| Study
20 - July 23rd - 29th 2007
Reading – John Chapter Ch 8: 33-41.
If
Only
“The Jews answered Jesus, We are Abraham’s descendants
and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we will
be set free? Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone
who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in
the family, but a Son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets
you free, you will be free indeed.” John Chapter 8: verse
33-36 (NIV).
I was
asked many years ago to do a funeral for a golfer who died unexpectedly
of an illness. She was a member of 2 golf clubs and had played golf
for many years at a high level. The title of the talk I gave at
the funeral was “If only”.
This is one of the most used phrases after we finish a game of golf;
if only we hadn’t missed that putt,
or if only we could take away that one
bad hole, etc.
We all strive to play the best game, but come away knowing we left
a couple of shots out on the course that we didn’t want.
We
all have our best rounds that we have played. My 2 best rounds of
golf have been 5 under par and one of those rounds included a 4
putt on the 17th hole. Sadly my game has deteriorated in recent
times to the extent that a par round is now a great round for me.
You
might think that this makes me a good player, but in amateur ranks
there are many better players, let alone professional.
The best round of golf in a professional tournament I believe is
still 13 under par and has been achieved by a couple of players.
Even that score, as great as it is, is not a round of golf without
missed possibilities of an even better round.
To
put it in the words of our reading today, we are slaves of the imperfect
round of golf. I doubt that anyone will play the perfect round of
golf. I have calculated that the perfect round of golf is about
39 under par, but without pushing perfect to its full limit, a near
perfect round should be about 18 under. I hope one day someone goes
out and plays this round.
Golf
is a game of “if only’s” and so is life. If only
we could avoid death or wars or sickness or the things that rob
us of life. If only sometimes is used of regrets with things we
have done or haven’t. If only we could do those things we
believe in and think are good and not be disappointed in others
or ourselves. God calls this reality being slaves to sin.
What
Jesus offers us in this reading is an invitation to beat the “If
only’s” of life. As the Son of God and not a slave who
has no permanent inheritance, Jesus by virtue of his life, death
and rising from the death can set us free from the chains that rob
us of eternal life. We are called by God to change and to put our
trust in Jesus. The “If only’s”
in terms of our sin and relationship to God can be swapped to being
called “children of God” and sin and death can be replaced
with the assurance as children that we have an inheritance called
eternal life.
The
Jews in our reading from John Chapter 8 found it hard to accept
the teaching of Jesus in respect to these words. They did not consider
themselves as slaves and so were not able to see the offer that
Jesus brought.
For us, it is also necessary to see how we are slaves to sin and
death, but there is one who can set us free.
The “If only” of life can be changed “only if”
we embrace Jesus.
Prayer
Eternal God, help us to see how our disappointments in life can
lead us to being set free in Jesus. Amen.
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