Subtitle: On Condemnation & Redemption: A Lenten reflection-series based on Romans 8
Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus…who intercedes for us! (Romans 8.33, 34)
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Many are the times we need an attorney. An advocate to present our case, to promote our cause.
When two people formalize a relationship, whether personal or professional. And if or when they decide to call it quits.
When buying or selling property.
When setting up or taking apart a business.
When accident or personal injury befalls.
When a lawsuit is filed, for or against us.
When a loved one is born or dies. And, should we be so wise and take the time, when we contemplate and approach our deaths.
Many are the times we need an attorney. But who is our advocate…
When, in the middle of the night, stirred from sleep, we confront our very selves?
When, immersed in the shadows of our souls, we are aware afresh of a great gulf that exists within us between the persons we believe we were meant to be, the persons we want to be and the persons who, by circumstance and by chance and, yes, too, by our choices, we have had a large and undeniable hand in our becoming?
When we, by some present occasion reminiscent of our past, are alerted anew to that separation not only between ourselves and God, between ourselves and others, but also between ourselves and ourselves?
That separation so deeply internal that we cannot fathom how far the chasm runs, but only that it cuts through every aspect of our lives.
That separation so timelessly inherent that we cannot know whence it began, but only that, as far as we can remember, it always was.
That separation that pulls so mightily against our lifelong efforts at integration that it seems that we never can rest.
That separation that manifests itself in every disconnection between our good intentions and our less-than-noble actions or, conversely, between our less-than-pure motives and our cosmetically beautified behaviors.
Who is our advocate when, before the dawn comes, we lie awake replaying the events of the past day or even those of a lifetime and, with tears, lament the choices we’ve made or the places where we find ourselves or the persons we have become?
Who is our advocate when we condemn ourselves?
The Apostle Paul answers: Christ Jesus. The one who, as he died because of us, can condemn us also is the one who, as he died for us, intercedes, presents our case, promotes our cause before God.
More to come…
© 2021 PRA
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 
Paul,
This is so timely for me!! I’m giving a presentation on Sat morning for Calvert County MD on Advocating for Our Loved Ones and Ourselves! People have already begun sending in questions for me and for the panel members who will have a discussion and Q&A! Some of the questions are around the issue for those in the rural part of the County who feel no one advocates for them AND some feel they don’t deserve to be advocated for which is so sad!! I may refer them to your blog!! There’s no better advocate than Christ Jesus!!
Thanks & Love!! Looking forward to parts 2 & 3.
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Loretta, these words – “…those in the rural part of the County who feel no one advocates for them AND some feel they don’t deserve to be advocated for which is so sad!!” – yes, for me, too, evoke, provoke deep, real sadness. It seems…feels to me that it is one thing to encounter trial and test in one’s life. Indeed, no one alive can escape all difficulty. Still, it is another thing to be so encompassed about with trouble that one feels helpless without personal power/ability to change the course of one’s life’s events, and then, even more, even worse, to believe that one has no one to come and lend a helping hand. Therefore, what it is that you are doing, aye, who it is that you are being, particularly as I reflect on the wording and meaning of your coming presentation – Advocating for Our Loved Ones and Ourselves! – is hopeful, hope-filled.
Carry on!
Love,
Paul
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