A Duffer's Hope

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) ⁸  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- ⁹  not by works, so that no one can boast.

Once there was a very rich man who owned vast amounts of land that offered the choicest settings of beauty and wonder. In one of these he decided to build a golf course. Not just any golf course. This would be the greatest golf course in the world – unrivaled in its beauty and design. It was fit for kings. When he had completed all the work, he decided that having a golf course didn’t have much meaning if there weren’t people to play on it. But this was not a course designed for hackers and duffers. It was so beautiful, however, that people everywhere at every skill level wanted to play on this course. So he created a membership plan. Anyone could become a member of his golf club – as long as they met certain conditions. These conditions meant that while membership was open to all, ultimately only those who “qualified” could join. His basic condition was this: the perfect golf course should only be available to the perfect golfer. And… his idea of perfection was not just being able to shoot some standard known as “par”. The perfect score was not 72. It was 18. Membership in his club was available to anyone who could score a hole-in-one on all 18 holes of his course. The people who could do that would be welcomed in to lifetime memberships with no charges for anything. All the golf, the balls, the best clubs,… all the food (the best food anyone had ever eaten)… everything was free to anyone who could meet this condition. Each person was allowed one round of golf on his course. They were allowed to keep playing as long as they were making holes-in-one.

Though it sounds foolish, many people actually tried. Very hard they tried. They practiced and practiced before their time came to face the rich man and his course. When they practiced they usually compared their scores with each other. And compared to each other, some of them did really well. Once in a while someone would shoot in the low 60’s and others would oooh and aahhh. Others would shoot in the 80’s and 90’s (and beyond) and people would laugh. Some were just awful. Many didn’t care, and some didn’t even bother playing, saying they were not interested in golf and golf courses. On the rich man’s course, most people were done after only one stroke. Occasionally someone might make it to the second hole, and in extremely rare cases to the third. But everyone fell short. Once in a while someone offered the rich man money if he would let them join. But, being the richest man in the world, he did not need any amount of money. He actually thought that such offers cheapened the glory of his course. It ended up that no one could become a member of his glorious golf club.

The rich man was disappointed in people. And he didn’t really want to be alone. So he came up with a plan. He could not let just anyone join because he could not and would not lower his standards. But if one person could ever get a perfect score, he could trade it with anyone and they could “get in”. But who could get a perfect score? Years and years went by, and no one could do it. Then one day, the man’s son came to take on the course. If he didn’t meet the man’s conditions, he wouldn’t be able to be with his father anymore. So it was a very serious decision. How would he be able to accomplish what no one else had ever been able to do? Where all others had fallen short, how could he expect to be perfect? Yet he was. One hole after another – no matter the distance or the hazards – he scored holes-in-one. His score added up, and in the end his card showed “18” after 18 holes. Unbelievable! Even more unbelievable, however, was that he began to offer to trade his score card with anyone else. They could take his score card with his signature as their own, present it to the rich man, and enter into membership. It did not matter how bad or good (in their own eyes) their own score card was. He would trade his for theirs.

Some people thought it was too good to be true, so they ignored the son’s offer. Others thought it was a trick or that the son hadn’t really gotten a perfect score. There were those who thought the rich man didn’t really mean what he said about allowing them in with a scorecard signed by his son. And then there were many who insisted on believing that somehow, some way, they had to score an 18 for themselves. But as hard as they worked at it, they never came close. Yet they tried to tell themselves that when they met the rich man they could present their best score and he would let them in. They learned the hard way that he would not. Only a scorecard signed by his son would be accepted. Because only perfection was accepted. And those who came to his son and got his scorecard… and gave up their own… and depended only on his perfect score… were accepted by the rich man and allowed into membership and all of its benefits. They were very happy.

Romans 3:23 (NIV)  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 5:8 (NIV)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)  All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)  For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

PRAYER:  Thank you, Father, for the great exchange: Christ’s righteousness for my unrighteousness… His perfection for my sin… His death for my life… His humanity for my eternity… His grace for my useless works. AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott