There are a few shows out there that I just can't watch. I can't watch scary shows, I can't do true crime. That stuff stays with me in the back of my mind for longer than I like it to. But there's another kind of show that I'll never try and dive into. It's the kind of show that requires you to dive heart and soul into the shoes of the characters. I can't do it.
There's one show, I think, that does that better than any show has done recently. It just had its finale recently. It's called This Is Us- the story of triplets who lost their father to a fire, and due to that loss have developed some really self-destructive habits. You almost get frustrated with the characters- who seem never to do the things that they know will be good for them. And I can't watch it. Not because it's not well done, not because I don't like the content, but because the show causes me to see myself in all of my flaws- the ways that I can never seem to do the things that I know are good. After all, this is us.
The Apostle Paul burst out like this, too, in Romans 7. He said memorably- the things that I want to do, I can never seem to do, but the things I don't want to do, these are the things I keep on doing. He's so frustrated with himself! You can count this for yourself, but throughout the chapter, I read Paul mention 39 times something to this effect: "This is me. I want to please God, and I try to, but I can't. And I try not to sin, but I always do. This is me."
He cries out to God: "Who will save me?" I think this cry is deep in all of us. We know that this is us.
39 times, Paul says: "This is ME." But then he closes in a really special way. With an incredible expression of relief: "Thanks be to God, who delivers US through our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul wants you to know that you're in on being delivered through Jesus. Paul wants you to know that through Jesus we are delivered, saved, redeemed, and loved- that this is us. Truly.
