"What A Piece of Junk!"

By Matt

I read: Romans 6-7

You can count yourself among the true legion of fanboys (or fangirls) if you read the title of this post and know exactly what I'm alluding to. Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2, and C-3P0 stride, trundle, and hobble into docking bay 94 to catch their first glimpse of The Millenium Falcon. For those of us who don't see spaceships, Luke's exclamation of, "What a piece of junk!" falls on astounded ears. That thing is incredible! I want one. And a crew, too. Luke, though, has seen and drooled over his fair share of ships and the Falcon just isn't doing it for him. However, fast forward a few years after that same piece of junk has helped destroy two Death Stars and has saved the skins of his friends several times.

However I have to go back to Han's reaction. He knows his ship "might not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid." Han doesn't care what anyone thinks of his ship, he's the one who has put the work into it and knows what it's capable of (.5 past light speed, if you were wondering). There's a love in his face and voice for that ship that not many can know or share (Capt. Malcolm Reynolds being one of them).

So, why the love letter to Star Wars and what does it have to do with Romans 7?
In a way that only a youth leader love, I'll make the connection. The Law. How do we see it? A list of rights and wrongs that hem us in and ruin all our fun. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the signs? In other words, a piece of junk. As much as our good intentions would like to keep the Law, sin has a way of perverting the whole thing. Or, as Paul says, "What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of 'forbidden fruit' out of it." But, like Han, God knows what the Law is truly capable of and probably doesn't like people rippin' on his baby.

I think, though, that God and Han can acknowledge that their baby isn't perfect. And then God did something about it. He knows that we are going to sin no matter what and need a better plan, something faster, sleeker, more maneuverable (err?). Thus, grace. And that's a good thing. Even the best of us is capable of the most amazingly stupid and horrible thing. I love how Paul comes clean at the end of 7. He doesn't hold it back, he is so completely transparent with the fact that he struggles, he sins, and feels so dumb about it because he knows better. But he keeps on doing it. And the only thing saving any of us is that God knows, forgives, and forgives again because he loves us too much not to.

There may not be "some mystical energy force controlling my destiny," but thank God there's grace to set my destiny aright.