To whom else?

  "Lord, to whom else shall we go?"

  It's the question Peter asks Jesus in the 6th chapter of John, when Jesus is asking the disciples if they will abandon him in the face of difficult teachings.

  It's the same question that stands before us today.

  In the face of adversity, of fear, whom else can we turn to who reigns over sin and death?  Whom else has power that is greater than the wind and the waves?  Is there another under whose wings we can take shelter and trust that whatever in this world shakes and quakes, we can still cling to the hope of the God who has triumphed over every other power?  Is there another who will dance triumphantly upon the grave of death at the end of time?  Is there another who needs no sun, because he himself is light?

  When we look deep into our own souls and recognize the sin within, is there another who we can say will love us unconditionally, who knows the depths of our own brokenness and seeks our redemption anyway?  Is there another who will wade into the dark night of the soul with us, confidant that the broken pieces of our lives can be put back together again?  Is there another who has experience the complete rejection of humanity and died on their behalf anyway?  Whom else can respond with such infinite grace to the reality of our own fallen humanity?

  When we recognize how powerless we are to overcome the impact of sin on our lives, whom else can send his Spirit to do what we cannot do, to redeem what we cannot redeem, to heal what we cannot heal, and to transform what we cannot change?

  Each and every day of my life, from the moment my eyes meet the tender first lights of the morning to the last thought I have before I drift into the security of slumber, I am bombarded with temptation to find mortal pleasure and place my heart's trust in the things of this world.  The messages come from without and within, and I am unable (and often unwilling) to resist them all.  I fall, and when I recognize the hurdle on which I have tripped and vow not to make that mistake again, I often discover new pitfalls before returning to the same old haunts.  I turn to many other false gods and false promises.

  But ultimately, I know and trust that there is only one to whom I belong.  There is no one else to whom I wish to go.  There is no one else who has the same power, and there is no one else who can love me so.  Only one promises me abundant life, and while the conditions of discipleship are exacting, I trust in the one who promises life to those willing to take up his yoke.