The Problem is Worse than We Think and the Solution is Better

Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV)

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…”

A little over three years ago, my brother in-law Tim started to have a chronic cough, that the doctors couldn’t explain.  Then about two years ago, the discovered he had anemia.  What did the doctors do?  They treated him for the cough and the anemia.  The trouble was that these were only the symptoms.  They were not the real problem.  He had cancer.  Unfortunately, by the time they figured out the real problem, it was already too late.  Tim died in May 2019. 

I share that because right now there are a lot of terrible things going on in the world – racism, murder, looting, rioting, hatred – and those are just the one’s in the headlines.  There are all sorts of other terrible problems out there – abortion, alcoholism, addiction, divorce, abuse, greed, and the list goes on.  In addition – there is a great deal of dissension, division, arguing, blaming, and finger pointing going on.  I was reading a Facebook post yesterday about the terrible things that have happened recently.  What troubled me was all the anger and division expressed in the comments being added to that post.  People weren’t just expressing different viewpoints; they were angry with each other for disagreeing. 

What in the world is happening?  Why are all these bad things happening?  Why are people so divided and angry with each other?  What can we do?  People want someone to blame… someone to solve all of this.  The trouble is the problem is worse than we think.  Yes, racism is absolutely horrible, but the reality is its only a symptom of a deeper problem.  The same can be said of all the other problems I list above.  Murder, alcoholism, hatred, all of them are terrible.  Yet, and this is the scary part, they are all only symptoms of the real and deeper problem.  The worst part of this?  We all suffer from the real problem.

What is it?  Well, where I go to church we name the real  problem every Sunday with words like these “I a poor miserable sinner...” or these “I am by nature sinful and unclean…”  The problem is that simple and that horrible – you and I, all of us, are by nature sinful!  Murder, adultery, racism, greed – you name the sin – they all come natural to me and to you.  Like my brother in-laws cough and anemia, these are all symptoms of the problem that afflicts us all – sin.  The truth is no law, no national guard troops, no riot or protest can solve that problem in you or me.

Only God can and God has.  That’s why I choose the verse for today’s blog.   “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…”  He loves this world so much… is not willing to let us destroy ourselves – that He intervened.  He came in flesh and blood.  He was born of Mary, lived our lives, died to pay the price for our sin, and then rose to destroy all that would destroy us – sin, Satan and death itself. Yes, the real problem is horrible but the solution is better – Jesus.

What do we do? We begin, each of us, with repentance – with admitting the truth – the real problem is in here… in me – I am, you are, we are sinners.  That’s why there is racism… murder, and all the other sins – because, as Jesus warned us, those things come out of each of our hearts.  Yet repentance is more than admitting sin.  It’s turning away from sin and towards God.  Its looking to the cross… Its not just dying to sin, but also being “made alive together with Christ.”  It’s being forgiven, cleansed, made new.  Pointing fingers at each other, blaming, arguing – won’t help.  Accepting my responsibility will and then holding up before my own eyes as well as yours – the God who loves us and gave His son for us. 

Does that mean that protesting and seeking to change the injustices we see around us is wrong?  Absolutely not!  God calls us to do those things. They are an essential part of His command to love our neighbors and even our enemies, as He has loved us.  Yet, they are not enough by themselves.  Its not enough to just treat the symptoms.  We know the truth.  We, who follow Jesus, know that the real problem is in here… in each of us… and we know that God’s sweet solution… His gift to the world’s troubles is to love us and give His Son Jesus to be our Savior. 

Do you wish to change the world?  It begins with you and me… with repentance… with holding up and giving witness in our words and actions to the one and only Savior Jesus.