Imagine a young wife working furiously in the kitchen. She has been at it for several hours. She has never baked a cake before, but she is determined. Today is her husband’s birthday, and she wants to make it special. She knows that chocolate is his favorite, so she set out to make the best chocolate cake she could. She calls his mother to get her recipe for chocolate cake, and follows the directions to the letter. Even after making a trip to the store, she still didn’t have everything she needed, so she went next door to borrow some ingredients. After baking the cake she makes the frosting from scratch. When the cake cools, she ices it. It doesn’t look perfect, but it is pretty close. All this time, she had also been preparing his favorite meal. Breaded pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans with little onions mixed in. She had scrubbed their apartment from top to bottom, set a beautiful table with candles and fresh flowers. She positioned the birthday cake on the counter so he would be sure to see it when he got home. She glanced at the clock and saw that he was due home in 20 minutes. Dinner would be ready, and she had just enough time to change into that dress she knew he liked her to wear. After she changed and put on her makeup,  it was almost time for him to come home, and everything was ready. She looked around and saw that her preparations had made the day as close to perfect as it was going to get. Then he walks in the door. He looks around and sees everything and smiles broadly. She greets him with a kiss, then leads him to sit down at the table. He puts a big pork chop on his plate and a large blob of potatoes, then he looks around and asks, “What, no gravy?” Now, if you were that young wife, how would you feel? Some of you might be thinking that he would be wearing that chocolate cake rather than eating it. But how would you feel if you had spent the whole day trying to get it all right, only to have him focus on one thing that was missing? Can’t you just hear her asking herself, “What do I have to do?”  Do you get the picture of the frustration she must feel?

The Apostle Paul felt that frustration. He was a Jew and proud of his heritage, that He was descended from Abraham. He once persecuted the followers of Jesus, because he was convinced that was his duty as a good Jew. But then Jesus convinced him on the road to Damascus that He really is the Son of God, the one who was promised to God’s people from the time of the Fall into sin. And Paul wanted to share that Good News with the people of his own race, the Jews. After all, they were the ones to whom the promise was made, the ones who had heard the message of the prophets, the ones who had been given the law and the temple and all the preparations for the Messiah. But they would not accept Jesus. Some did, but most did not. They wanted nothing to do with this one known as Christ.

Romans 9:1-5   I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. 

Paul writes of his great sorrow and unceasing anguish. You can almost hear him asking in despair, “What do I have to do?”

God has an answer for that question: Believe. Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the one who came for the salvation of the world. God knew the situation. He created a perfect world, only to have man corrupt things and mess up His plan. Imagine the devastation God must have felt when He had to ask, “Adam, where are you?” God had lovingly created the entire universe as the dwelling place for mankind. God wanted to have a special and unique relationship with man, so He created a perfect environment, making sure it would be just right. But the crown of His creation turned away from God, chasing after a false promise. In effect, man said, “What, no gravy? You mean I don’t get to be God?” And because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, the perfection was shattered. God asked Himself, “What do I have to do?”

When God asked Himself that question, it came from hurt and frustration, but He knew the answer. He knew exactly what He had to do. He had to send a Savior. If the situation was going to be remedied, it had to be God’s doing. Man’s actions had earned death, and that sentence had to be carried out. But God devised a way to let the sentence be carried out and still enable mankind to enjoy an eternal relationship with Him. He would send His Son into this world as one of us, taking our humanity on Himself, becoming a man. He would live a life without sin, but the Father would put the sins of the world on Him, and let Him take the punishment in our place. Christ would die as our substitute, making full payment for all sins, and then rise again to complete the victory over sin and death. That’s what God had to do, and that is what He did.

What do I have to do?” The jailer in Philippi asked that of Paul and Silas in the book of Acts: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). We sometimes ask that of ourselves and place too much emphasis on the “I” part, as though our actions and efforts are necessary for salvation. And when we put our confidence in what we do, we are always left wanting. We come up short, and will ask in frustration, “What do I have to do?” The answer for us is the same that was given to that jailer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31)

Because our loving and gracious God asked, “What do I have to do?” and answered by sending a Savior, we can live confident lives as forgiven sinners. We need to echo in our lives the words of the hymn:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’s blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I than in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.   

(The Lutheran Hymnal #370 stanzas 1,4)