God's grace is for your whole self: 8th after pentecost

The other reading I reference is the gospel for the day: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46, 51-52.

A reading from Romans (8:26-39).

²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness;

       for we do not know how to pray as we ought,

              but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

       ²⁷And God, who searches the heart,

              knows what is the mind of the Spirit,

                     because the Spirit intercedes for the saints

                            according to the will of God.

²⁸We know that all things work together for good for those who love God,

       who are called according to God’s purpose.

²⁹For those whom God foreknew

       God also predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son of God,

              in order that the Son might be the firstborn within a large family.

              ³⁰And those whom God predestined God also called;

                     and those whom God called God also justified;

                            and those whom God justified God also glorified.

³¹What then are we to say about these things?

       If God is for us, who is against us?

              ³²The very Son of God was not withheld,

                     but given up for all of us;

                            will God not along with the Son also give us everything else?

                            ³³Who will bring any charge against God’s elect?

                                   It is God who justifies.

                                          ³⁴Who is to condemn?

                                   It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes,

                                          who was raised,

                                          who is at the right hand of God,

                                          who indeed intercedes for us.

                                          ³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

                                                 Will hardship,

                                                        or distress,

                                                        or persecution,

                                                        or famine,

                                                        or nakedness,

                                                        or peril,

                                                        or sword?

                                          ³⁶As it is written,

                                                 “For your sake we are being killed all day long;

                                                        we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors

       through the one who loved us.

              ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,

                     nor angels, nor rulers,

                     nor things present, nor things to come,

                     nor powers,

                     ³⁹nor height, nor depth,

                     nor anything else in all creation,

                            will be able to separate us from the love of God

                                   in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Word of God, word of life.

-----

Grace is one of the most essential parts of our theology as Presbyterians and Lutherans.  Grace—that God’s love cannot be earned and cannot be lost.  Grace is the gift that is given to us because the God who creates us is Love.  The God who sends planets and stars swirling into being, filling the cosmos with energy, also infects the whole cosmos with love.  The God who is the source and ground of all being, grounds the essence of what it is to live in love. 

This is the God who created each of you and whose love has knit us together, journeyed with you through life, and continues to guide us.  This is the Spirit who knows us so well that she “intercedes with sighs too deep for words,” carrying the deepest prayers and truths in our heart, even when we cannot find words.  This God knows only love            for you and for me, for our enemies and for the whole cosmos, so there is no other way that God can even relate to you except through love.  A love that is as fundamental to God’s own being as breathing is to our own living.

But God’s grace can also be the hardest part of our theology to actually believe or trust.  In the world in which we live, it is easier for us to believe that we are not good enough—never good enough—for God than that God could love us.  It is easier for us to believe in a vengeful, punishing God than for us to believe that God could forgive the things we cannot forgive, even in ourselves.  It is easier to believe that God would require payment for wrongs than that God loves exactly who we are.

Do we actually believe that God loves our whole selves completely and unconditionally?

Can God possibly care about us that much?  We, who can feel as insignificant as a mustard seed.  Does God even pay attention?  Does God love us even in our insignificance?

Yes.  Paul tells us in Romans, “³²The very Son of God was not withheld, but given up for all of us; will God not along with the Son also give us everything else? … ³⁴Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.”  God cares about every beloved child, Jesus came for every person and all of Creation.  There is no one too insignificant to be loved by God.  If the dominion of heaven can be like a mustard seed, then God’s love can be for you.

But what about your past?  What about the things we’ve done that still cause us shame or regret?  Can we ever atone for the things we’ve said in anger or fear?  The things we’ve done out of a sense of duty or as the lesser of two evils?  The times we haven’t acted when we should have?  How do we overcome these mistakes, these royal screw-ups, these things we wish we could erase from our lives forever?

Certainly there is room for confession and forgiveness and we did that today.  We confessed our sins this morning as we do each week and we received God’s complete forgiveness as we do each week.

If that’s not good enough.  If we think there is anything that we could or have done that can make us unworthy of God’s love, then we’re still not understanding grace.

The dominion of heaven is like yeast.  The sourdough starter is added to 3 measures of flour.  Now when I first heard “3 measures of flour,” I was thinking in terms of cups, but that’s not biblical.  “3 measures of flour” really means about a bushel—80 pounds—of flour!  About 16 5-pound bags!  Plus if you throw in the necessary water, that is over 100 pounds of dough!!  The dominion of heaven is so over-the-top extravagant that the yeast will invade the whole massive amount of dough so that there is no doubt that all the people of the village will be fed by the Bread of Life.

The dominion of heaven is so abundant that, as Paul says, “…I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  There is nothing you have done that can separate you from God’s love.

There is no violence you have committed—no killing, no injury, no hate, no neglect—that can separate you from God’s love.

There is no judgment you’ve made, no anger you’ve caused, no injustice or discrimination you’ve been a part of that can separate you from God’s love.

There is no inaction from fear, no standing by in the face of bullying, no silence when witnessing oppression that can separate you from God’s love.

Whether you seek out the dominion of heaven intentionally, as the merchant who discovers the pearl of great value or stumble upon it accidentally as does the person who happened upon the treasure hidden in a field, the dominion of heaven is for you.

The circumstances of your life, the worth or worthlessness you feel, the hardships you face, the depression, anxiety, doubt, fear, or hurt—none of it is greater than God.  Paul assures us: “³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”  No.  Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ.

The grace that God gives, God gives to every single person.  The grace of God is God’s love for you.  Your whole self.  The whole you that you are.  The things about yourself and your past and the things you hate or would rather forget or change.  They all fall within God’s love.  Because, as Paul states, “It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.”

Joel Workin was one of the first candidates for ministry in the ELCA to come out as gay.  Joel was denied the possibility of ordination by the then-newly formed denomination.  Often in these situations of rejection, we carry our own senses of guilt and of God’s judgment upon us.  Yet even this does not separate us from God’s love.  Joel, in his wisdom, once wrote in an article in a ReconcilingWorks newsletter, “The most precious grace God gives us is the grace to be ourselves.  And now, it is time to let grace abound.”

God loved the whole of Joel, even the parts that others might have wanted to erase or ignore, even after those in power told him that his being and identity disqualified him from ordained ministry.  God loved the whole of Joel, including his past and experiences.  And if Joel, even after facing that rejection in the name of God, could still trust in the love and grace of our God, then can we not also place our trust in that grace?  

What is to prevent us from trusting God?

 “³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth,” nor depression, nor anxiety, nor violence, nor shame, nor fear, nor regret, nor hate, “nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Thanks be to God.