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From the Pastor
As I walked out of the sanctuary Sunday morning, I had the strong sense that we should talk to each other about grace at CHPC. Maybe it’s because right before coming to church I’d read a devotional by Richard Rohr entitled Unmerited Generosity. The second to last paragraph in the devotional (below) had my attention:
“Grace cannot be understood by any ledger of merits and demerits. It cannot be held to patterns of buying, losing, earning, achieving, or manipulating, which is unfortunately where most of us live our lives. Grace is quite literally “for the taking.” It is God eternally giving away God—for nothing, except the giving itself. I believe grace is the life energy that makes flowers bloom, animals lovingly raise their young, babies smile, and planets remain in their orbits—for no good reason whatsoever except love alone.”
And then I read the Gospel lectionary passage for Sunday, from Matthew 25:1-13, which is the last major discourse that Jesus had with his disciples in Matthew. Right before the passion narrative, it is eschatological —that it is to say it is a discussion about the end of the age. And the Old Testament reading from Joshua 24,1-3a, 14-25 had somewhat of a similar feel, as the Israelites' time of wandering around in the desert for 40 years was about to end.
As they were about to embark on their new beginning, after reminding the Israelites of God’s faithfulness to them, Joshua had a question for them, “Whom will you serve?”
Ultimately, I believe both of these passages have something to say to us about grace, “which cannot be understood by any ledger of merits or demerits.” As Presbyterian minister the Rev. Dr. Baron Mulls writes, “God’s grace comes to us unbidden. We have not gained it by our choices, rather more likely we have needed it because of our choices.”
Grace and peace,
Paul
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