Ron was the pastor of a small church in a small Pennsylvania town. He received an urgent phone call from a family asking if he would take their daughter to the hospital.  The daughter had been bitten by the neighbor’s dog.

The girl’s father had told her over and over again not to go near the neighbor’s dog, but the little girl wouldn’t listen.   She found the dog intriguing.   She even thought that she could be friends with it.   She got too close, the dog attacked, and the results were gruesome.

The father jumped into Ron’s car, holding his screaming daughter in his arms. There were slashes across her forehead and gouges in her arms.   Each time she opened her mouth to scream, gaping wounds opened like other mouths on her cheek.

Throughout the trip the little girl’s father held her tightly in his arms, repeating assurances, “It’s OK, baby, Daddy’s got you now.   Daddy’s with you.   You’re OK, Daddy’s got you now.”

He didn’t say, “I told you a thousand times not to go near that dog.   What’s the matter with you?   How dumb can you be?   I cannot forgive you anymore.

The child’s disobedience had brought on a terrible consequence, but nothing in the father’s heart had changed.   Her failure only revealed the greater depth of her father’s compassion.

I cannot think of a better story to use to illustrate the relationship between humanity and God as well as to show the truth of God’s Word revealed in our reading from Romans this morning.

Paul said,

The point he is making is that you and I are guilty of sin because of what Adam did thousands of years ago.  While that might not seem fair, the fact is that God would judge us because of what Adam did, the truth is you and I have confirmed our solidarity with Adam by our own sins each day.  You see, like the man’s daughter who was intrigued by the neighbor’s dog and would not stay away from it, you and I are intrigued by the joys  and pleasures of sin.  Like the daughter we try to become friends with sin hoping or believing that we will not suffer or experience any gruesome affects.  Which is of course untrue. As the saying goes,

Unfortunately we are lured to sin, like a moth is lured to the flickering light of a candle.  Like the daughter was to the neighbor’s dog.  Like an addict is lured to his next fix swearing that he doesn’t have a problem or swearing that this will be his last fix.  Like the addict our sinful behavior has become second nature and we don’t see a problem with it.

Confront an alcoholic about his drinking problem and chances are he will tell you that the only person who has a problem with his drinking is you.

The truth is the addict is not the only one who has difficulty admitting that he has sinned.  We all do.  In spite of the fact that God’s Word says, “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”   We tend to dismiss this truth or justify our sins by comparing ourselves to someone else’s sins, which of course are far worse than ours.

The sad truth is that when we deny our sins, we deny God’s grace.

The daughter’s failure to obey her father did not change her father’s love for her.   In the same way our failure to obey our heavenly Father does not change God’s love.   As a matter of fact our sin only helps to reveal the greater depth of God’s love.   As scripture points out, “While we were sinners, Christ died for us.”

If grace increases when sin increases does this mean we should sin more? Absolutely not.  What it does mean is that no matter how often we fail, that no matter how frustrated you many become by the constant repeating of the same sin, that no matter how close you feel to resigning yourself that you will always fail, that no matter what you are feeling or others are saying, that no matter how far you have fallen from the glory of God, you have NOT fallen from God’s arms of grace. To say that you have would mean that your sin is greater than God’s grace.

NOTHING, no sin, and we have been victimized by some mind-boggling atrocities, yet none of them are greater than God’s grace.

What a relief, what a blessed assurance, you and I should feel to know that when we stumble and fall, we will be caught and held in Christ’s loving arms.