SUNDAY SERVICE $YzY THE HOLE This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, “Hey you! Can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, “Father, I’m down in this hole, can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole. The guy says, “Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.” The friend says, “Yeah… but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.” That’s where most of us find ourselves, in the hole. Slippery walls of sin, shame, addiction, depression, failure. No ladder. Just darkness and dirt. “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” (Psalm 40:2) The doctor comes with science, medicine, self-help. Writes a prescription. Throws it down. It might numb the pain for a minute, but it doesn’t lift you out. The priest comes; religion, rituals, good advice. Writes a prayer. Throws it down. Nice words. No hand outstretched. Still stuck. But then the Friend shows up. He doesn’t stand at the top and lecture. He jumps in the mud with you. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus didn’t throw down laws or lectures. He left glory, stepped into the dirt of this world, felt hunger, betrayal, loneliness, and the full weight of our sin. He went all the way down; to the cross, into the grave. He’s been down here before. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) You look at Him in the hole and say, “Are you crazy? Now You’re down here too!” He smiles through the blood and dirt and says, “Yeah… but I know the way out.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8) Not only did He guide you to the exit, He became the exit. His death broke the power of the pit. His resurrection is the way up. His hand is reaching for yours right now. If you’re in the hole today, stop waiting for another prescription or another prayer from the top. Call for the Friend. He already jumped in. He’s been here before. And He knows the way out. AMEN 4NBT