Workers reported as usual to the entrance of the San Jose gold and copper mine in central Chile on August 5th, 2010. The San Jose's safety record was spottier than most so miners received 20% extra in pay to encourage them to work there. And they lived daily with the possibility of calamity.
At two pm, their worst fears occurred when a cave-in shook the mine and all who were in it. A group near the mine's opening scrambled out to safety. Another group of thirty-three, 2300 feet under the surface, found themselves in a nightmare...trapped in a subterranean corridor with no connection to the outside world.
The men....soon to become famous as Los 33 (The 33)...inspected every inch of their underground prison looking for any sort of exit...any sort of hope they could make their way out. There was none. They were trapped and were completely powerless and helpless to effect any escape.
You knew I was working toward a point, and here it is. When Jesus says in Matthew 5:3 that I am to be poor in spirit...bankrupt, helpless, hopeless of reaching up to him in my own strength, I think this is exactly what he meant. Los 33 had a better chance of scratching their way through eight football fields of solid rock, than I do of working my way to earn God's love or acceptance.
When it comes to earning God's love and righteousness, we have to recognize Los 33's physical situation is our spiritual situation.
The gap between God and me is so much greater than 2300 feet and what separates me from God is so much more impenetrable than solid rock.
Los 33 understood they had no chance to work their way out...and rested...and waited for help from above. They didn't strive for their salvation. They did not have the resources to rescue themselves. They saw any efforts on their part as counter-productive. They knew if help was not coming from outside of themselves, their corridor would soon be their tomb...so they didn't try.
Likewise, we must not try. Outside of our agreeing to it, salvation is all his work, not ours. And he will.
And once saved, we must not work to "repay" the gift, though we certainly will work out of our thanks for the gift.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free...not to move us from one set of unbearable burdens (the law) to another (earning our salvation). We must not work to gain God's acceptance because we already have it and working for it implies he's lying when he says he's already given it. Likewise, we must not work to earn God's favor, because he can't give us any more and will never give us any less.
Any Christian works we do should flow only from our appreciation in response to his love. Our motivation is critical. I believe if they do not flow from this, and come from guilt, desiring to repay, earning forgiveness, etc. you are much better off to do nothing.
God says he loves a cheerful giver, not a twisted elbow giver. This is true in tithing, praying, fasting, and every work. If your works are not flowing solely from the appreciation of God's love, then stop. Otherwise, you're just becoming a Pharisee.
Los 33 survived not by working their way out of their problem, but by waiting for the help that came from the light.
