July 28: No Pro Quo for the Quid

2 Chronicles 21:1-23:21

Romans 11:13-36

Psalm 22:1-18

Proverbs 20:7

Romans 11:35: Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?

I have been blessed in my 52 years to have been the recipient of so many kindnesses of such magnitude that I could never hope to repay the people who did them.  Some of those kindnesses were immediately apparent, as was the case thrice, when I watched my wife give birth to our children.  Watching her labor, I thought to myself there was nothing I could possibly do that would fully reciprocate what she had just put herself through, not just for our children, but for me; and not just once, not twice, but thrice.  

Some of those kindnesses are NOT as apparent, particularly to a selfish know-it-all child who thought the world rightfully revolved around his needs and wants.  It was only after having put my parents through so much (for horror stories, talk to my mother; for the cliff notes version, talk to my kids, for whom these stories about their father's mishaps are consistent highlights of their visits with their grandparents) AND having kids of my own that it began to dawn on me how much they had sacrificed and suffered for me.  

I cannot repay my wife for giving birth.  I cannot repay my parents for having raised me.  There is nothing I could give that could possibly begin to equal what they had done for me.  There is no quid pro quo.  

The scripture reading above (taken from Job, actually) tells us the same is true between us and God.  It is impossible for us to get into a quid pro quo relationship with Him.  What He has done for us, what He has given us - everything, in fact, that we might give back to Him, but our own free will - it is impossible to repay Him in kind.  

This is something Paul has been harping on in his letter to the Roman church, whose members appeared to believe a relationship with God was transactional - I do this, God does that; I quid, He pro quos.  I do something for God, He is obliged to reciprocate; He is obliged to give me salvation.  Paul says that that is wrong - going back a chapter, he contrasts the futility of the righteousness of Mosaic law - "The man who does these things will live by them" - with righteousness by faith - "that if you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved", and "anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame". 

Father, in this context, two things we pray: first, that You open our eyes, ears and hearts to the enormity of Your love for us, impossible to repay; and that You give us the faith that does not seek to reciprocate, but instead responds, by saying and living that Jesus is Lord.