Unreasonable Grace

One of the theme's of Joe's sermon today was that God is unreasonable.  He based his premise on Ephesians 1:1-8.  If you read through that passage, you will find all of the ways that God is unreasonable.

God grants us forgiveness, wholeness, healing, and adopts us as children -- without any reason.  We don't have to prove ourselves worthy, or that we obey God's laws, or that we helped with vacation Bible school or taught Sunday school or baked a casserole for the potluck.  These gifts of grace are ours for no reason at all.

I wonder if it wouldn't make more parenting sense if God said, "Do all of these things, and I will bless you with wonders you cannot even imagine."  It seems that would be good motivation.

And yet, just as we love our children, from the moment we know of their existence, God loves us. God grants us untold graces.  It is unreasonable, and yet it is God's way.

God cannot be other than what God is.  And so, our faithfulness is a response to God's faithfulness. Our love is a response to God's love.  The grace we offer is a response to the grace we have received.  And it is never the other way around.

It is unreasonable.