In my last post I mentioned the tv show Phineas and Ferb that tells of two brothers who decide to do really exciting things all summer (build a roller coaster, make a time machine at the museum work, build a beach complete with dolphins in the backyard, etc.).
In one episode, they build this contraption that puts them through a maze full of brain teasers and other challenges.
Candace (the older sister), Isabella (a friend), and another little girl end up going through the maze together. It's a good thing they have Isabella, let me tell you. At one point they get to a spot where they have to reach the door on the other side in order to move forward. There is no easy bridge to walk on, but there is a grappling hook hanging by the door they came through. Candace does make use of the grappling hook, but instead of flinging it to a beam above and swinging across to the other side, she drops it. She says something along the lines of, "We need to drop something down there so that we know how deep it is so that we know how scared we should be." Then she drops the grappling hook, listens for when it hits the ground and says, "it's 3 seconds deep." Throughout the episode Candace does a lot of other ridiculous things, always going back to the fact that she at one time had gotten fifty fireside girl (the shows equivalent to girl scouts, I really want a fireside girl handbook) patches all in one day so, she clearly knew what she was doing. Any of Isabella's suggestions (who definitely knew far better what she was doing) were ignored, or used after Candace's ideas didn't work.
Because of our sinful nature, we can be like that too. We have egos. We gave that much food to the food pantry. We have given blood 10 times. We put waaaaaaaaay more than 10% in the offering plate (plus give to other charities). We gave a granola bar and a bottle of water to the homeless guy holding a cardboard sign on the street. We helped out with the soup kitchen. We know what we are doing! Our salvation is in the bag (who knows maybe we even sewed the bag together ourselves). We don't need help. We're confident. But we're also kind of confident we will fall, and so we want to know how deep it is, so we know how scared we should be. Because no matter how many good deeds we do, we start to wonder, "Have I done enough? Have I sinned enough times to outweigh those good deeds? How deep into hell will I go if I don't do a few more good deeds? Which good deeds even matter?"
In the maze, Candace, Isabella, and the other little girl (can't remember her name), were given a grappling hook that they had to then throw and hope they had the skills to get it to catch on a beam overhead and then swing over.
The chasm between us and our salvation is much easier to cross. Why? Because we need no skills at all. In our baptism we are brought into Christ's death and buried with Him (Romans 6:3-4). We will also rise as He did because of it (Romans 6:5). In our baptism the cross was placed in the chasm, the Holy Spirit took our hand and pulled us across the beam of the cross to the other side. No need to worry about how many seconds deep it is. The Holy Spirit took your hand.
Am I saying not to put money in the church plate, or give a granola bar to the homeless man, or help out at the soup kitchen, or do other things to love and serve your neighbor? No! What is the reason for doing those things though? To share God's love with others. God has saved you, now you are free to love and serve your neighbor without worrying about if it is enough, if it will keep you from falling down the shaft that is 3 seconds or more deep. In your baptism you were joined into Christ's death, so God has taken care of that!
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