“REDEMPTION”
Redemption is one of the hardest Christian doctrines for me to believe. Not so much that other people can be redeemed. It’s just me that I have my doubts about.
I’ve tried to “clean up the wreckage of the past,” as we say in twelve-step work. I’ve confessed my wrong-doing to those I’ve harmed. I am a different person these days.
And yet . . .
And yet . . .
And yet, I have a hard time believing that I have been, can be, or will be redeemed.
I was chatting with a Jewish friend today, who reminded me that my own religious tradition has a great deal to say about redemption. But even though I know this, it is sometimes difficult to access it. Sometimes my past seems so much more powerful than Jesus.
Yes, I know that sounds horrible. It is horrible. But there it is. There are times when I feel like I’m part of South Carolina right now. I’m in a very wide body of toxic water, and I can’t seem to find either footing or the shore.
But perhaps redemption isn’t about believing a doctrine, or finding redemption. Perhaps redemption is about Someone else rescuing us.
Whether it is the Old or the New Testament, the story of redemption is the story or a rescue from outside. In the Old Testament, the primary story is of Israel’s redemption from slavery in Egypt.
And what did the Israelites do to get the “outside help” they needed? According to Exodus 2:23, they groaned and they cried out. And God heard their groans and their cry.
In the New Testament, the emphasis is upon redemption from slavery of sin. And rest assured: Sin is synonymous with slavery. And again, there is groaning and crying out for redemption.
Well, I can do that. And maybe, that’s all I need to do.
Of course, after groaning and crying and being rescued (a.k.a. “redeemed”), I need to live as one who has been redeemed. But the first thing is to allow myself to be rescued.
Groannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn . . .
HELP, LORD!
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