Help! I've fallen....and I Can't Get Up!

I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if I had told you to finish this line, “Help, I’ve fallen, and I                                              !” that you would have been able to fill in the blanks – “Can’t get up.”  I don’t know anyone who has actually bought a life alert necklace, but we’ve made fun of the commercial for years, used it in skits, quoted it when we’ve fallen ourselves.  I thought of it this week from a new perspective.  It came to my mind as I was thinking about Christ and His ministry on earth. I thought of all the people He encountered who could not “get up” by themselves.  Sometimes it was a physical condition like the man by the pool of Bethesda who was lame. Others had actually died – Jairus’ daughter, the son of the widow of Nain, Lazarus. Then there are others who “fell” spiritually – the woman caught in adultery and thrown at Jesus’ feet, Peter losing faith as he walked on water…and later as he denied that he even knew who Christ was.   Some of them went looking for Christ (like Jairus), others He simply encountered (the widow in Nain) as He traveled.  The adulterous woman didn’t have any choice- she was thrown at His feet as her captors picked up stones with which to kill her.  Their stories are all so different, and yet there is one common thread – Christ raised them up when they were unable to do anything for themselves.  One after another, as you read through the Gospels, you encounter person after person after person who needed Christ to lift them up. What’s amazing to me is how compassionately He did it. He never complained, never said, “Again? Really???” We read no accounts of His begrudging healing, or forgiveness with a dash of condemnation.  I think it is the ones who had fallen spiritually that give me the most encouragement.  For the Lord of Creation to heal His creation is somewhat natural.  To me, that makes sense.  For a holy, righteous Judge to forgive sin makes no sense.  He could have picked up a stone and joined in the public condemnation of the adulterer.  He could have let Peter sink…or conveniently overlooked him after the Resurrection. I probably would have said something sarcastic like, “I thought you didn’t know me.”  He could have let the Samaritan woman get her water at the well…and let her know who He was while watching her squirm with guilt and shame.  But He didn’t.  And that is grace. It makes no sense, but that is the record we have of Him.  I think, of all of them, the one I identify most with is that woman at His feet.  I know I’ve failed Him. I know I have no excuses and nowhere to hide before Him.  I see others circling with their stones of judgment, ready to slap a label on me and carry out the punishment they feel I deserve for my failures. But then I look to Him, and He says, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” The thought is staggering.  I identify with Peter too. How ashamed he must have felt!  You know what? There are times when I’ve failed Him so badly that I’m not even sure how to pray, how to tell Him all that is in my heart. But you know what else? I think that there is a prayer that He will not refuse – “Help. I’ve fallen…and I can’t get up!”  I think that perhaps this is His favorite prayer. His power is revealed in our weakness. His amazing grace is best revealed when our absolute depravity is obvious.  You know, when you boil it down, the fancy sinner’s prayers we quote during soulwinning or invitations, are basically that thought.  Isn’t that what the salvation decision is? Realizing that we are sinful and have no righteousness of our own and are unable to save ourselves? It’s not about the exact words we pray – the thief on the cross only said, “Lord, remember me when You come into your kingdom.” But Jesus said, “Today you will be with me...” He lifted that man up too. He wasn’t baptized. He didn’t go to Sunday School. He didn’t go to the “right”Christian college and carry the “right” version of the Bible.  He just looked to Christ in His final hours acknowledging that he had no hope apart from Him. He had fallen and couldn’t get up. Even as He died on the cross for our sins, Christ was ready for Him.  And He is ready and waiting to reach down and pick us up. In the Life Alert commercials, the woman who pushes the button and calls for help must lie there hoping that help will come quickly. We don’t have to wonder if He will come to save – there’s no question, no “I hope…”  He will save. He will forgive. He will heal. It is His character.  What a comfort that is!  Have you fallen? Have you let Him lift you up?