Have you ever felt nervous entering a new environment? Maybe it was a new church, college orientation session, your first day of high school... And once you get the courage to speak up, you say something goofy. Something you didn't mean to say. Something that creates an unforgiving silence among the group. You don't only do this once, you do it several more times. You've dug yourself a hole, and you feel like there is no way you can recover from this. You're doomed before you even begin.
Maybe there is a family member or a close friend, and as of late your relationship has been strained. You don't call for a while. Then they don't call for a while. When you do see each other, bitter words are exchanged. More and more time passes, and you are strangers. You get a new phone and don't transfer their number. They have their annual 4th of July bash, and you aren't invited - you only find out about it weeks later from a mutual friend. How could you ever possibly restore the relationship with this person?
You say that you are going to stop. You won't go near the temptation. For some time, you are doing really well. A lot of good days. Then you are driving home, you pass the tavern on the corner that you have recently become a stranger to, and because work was tough today, you put on your turn signal and pull into the parking lot. And this becomes the pattern the next few nights. And weeks later, you find yourself sitting in that tavern, staring at the small shot glass that seems to have all the power, and you think to yourself this is it...this is how I will live out the rest of my days, however many there are left...
How far gone is too far gone? Where can you go that is past the point of redemption? Is there such a place?
I don't think so.
In the Bible, we know the story of Jesus' friend Lazarus. Jesus is good friends with Lazarus, and both of his sisters Mary and Martha. And when Lazarus falls ill, his sisters send word to Jesus. They tell Jesus that His dear friend is ailing. With minimal medical advancements at this time, the sisters and Jesus both know that Lazarus' prognosis is grim. But Jesus doesn't rush to His friend's death bed. Instead He tells Mary, who has reached out to Him, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory, so that God's Son may be glorified through it." John 11:4
End is the key word here. Jesus says Lazarus' sickness won't end in death. This doesn't mean that He will not die - but that won't be the last chapter.
When Jesus enters Bethany, Lazarus' home, Lazarus has been dead for four days. No pulse. No breath. His heart has not known a beat in almost 100 hours time. Jesus has not entered Bethany to pay His respects to the deceased. In fact, His disciples has previously urged Him not to visit at all. They remind Him of His last visit, when people there met Him with anger in their hearts and stones in their fists. But Jesus is there to call on His friend Lazarus. And when Mary and Martha tell Jesus the location of Lazarus body, Jesus goes, and says "Lazarus, come out!" And you know what? Lazarus does! Heart beating, blood circulating, lungs taking in air. Lazarus was dead and is now alive again.
So here is the answer - no distance is too far. Your heart can stop beating, and Jesus will still go into the depths for you. There is no line you can cross where your Savior cannot trod and offer you a new, redeemed, resurrected life.
In this story of Lazarus, we encounter the briefest verse in the Bible. Despite its brevity, it manages to show the boundless, ceaseless compassion of the savior. The verse simply says, "Jesus wept." While Lazarus was gone, Jesus mourned for His friend. He longed to be with Lazarus once again. The story of Lazarus is the story of how Jesus feels about us when we attempt to separate ourselves from His love. When we stray far away, or when we think we are too far, Jesus longs for us. The beat of His heart aches for the murmur of ours.
So the story does not end in death, but in life. New life. "Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:39
~SP
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