Loading...Holy God, you fill us with your presence and your grace. Help us to hear you and know you through all of the distractions in daily life. Amen
Every time I hear this section of Paul’s letter to the Romans, I think of the angel and devil on one’s shoulders: “I do not know my own actions! For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15b)
And, on and on....
It’s not really quite that simplistic – those moral decisions – either for Paul or for us. The angel/devil dichotomy makes it seem like with enough will-power, or strength of character, or an excellent moral compass, or self-flagellation as a deterrent,
we’ll always be able to choose “good”.
That we can avoid evil.
That we have failed if we didn’t avoid evil and always choose good.
That we can save ourselves.
Oy! That’s exhausting just to contemplate!
Paul speaks for all of us:
I know what I’m supposed to do, but it just ain’t happening!
So, what’s the way out? Who will save me from myself?!?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Thank God – literally – that it’s not up to us.
You don’t have to save yourself.
You don’t have to prove your worthiness.
You aren’t stuck in an eternal hell (starting now) just because you have made mistakes.
God’s grace is so much more expansive.
God’s forgiveness is so much more powerful.
God’s love is just so much ... more. More than you can imagine.
~~~~~~~~~~
Yet, God doesn’t always show up in the way we think that God should,
or in the way we want God to show up.
For example, Jesus.
Jesus hung out with outcasts, and ate with well known sinners,
and drank with women (who were thought of as “loose”),
and wantonly forgave and healed people – the “wrong sort” of people.
He was not. at. all. what the leaders expected.
He was not what the religious institution had been saying the Messiah would be like (despite prophets such as Zephaniah!).
As far as they were concerned, Jesus was ... wrong, so wrong!
And John the Baptizer, the prophet, the guy who was to point the way to the Messiah, the voice of God....
Well, he cried out in the wilderness!
He ate bugs and honey! He wore camel’s hair!
He claimed to speak for God and came from a good, religious family,
but, people thought he was a FREAK!
Are we just as guilty as the crowds that called John a freak and Jesus a glutton, thinking that God and God’s grace and wisdom should show up in a certain way – and only in that way?
Do we get stuck thinking that God should act in our lives the way in which we want God to act, fixing our struggles, helping “us” first, answering “my” prayers as though with a magic pill?
Boy howdy! It sure would be easier to recognize God and have our issues solves if God acted more ... godly, more divine, and
more “All-Powerful” like the great and mighty Oz!
But, that’s is not how God shows up. At least, not usually.
Instead, we get what we’ve got:
Jesus, who hands out with the un-establishment folks.
The people who make mistakes,
and feel lost
or broken
or distressed.
Jesus, who loves and embraces all, even the establishment group.
The people who also feel lost, broken, distressed,
and have made mistakes,
but cover all that up—
the feelings of shame or unworthiness –
under the gloss of “everything’s OK!”
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
God shows up for us and with us
by walking with us,
sitting with us,
waiting with us,
weeping with us.
God shows up for us by
empowering,
healing, and
transforming us,
and provoking us to act –
to move out of ourselves and
to turn toward others in love, compassion, and kindness.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
All y’all – weary, exhilarated, burdened, light-hearted – come,
be yoked with Jesus.
Your burdens and cares are shared; you have help bearing them,
and then you can also share the burdens of others.
(that is, after all, how the oxen do it when they are yoked to work!)
Come, you worn out and you energized.
You aren’t alone.
You have rest in Jesus.
You have renewed strength in the Holy Spirit.
You have joy in community.
Let us pray:
You are great, O God, and greatly to be praised. You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until the rest in you. Grant that we may believe in you, call upon you, know you, and serve you, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
(Prayer of the Day for Lectionary 14 from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 41)
