In the 1938 movie “Angels with Dirty Faces,” James Cagney plays the role of Rocky Sullivan, a gangster type person who has become a significant criminal hunted by the police. He has spent his life building a reputation of being the “tough” guy; no one can get to him and no one can hurt him.

            There are a large number of kids from the neighborhood Sullivan grew up in who are looking up to Rocky as a role model and aspire to grow up just like him... tough and ruthless. Throughout the entire movie these kids are getting into local trouble with business owners and police and we can see the offenses escalate in seriousness.

            Rocky is captured and convicted of murder and sentence to die in the electric chair. To try and save these youngsters from the life Sullivan has chosen for himself, a priest, Rocky’s best friend, comes to talk to him on death row. The priest encourages him to die with fear and to do whatever he could to look like a coward so that these young kids will lose faith in him as their role model.

            Rocky is a tough guy who is planing on going to his death with great bravado; the way he always lived his life.... as the tough guy. The media is present for the execution and record every detail of the event. As Sullivan makes his way down the corridor toward the death chamber he suddenly begins to scream and fight against going. The guards have to carry him, kicking and screaming into the chamber.

            When this turn of events hits the front page of the paper these neighborhood kids turn away from this man they had looked up to; they reject him as their role model.

            What Rocky succeeds in accomplishing in his last moments of life is redeeming the lives of these kids. This band of youngsters turns away from the tough guy and the priest is right there to start helping them make good decisions for their futures.

            Each of us have been one of those kids... redeemed by another, our lives are turned around...

 

Scripture 1 Peter 1:17‑24

 

 

            The Apostle Peter has given us some very important insights into our process of redemption. But we need to understand some basic Christian theological concepts before we get too far along. The concept of redemption goes along with sanctification and justification.

            When we say we are justified we need to understand what that means is that Christ will appear before the Father, on our behalf, on the day of judgement. The Bible says we have to answer for our lives; let’s turn to Matthew 12; Jesus has just healed a blind/mute. This man could not see, nor talk. Jesus laid His hands on the man and instantly he was able to both talk and see.

            The Pharisees immediately claimed that Jesus was acting as an agent of Satan. The text says that Jesus knew their hearts and responded with these words, found in chapter 12:33‑37, “33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."”

            Jesus has made it clear that we will be held accountable for our very words; either good or bad. I heard a saying, once, and don’t remember who said it, but it went something like this... ‘be careful what you say, someday you may have to eat your words.’ Jesus says it’s not a matter of MAY but WILL have to. God is keeping track of every syllable we utter and will question us about such things.

            Turn over to Hebrews 4:13, the writer says this, “13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Is there any doubt left in your mind? We will stand before God, one day.

            Now, consider this scene; for a non-believer, standing totally alone listening to God re-tell every word and deed of our lives. How will that person respond with anything other than shame? In the presence of God, even our good deeds will dull in comparison. That person will not have anything of much value to say in their own defense.

            But believers will not have to speak, at all. What Jesus will do is stand there with us, acting as our attorney (if you will) to qualify our lives for Heaven. Jesus blood covers over our sin, so Jesus will, in essence hide our sins from God. He will remove every sin from our lives and present us to God telling Him that we are perfect. Jesus will justify us before the Father as being worthy of entrance into heaven.

            That is ‘justification’ and it happens as an act of grace from Jesus to us. It was set in place the instant we accepted Jesus as our Savior, even though it may take many years before we actually find ourselves in that particular courtroom.

            While justification is instantaneous, sanctification is a life long process. It is the effort of getting our lives more in tune with what Jesus wants us to become.  As we are faced with trials and temptations we begin to respond as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. No matter how good we are, in this life, we will never be as good as we need to be. There is always room for improvement in our Christian walk.

            This is a good place for us to stop and explore the meaning of the journey. In his book, “The Becomers,” Keith Miller points out that our lives, if lived according to biblical standards, are always moving us closer to God and farther from worldly ways. When we make choices that are as Jesus would want us to chose then we are on the right path and are in the process of becoming sanctified; in other words, being made holy. When we act in ways that are contrary to Jesus then we are taking steps backward; away from holiness.

            We have looked, quickly at justification and sanctification, but let’s turn our attention, now, to redemption. What does it mean to be redeemed? In the movie example that I opened with, Rocky was a powerful draw to a bunch of street kids.  They all wanted to be just like him; tough and fearless. If, as his friend, the priest, points out, he dies with great bravado then those kids will be even more deeply caught up in the downhill spiral that will lead most of them to the electric chair themselves. But, if he dies a whimpering coward then there just might be a crack in the armor around these kids and the priest may be able to keep them from such a life.

            When Rocky begins to scream and beg for mercy the kids lives are redeemed, bought. Rocky pays for them to have a better life by using his own cowardice as payment. The final scene shows all these kids standing around a newspaper report of his death and trying to figure out what went wrong when the priest walks in and is accepted among them. There is hope for their future because of the price Rocky paid.

            Our lives are very similar... we are headed down a bad path. We are constantly involved in doing things that are NOT what Jesus would have us do. Romans 3:23, the first step on the Roman Road to Salvation, says that, “we are all sinners.” Not a single one of us is truly good. Like those street kids, our lives are headed in the wrong direction a lot of the time.

            God knew that humans could not make it on their own, so, in His infinite grace and mercy, He gave us another way into Heaven. But, just as it was from the very beginning, a sacrifice of blood had to be paid to cover the sins. A perfect lamb had to be ceremonially slaughtered and presented on the altar to God. Who, on earth, was perfect? Who was without blemish or stain? None would be found. There isn’t anyone or anything that could serve the cause, so God, at His perfect time, sent Jesus to become that lamb.

            Born as a human and living a life among the people God became one of us. In so doing the connection was made between God and humankind that would never again be broken. In His short 33 years of life; and even significantly shorter three years of public ministry, Jesus served to teach humans about the Kingdom of God. His goal was to use His time to open the door that would allow us to enter Heaven. And then, at the proper time, Jesus would pay the price for sin. Jesus redeemed humankind; He bought us with His life. He released us from the blame of our own sin.

 

            The final thing I want to explain to you is that Jesus redeems us and justifies us, but the process of sanctification is solely our own choosing. We are not responsible for the acts of justification nor redemption, but we certainly are responsible for the sanctification of our lives.

            There is a wonderful story that floats around the internet that presents it this way: God will not ask you what kind of car you drove, but He will ask you how many rides you gave when someone was in need. He won’t ask you what kind of house you lived in, but He will ask you how many strangers you invited into your home. He will not ask you what restaurant you ate in, but He will ask you how many hungry people you fed.

            The story goes on, but I think you get the point. These are the kinds of things we struggle with in the process of sanctification. God will not make us feed someone who is hungry, but He will certainly take note of how many times we had the chance, and did or didn’t do it.

           

            You, my friends, and I, have been redeemed! We have been bought at the very high price of a Perfect Lamb sacrificed for us. At the appropriate time we will be justified. These are commodities that cannot be bought nor earned. They come to us as a free gift.

            So are you going to ignore the gift? Are you going to say a quick ‘thank-you’ to God and move on to other things? Or are you going to make the effort to answer that gift by giving of yourself?

            Think of it this way; which one of those options is the one you want to have in your resume when you stand before God?

                                                                                                                        Amen