1-26-2014

Good Morning to All,

    Mark 10:45; “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

    There is a psychological phenomenon which is called “the Stockholm Syndrome”.  It was first named after four bank employees who were held hostage in a bank hold up for six days.  At the end of the six days, these hostages started to sympathize with the robbers even to the point of asking the government to not rescue them and to let the robbers go free.  In the United States, probably the most famous example of this was Patty Hearst when she was kidnapped by a group that called themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army.  After a few weeks, she participated in a bank robbery with them.

    There are many factors which way in but there are two to look at.

    · The captive's perception of small kindnesses from the captor within a context of terror

     · Isolation from perspectives other than those of the captor

These two things represent the relationship that sinful man as with the devil.  Sinful man is so terrorized by the devil that any form of good is seen as coming from him and anything from God is seen as punishment or hatred.  The devil also seeks to separate you from God in order to isolate you from God’s thoughts and ideas.  So we live as kidnap victims who are sympathizing with our captor the devil.

    This is why we are called enemies of God.  This is why we hate God.  We are so ingrained by our true captor the devil that we miss out on God’s true mercy.  So when Christ came as the ransom for us; we resisted and in many ways we still do.  Our sinful nature always tries to reject God and flee back to the devil.  Even though we were reluctant to be saved, Christ saves us anyway.  Even though we turn on him in our time of victory, Christ continues to give the ransom for our soul.  Our salvation is given to us freely; yet we still oppose and fight against it.  We continually turn back to sin as if it were the answer.

    So God calls us back again and again.  He keeps calling to us with his words of forgiveness and his words of hope.  He keeps returning to us in order to restore us to his family.  This is our hope.  Christ’s ransom for us is ever present and always ongoing.  Our sins are continually paid for and the ransom is paid.  We need to trust in the Lord and his promises.  He gives us the certainty of hope that we need.  It is through his ransom that we are saved.

Gracious Father, we give you thanks for the blessings of today.  Your ransom for us continually renews us.  Be with those who are still trapped by the devil’s lies.  Give them the courage to walk away from him into your loving arms.  Let your grace overflow us like a river.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret