Fr Robert Hendrickson

“We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”

This is from Romans today and it gives voice to the fundamental hope of Christians — that we are the Lord’s in this life and the next. The comforting thing about this passage is that we are the Lord’s. The terrifying thing about this passage is that we are the Lord’s.

It is comforting to have the confidence that we are the Lord’s and he will hold us, sustain us, and equip us for the labors and loves of this life. It is comforting to know that his mercy extends into the next life — no life is lost because Christ holds them now and always.

It is a terrifying thing though to realize that our lives are not our own. We do not own them anymore than we own sky or star or moon. Those things, like our lives, are God’s alone for he made them out of love — as we too were fashioned. It is not possible for the sky to become ocean though it is intertwined with it. It is not possible for the moon to be the sun though it reflects it.

It is not possible for us to be actually free from the will of God. Though we might stand seemingly on our own we are intertwined too deeply for words with the air, sun, and earth that we will never own. We may reach some soaring height in life but the brightest we will shine is when we reflect the love of God most fully in the dim spaces and places where we might find ourselves. We who have been marked as Christ’s own forever always have the challenge and opportunity of deciding what that will mean for how we live.

The Lord is the Lord of both the living and the dead. This is our comfort. Let it also be our challenge. If we cannot live apart from the Lord who made us — if we cannot ever truly be “independent” — then how might we let our lives best reflect the loving purpose for which we were made? How might we reflect the light of the Lord and show his loving-kindness to the world?

It is a fearful thing to find ourselves in the hand of a living and loving God for love will demand more of us than fear ever can — it will demand that we live as if our very breath depends on that love.

Yours in Christ,
Robert