Boulder Lifting

Just suppose you were trying to lift an enormous boulder blocking your pathway and it was just impossibly big for you to move, what would be your options? Going around, getting friends to help, going over, going another way or, perhaps, just sitting down in full pout bemoaning your unfortunate circumstances. Without pushing the analogy too far, given your choices, you would be pretty much stuck in unchangeable circumstances.

Yet, what if someone happened along who could actually help? Let's say, Superman, for example. (I know, weird, but stick with me.)


You'd say, "Hey, Superman! Will you help me?"

Now, Superman, being the nice guy that he is, would, of course, respond, "Sure, just step aside."

Well, if you're like a lot of people, you might say something stupid like, "Oh, no, let me help," and you'd be grunting and sweating, trying to help Superman lift the boulder.

So, what would be the big guy's impression about all our useless attempt at usefulness? He would probably look us in the eye, chuckle and say, "Step back. I can can handle this. You will probably just hurt yourself." Superman, of course, would be able to do what we couldn't even begin.

We want to sweat and strain and stubbornly refuse to admit that we can't even budge our boulder. Once we admit that we can't do it alone, we still want to believe we only need help. We want to be in there with Superman groaning and grunting so after the boulder is finally gone, we can arrogantly and incorrectly brag that we "helped." The truth of the matter is, if anything, we only get in the way of Superman doing what Superman does best.

Alright, this is another odd one, but I think it works.

We try and try to do God's job thinking we can clear the path to salvation ourselves. We discover that we can't do it, so we convince ourselves that it's just that we can't do it alone. We need help. It's not that there's nothing we can do, it's just that we can't do enough. There must be something for us to do. Surely something is required of us.

Every Christian denomination teaches that salvation is by grace alone. Yet, most talk out of both sides of their mouth and say that, even though salvation is full and free, you still have to keep the faith, or be faithful in church attendance, live a moral life, take the sacraments, belong to the right congregation or any other number of "add-ons" and works that we think will keep us from losing that which we can't gain through our works anyway. We convince ourselves that we can finish what we can't even start.

Maybe we should get out of the way and let Superman be Superman. Maybe we should get out of the way and let God be God. Maybe we should finally realize there's really nothing we can do to help. Well, I suppose there is one thing we can do, though...we can get in the way. We're good at that.

Hebrews 12:12

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.