Theme: We reap what God sows and then sow what He reaps
Josh spoke to us this past Sunday about “the good news” of God's grace from Romans, chapter one. As I listened, I began to think of how foreign and odd this whole concept truly is in our world. The “good news” involves a man who did nothing but good: healing, feeding, teaching, loving unconditionally, being falsely accused, beaten, mocked, and hung on a cross. Along with that comes this concept of Grace given to us through this aforementioned “Good News” and even before. What happened to “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” and “What goes around comes around?”
Whether self-enforced or not, Karma is the doctrine of the world, and it is one I and many have embraced. Yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic and, oddly, removes the learned joy of retaliation and power that comes with assuming that I am fabulous and everyone else needs to be judged and punished. Even more odd is that we cannot even think we need Grace until we receive it. What?! So, let me get this straight. God gives us an unwarranted gift from one we did not know or care to know when we did not want one. This gift turned our world upside down and gave us the right to be His child when we did not even ask or want to be. It would be like Manny DiFrangia punching me in the mouth and me hugging him and asking my parents to adopt him. Well, sort of. You get what I am saying, right? Oh, and much of what we get with this Grace comes from that same man who allowed himself to be hung on the cross for doing nothing. On top of this, none of this makes sense without the Prevenient Grace that God used to awaken us. Huh? All this is packed into a few verses in Paul’s letter to the Roman church, which Josh unpacked for us in his message. We did not even need to pack or unpack. No boasting here!
Love is the reason for the Good News and the Grace. It is a love by our Creator so great that He interrupted, if you like, the consequences of our actions and then adopted us into His family, which is incredibly GOOD NEWS indeed, especially for me.
Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast”
Prayer:
Lord, when I consider the wonders of your creation, your incredible purpose and plan, and what you have done in and through my life, I am convinced that it must be true. No man or woman could ever concoct a story like yours. Your Gospel, Grace, Love, Mercy, and how you crafted and wove it into time and the physical realm are beyond anything we could imagine or invent. I am in awe, limited in my understanding, yet so grateful and excited to know more when I am made able. My life is like the title of a classic novel, “Great Expectations.” Amen
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