The inspired Apostle Paul declared: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? … For I am convinced … nothing … will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:31, 38.
Who remembers Charles Blondin? On four separate occasions Blondin walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. He shouted to the crowd: “What do I have to do to convince you that I can do it?”
And the crowd returned, “Do it!” And he did it!
One time he even took a small stove halfway across, sat down, cooked himself an omelet, ate it, and walked back. The crowd loved it. They had seen the feat accomplished before their very eyes.
Next Blondin turned to the crowd and asked, “Who will be the first volunteer to let me carry you across the falls on my back?” No one came forward. No one was willing to trust this man with his or her life.
Would you have? Yes, it takes more than that to convince us to put our lives into another’s hands.
And we might wonder if the infinite Almighty God ever asked himself, “What do I have to do to convince the world that I love them?”
Whether or not God ever posed that question, He has left no doubt as to its answer. Holy Scripture records: “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His One and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (I John 4:9-10).
Do we need convincing of God’s love? Would God really devote His only Son for such miserable ones as us? If you have any doubts, go to the cross. There we see God’s unfailing love for us, sinners.
What? You still aren’t sure of God’s love for you? You want more proof than Calvary’s cross? OK. Go and get out your baptismal certificate. On your “re-birth day” God said to you through water and the Word, “I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43: 1).
And your Spirit-endowed faith believes it! “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God!” (I John 3: 1).
What? You say you still need more convincing than that? Don’t feel bad. Our Lord has sent you pastors and servants of the Word who faithfully proclaim His Word. He knew that your God-given faith would need strengthening while you live in such a skeptical world. Yes, you’ll find boldness to believe in God’s Word and Holy Sacraments, all sufficient for you that you may say, “Yes, I am convinced of God’s love for me.”
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is The Rev. Dean Rudloff, pastor of Life In Christ Lutheran Church affiliated with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
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