our story is thrilling, impossible, glorious and earth shattering.
It would be so easy to place our hope in a man like William Wallace, but those men cannot ever do what Jesus has done.
No man can ever make us alive again. No man can ever defeat the strongest, most terrifying power we will ever stand against - the power of death.
But the Rescuer has.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
We NEED a Rescuer! that is the point of BEING rescued! it really is not about getting ourselves put together and figured out BEFORE we approach him.
In our everyday circumstances we NEED to approach him with our battles, our struggles, our fears and our hopelessness. We have to see our NEED for a rescuer in every moment.
He came for us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS!
This IS the story of a KING who is fierce and powerful; standing on the very front lines of battle, painted in war paint, fighting for the freedom of his people.
This is the King who hears the cry of the lost and frightened. He has never stopped moving to free us...
Freedom....
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