God lets it be known today so that we may all the more passionately, all the more eagerly, seize the promise of grace, so that we might recognize that we do not stand before God in our own strength, lest we should perish before God; that in spite of everything God does not desire our death, but rather our life”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Testament to Freedom
"What about the 'good and evil' about which Christ will ask us on that final day? The good is nothing other than our asking for and receiving his grace. The evil is only fear and wanting to stand before God on our own and justify ourselves. To repent, therefore, means to be in the process of turning around, turning away from our own accomplishments and receiving God's mercy. Turn back, turn back! The whole Bible calls us to joyfully turn back--where? To the everlasting mercy of God who never leaves us, whose heart breaks because of us, the God who created us and loves us beyond all measure."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Collected Sermons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The idea of redemption refers to deliverance from sin and in the Christian context is the result of the revelation of God in Christ. In today's readings, guilt is the major stumbling block that is overcome in Christ. According to Psychology Today, "guilt and its handmaiden, shame, can paralyze––or catalyze one into action. Appropriate guilt can function as social glue, spurring one to make reparations for wrongs." I am fascinated by the idea of "paralyze or catalyze." Either you let your guilt paralyze you, rendering you unable (or unwilling) to repent, or you let your guilt catalyze your actions. You do something. One of my professors at SMU, Dr. Billy Abraham, would always say "it's time to either fish or cut bait." You have to make a decision. In the second Bonhoeffer quote, this decision is very clear: we must "[turn] away from our own accomplishments and [receive] God's mercy." Redemption is always available to us. God's mercy is ever present and everlasting, but we have to turn around and turn away from ourselves!
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