What we get versus what we deserve (Part 2)

(Note: This is Part 2 of a two-part special edition Convoy message for Resurrection weekend, 2021. Part 1 can be read here.) 

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures… –1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV)

My heart sank when I saw the house. The yard and shrub beds I meticulously cultivated for five years were overgrown with weeds and burned to a crisp in the heat of the Texas summer. Part of the back fence was down. The nursery shutters, which my wife had picked out, a buddy had helped me custom fit, and I had painted by hand, were ripped out of the window frame and missing slats. Carpets were stained, fixtures were broken, and holes were punched in the drywall. The air conditioner compressor was gone. I had made the trip alone, and I didn’t have the heart to tell my wife what shape the place was in.

I had no choice – I had to let it go. That hurt. A lot. A couple years later, with two kids and number three on the way, we decided that we’d probably be in Arkansas for a while and should probably buy another home. As we began looking at houses, I was very apprehensive about what a credit check would turn up when we applied for a new mortgage. I warned our realtor to expect the worst. We submitted our paperwork and waited. We came back clean! Amazed, I had the realtor double-check. The default and foreclosure in Texas never showed up.

I always suspected that my brother, who worked for FHA/HUD at the time, made that particular piece of my history disappear, though he has never, to this day, admitted to any such action. All I know is there are times when it's great NOT to get what you deserve, when the consequences you were dreading fly right by, leaving you unscathed, when you get to the head of the line to pay your debt, only to find it’s already been taken care of.

I don’t know exactly what Judgment Day may look like, but I’ve sometimes pictured it with a large screen projector recalling the events of my life. As the scenes unfold, I prepare to cringe or bow my head in shame at certain points I know will not be pretty. Then I notice that, at those places where the stupidity and selfishness of my sin threatens to expose me, the narrative inexplicably skips past them. Those moments have somehow been expunged from the record. As the “movie” plays, it is apparent this is not an oversight or a glitch in production – it happens EVERY TIME. I look in the direction of Jesus, who is looking back at me. When he catches my eye, he winks and I can read His lips. He’s saying, “I got’cha covered.”

Happy Resurrection Sunday, y'all.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. –2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)