Open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
(Acts 26.18
NRSV)
For a moment he was paralyzed by panic, sinking deeper and deeper. To his left he saw some marsh grass growing, each blade perhaps half an inch wide. He thought to himself, "If I could just reach that grass, perhaps a handful would have the strength of a rope." He reached out his hand, but there was a gap of about three feet between his fingers and the marsh grass. He knew that if he lunged for the grass and missed it, he would disappear under the treacherous sand. If he did nothing, though, he was doomed.
By now the sand was almost over the top of his hip boots. Suddenly he realized it wasn't the sand that was holding him. Rather the sand was holding his boots, which in turn were holding him. With shaking fingers he undid the straps that were holding his boots to his belt. Then, taking a deep breath and asking God to help him, he did it. He flung himself full length out of his boots across the deadly sand. His fingers touched the marsh grass. Desperately he grasped several strands. Then slowly, carefully, inch by agonizing inch he pulled himself out of his boots onto the solid earth. (1) He was safe. It had been an enormous struggle, but he was safe.
That is how many people regard Christian faith. "Are you a Christian?" someone asks, and embarrassedly we answer, "Well, I try to be." "Let me just stretch for a few more strands of grass, and I think I'll make it." And we miss the joy of the Gospel.
The Gospel is not about our desperately reaching out to prove our virtue to God. Rather it is about a God who reaches down in love and mercy and forgiveness to us. It is He who pulls us out of the quicksands of sin and self-destruction.
Loving God, thank you for the joy of your love and forgiveness. Amen.