It’s About Grace
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
To get us going this morning, I’ve got a request. Please tell us what brought you joy this past week. I know we are weary, anxious, impatient to get back to normal, whatever that is; I think an experience of joy is the vaccine we need for our despair. To get us started, I’m going to tell you my joy! Then, unmute yourself and speak up! We’ll take as much time as we need. My joy? I got to make dinner for my dear niece, Sarah, Wednesday night. She is the first person I have cooked for, other than Jeff, in so many months I cannot even remember. It made me giddy! And still giddy on Thursday morning when I was describing he dinner party to Jeff!
BUT GOD...
PERMANENT MERCY.
We live in the mercy of God.
We pray in the mercy of God.
We exist by the mercy of God.
We are shadowed by the mercy of God.
We need to be reassured the enemy’s lies are defeated. “Once, before, when you were dead...following the dynamics and powers of the day...”. In Greek cosmology, the space between the moon and the earth was dominated by demonic activity. Today we talk about ‘powers & principalities’ or social forces structured to keep the empire going, as our cosmology. We experience its demands for our obedience or at least our passivity, so no change is really possible. James Baldwin, mid-20th century African-American writer and critic of whiteness in America wrote: “I speak of change not on the surface but at its depth, renewal.” This is what evil systems don’t want!
But God!
What kind of God? A rich in mercy God! You’ve heard me say this before: such mercy... the tattoo I keep promising to get when the pandemic is over.
We live between two gifts - goodness and mercy, one foot in The Fall and one foot in The New Creation. One goes before us preparing the way, and stakes a claim on our created goodness. Remember this? In the beginning, on the 6th day, humanity was made and declared very good. Fundamentally good. Bearing the image of God good! God has already gone before us to prepare this verdant space. It shines in the firmament of glory.
The other comes along behind, busy with the mess and muck of our lives. We don’t earn this grace by being good, it is part and parcel of the rich in mercy God. It’s why we make confession every week. For we know we miss the mark. Every which way we turn, we run into God.
The ultimate truth is lived out in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, of which we are witnesses. For God so loved the world! So, in this sense, is emotive, passionate, decisive. It is a declaration of purpose. This rich in mercy God SENDS His Son, SENDS! to save. The embodiment of grace - by grace you have been saved - receive this gift. Believe, in John’s terminology, means you have received the gift of eternal life already. If not, you live in the darkness and commit your deeds there. There is no middle way in this particular gospel.
We do live with a theological mystery here that has been argued about for centuries. Is God’s salvation universal? Will everyone be saved? If not, why not? It’s not God who blocks universal salvation, its us humans, by our response or lack thereof, many believe. Belief, in our context, has been situated with propositional truth - the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it. This is not a confession of faith. For it is not born out of recognition of our former ‘deadness’, rather the power of the intellect to offer ascent. “By grace you have been saved through faith” these prepositions - by & through - leave us to plumb the depths of our faith over the course of our entire lives. By grace you have been saved through faith. We experience God’s grace in moments of great joy or deep sorrow. We catch a glimpse of forgiveness or an explicit act of justice and from deep within our spirits we echo, yes, right. It’s about grace.
It is this power that brings healing for us and for the world. And once we know, we know there is enough to share. It’s all about God. Her search lights running down through the darkness. We fall to our knees as the rescue workers and ambulances come.
It’s About Grace.
And it’s about service. Verse 10 of Ephesians 2 is directly translated, “we are the poem of God” which I love, of course! Made to do good, made for it! This new creation, of which we are a part, is designed, shaped and formed, to be a way of life. Every step we take, every decision we make, every act we commit, has the possibility of unfathomable goodness attached to it. God spreads her wealth of mercy far and vast and deep and wide. An old gospel song says, It is no secret what God can do. What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you. With arms wide open, He’ll pardon you. It is no secret what God can do. This is where we live! One foot in the grime of The Fall and one foot in the garden of goodness in the New Creation. If we trust God’s grace for us, then it behooves us to be obedient in our service to others.
It’s why the session signed on to be a Matthew 25 church during a denominational campaign a couple of years ago. To publicly declare our intention to offer a cup of cold water, a meal, a coat, a prison visit, a food pantry, eco-boxes for Campbell Farm. We accept God’s grace found in Jesus Christ and by power of the Holy Spirit, we search out ways to love our neighbor and serve our communities, in pursuit of justice and peace for all. It’s about grace.
Amen