Be it known to you, therefore, brethren, that through this very one is preached to you the forgiveness of sins: And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Acts 13:38-39
So Meg and my mom and I are up at the cabin. The little cabin perched up on a pile of rocks just before Marshall Gulch. Once again, like so many times before, I am wrapped in some sort of odd blanket watching the rising sun glint off of the backside of the Catalinas. From the very same chair that I used to watch the glints trickle down the mountainside so many years ago, when all I could do is watch and doze, watch and doze, as I recovered from valley fever. The only Bible I could find at the cabin is The Holy Bible, from the ancient Eastern manuscripts, translated from the Peshitta manuscripts which have comprised the accepted Bible of all of the Christians who have used Syriac as their language of prayer and worship for many centuries. A bible that was here when my parents first bought the cabin so many years ago. Waiting on the shelf next to the Big Book of Tell Me Why and the Birds of North America and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. Waiting for me to blow the dust off the cover and consider the words within.
This little cabin is full to the brim of other things however, just like my second cup of "do you want a little more" coffee. But there is also an echoing emptiness of unanswered Ungame cards, unmet bridge doubles, and most of all, "Does anyone want to go for a little hike?" My snow-shoveling, hammock-hanging, pine cone-gathering father will never again stride about restlessly or sort through the picture basket and toss yet another memory at me to ask, "What about this one?" Except, perhaps in his dreams. He is still dreaming in his rollaway bed, reaching for the unseen, smiling at some private glimpse. Preparing to splash across the one last river which separates him from home, home at last.
But his ashes will indeed linger, and work their way into the very roots of the rustling pine tree tops, the one that remind me of Heidi when she rushed outside into the city streets of Frankfort looking for her home.
And the law is the old comfortable way of doing things. I am really very good at following lists. I don't even have to look at them, I know them so well. For example the neatly typed list clipped to the refrigerator delineating how to flip up the electricity switch, remove the bag of styrofoam bits, unlock the already unlocked lock, twist on the water with the two-pronged pole leaning up against the drawer of plastic bags and paper plates, remove the double-headed nail to the big green gas container swinging door and rotate the four-pronged handle, open the heavy wooden shutters and clip them back so they don't swing in the wind, kneel down to plug in the hot water heater, and roll the gas grill down the awkward doorstop. This I can do, follow lists. And it is cozy and tight and makes me feel like I am in the know and I belong and I am fairly competent. I am a good kid. Well, pretty much.
If I could receive forgiveness of sins through obeying the law of Moses then Jesus died in vain.
It was really hard for those early disciples to believe that they were justified from all things. That the work on the cross was complete. Done.
All of the comfortable, list ways of doing things were destroyed on the cross, lest any man should boast.
That's it.
Punto.
All the things that were written have been fulfilled.
And even harder for the religious leaders who had spent lifetimes carefully scribing up long lists that showed how very good and worthy they were, and how very much different they were from Them. But the Jews were filled with envy, and they bitterly opposed the words of Paul, persuading the great congregation to accept the grace of God. All of their hard earned works were of naught.
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, to judge your neighbor; for in judging your neighbor, you condemn yourself. Do you stand against the riches of His goodness and forbearance, and the opportunity which He has given you, not knowing that the goodness of God leads to repentance? Romans 2:1-4
And the disciples shook off the dust of their feet upon them. And were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Which says, Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall not steal, Thou shall not covet; and if there is any other commandment, it is fulfilled in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love does not work evil to his neighbor, because love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10
And really, that is all I need to understand. Actually, it's all I can understand, until the veil is rolled away and I will see clearly. Reading through Romans in a single sitting gives me mental whiplash. Lucky for me, He has said that we are to enter the kingdom, simply, like children.
For God has included all men in disobedience, that He might have mercy on every man. O the depths of the riches, the wisdom, and the knowledge of God! For no man has searched His judgement, and His ways are inscrutable. For who has known the mind of the LORD or who has been His counsellor? For of Him, and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory and blessing for ever and ever. Amen. Romans 11:32-36
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