Sarah on the Rooftop

I would like to share a story about a little girl named Sarah. When I lived in Honduras, Sarah and her family lived in the apartment just above me at the mission headquarters. Sarah was three years old and quite active, even for that age. She was a lot of fun and we bonded easily.

The apartment upstairs had a small rooftop patio and a glass enclosed sunroom which was used as the living room. This room had large windows  with shutters that could be opened to let in the breeze. They were opened most days because air conditioning is a rarity in this part of the world. The only thing separating the open windows from a rooftop three stories above the street were metal burglar bars. The bars were just wide enough for a child of Sarah's age to slip through and be free on the rooftop.

And that is exactly what she did ......

 One afternoon Sarah's mother steeped out of the room for just a few moments, leaving Sarah playing alone. When she returned to the room, Sarah was playing on the rooftop oblivious to any danger. She was having a grand time and naturally ignored her mother's attempts to get her back to the window. Her mother sent Sarah's brother running down below to get his father. He, being a skinny fellow, was able to squeeze between the bottom of the bars and the window opening and get Sarah off of the roof. After this episode the windows were kept closed unless the adults were sitting in the living room.

How often have we, like Sarah, ignored the warnings of God's word and found ourselves in dangerous situations. To Sarah the rooftop was a grand open space on which to run and play, but her mother could see the dangers. Sarah just wasn't mature enough yet to understand this. In a way, this is what the incarnation of Christ was all about.

With freedom in mind, Adam and Eve ignored God's warnings and plunged the whole human race into sin. They saw only the open rooftop without the bars of God's commandments to keep them from their play. Yet once the deed was done, they quickly realized the fallicy of their thought process. For  the bars that had seemed to confine them had also protected them from a lifetime of heartache and misery that would culminate in eternal damnation for the soul. But God, like Sarah's father, enrobed himself in flesh as Jesus Christ and came out onto the rooftop of this world to rescue us from our sin.

The next time we are tempted to do something that we know goes against God's word we might want to ask ourselves: Will this leave me out on a rooftop with no protection? If so, it just isn't worth it.

God Bless,

Rev. Sullivan Jones