Redeem…  It’s a word used in the church to try and explain what God has done in Jesus Christ. 

Redeem… Sometimes it’s sung in church.  Two of my favorites are Big Daddy Weave’s  modern worship song “Redeemed,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSyLqbP8Z4I) and the old Fanny Crosby gospel song “Redeemed How I Love To Proclaim It,”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy_ZAXiuEfc). 

Redeem… Sometimes it’s heard in a sermon in church.  Sometimes a Christian might even use it when sharing about their faith in Christ with someone else. 

But normally when I hear the word “redeem,” I have to admit that I think of something else first… coupons. I grew up in a family of “coupon clippers.” It was like you won the grocery shopping game when you handed over a wad of coupons to the person at the register, a wad they of course loved having to deal with. 

Clipping coupons out of the newspaper is still around, but coupons have morphed.  You print them off the computer and scan them at the register or scan one off your phone.  No matter the format, the idea of “redeeming” a coupon” is the same.  You produce a coupon and receive a discount on what you purchase.  Someone else pays for part of what you’re buying.  You don’t pay for it all.

In some ways, that’s what being said when the word “redeem” is used in the church.  Through Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross... God made a way for your sins, and mine, to be forgiven.  Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for your freedom from sin and death; not just part of the price like a coupon, but all of it!  We are redeemed when we trust in what God has done for us in the cross of Jesus Christ.   

This Holy Week, please remember what Jesus did on the cross.  But don’t just remember what Jesus did, remember that he did it for you.  Remember that you are redeemed!