10-01-2015

Good Morning All!!

         Psalm 44:26; “Rise up; come to our help!  Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!”

      The husband was a collector of all things about trains.  He had books about trains.  He had different train memorabilia; he had toy train sets; he had music about trains.  He really enjoyed trains.  His wife was very active in the community where they lived and served on many charitable boards.  When the local library had a fall bazaar with an all-day rummage sale and an all-day menu of barbequed food, the husband decided he wanted to stay home and watch football on TV.  His wife casually mentioned that she saw some books about trains in one of the boxes and she thought he might be interested.  So intrigued, he went to look at the books.

    He was amazed that there were some many books, must have been a dozen.  Some were old and worn some were fairly new.  He picked one up and it looked somewhat familiar so he turned to the back page of the book and he saw it.  He saw his initials.  This was his book!!  His wife had taken some of his train books and put them in the rummage.  He was about to quietly but sternly speak to his wife when the guy beside him said, “These are my woodworking tools.”  He heard another man exclaim, “These are all my baseball cards.”  Soon all the men realized that their wives had taken portions of their collectibles and brought them to the rummage sale.  All the men had to buy back their collections.  They had to redeem their prized possessions or else lose them to someone else.

    In order to keep what was theirs, the men had to buy it back.  When the men all realized they were all in the same boat, they all laughed.  Yet having to buy back what is yours doesn’t seem fair.  I remember talking to a friend many years ago whose watch was stolen.  He found it later in a pawn shop.  Although he couldn’t prove it in court that it was his; it had a scratch and other markings like his.  He was positive he bought his own watch back.  He didn’t like it but it had been a gift from his parents so he swallowed and bought it back.  That is what it means to redeem something.  It means to buy back what is yours.  In some cases it is out of joy.  I have spoken to farmers who bought back a tractor that their fathers owned many years before.  In some cases, like the guy with the watch, it has a stiff price and a bitter taste.

    This is what God did for us.  He bought us back from sin and the power of death.  We were his creatures to start with but we wandered away and soon were captured by the devil in sin and death.  Jesus died to buy us back because he loves us.  We are his; he paid a horrific price but he paid it willingly because of his love for us.

Father of grace, through your mercy you have bought us back to be your children.  Through this incredible gift we have life and hope.  Keep us alive under your loving gaze.  Keep us on the path to you.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret