Judgment and Grace

This was published as a Lenten Devotional from the West Virginia Annual Conference (written by me).

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. (John 7:24)

 

Don’t read the comments.  I give myself this advice all the time. Don’t read the comments on Facebook posts, on online newspaper articles, anywhere – just don’t read the comments. The comments are littered with people making judgements and assumptions. The comments can be mean; they are filled with anger and hatred. Don’t read the comments.

 

A friend of mine was in the middle of a horrible experience. Her elderly mother had been driving and had made a wrong turn. She ended up three states away, lost. While they were looking for her, an article was published in the local newspaper. I made the mistake of reading the comments. People were judging the situation with such cruelty.  It was a situation about which they knew nothing, and yet they felt they were the experts in this story. And that is only one illustration I could have shared with you – one of many.

 

John 7:14-31 tells the story of Jesus preaching in the temple. There are those who are seeking to kill him, motivated by his healing of a man on the Sabbath (among other things). Jesus says, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

 

What is “right judgment?” Do you remember the song “Father’s Eyes”?  It was written by Gary Chapman and released in 1979 by Amy Grant.  Maybe I’m the only one old enough to remember it!  According to the song, God’s eyes find the good in things, find the source of help, are full of compassion, and can discover what challenges people. I think that defines “right judgment” – judging not with our own understanding, but with God’s.  We sometimes call that grace.

 

We would do well to let grace lead.  In all the situations we encounter in life – on the internet, in what we read, in our day-to-day conversations – we should let grace lead. We are not equipped by God to judge; instead, we are called to love. We are to live a life full of light and grace, so that the world will be changed. 

 

Share love, not judgment. Don’t read the comments, but more importantly, don’t write the comments. Work to see (and respond) to those around you through the grace-filled view of God’s eyes.

 

Prayer: Loving God, help me to be an instrument of your grace. Amen

 

Grace and Works

Read this from James 2: 14-17:

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

So many people, I think, interpret this to mean that our salvation is through our works, rather than God's grace.

In Matthew 25, we have three stories: The Parable of Ten Bridesmaids, the Parable of the Talents, and The Judgement of the Nations (of course, the original writing didn't have these titles - we given them to the passages). The last one is the story of the sheep and the goats. Matthew 25:35-36 says, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

I may be the last person on earth to notice the parallel between the Matthew passage and the James passage. 

What does it mean that faith without works is dead, and what does it mean that judgement comes from looking at the evidence of what we have done? Here is my attempt to explain it.

I believe that our salvation is a gift of grace. God comes into our lives, before we even know about God, and saves us. That salvation makes a difference in our lives today, our lives tomorrow, and into the eternal future.  We are changed. The grace is a gift, and we have done nothing to earn it. I'm not even sure we can reject it - it is a gift. What we can do is ignore it. We can turn away from God - the gift is there, but we don't "open it." We don't allow it to make any difference.  However, when we have the faith enough (also a gift from God) to believe, the grace can't be contained.  Our lives are changed, and we follow God. We take care of other - we share that love and grace with all.  That is the fruit of our faith; faith is the fruit of the grace.

We don't earn being a sheep by giving someone a drink of water; we are giving people water and food - love and caring - because of the grace.  Works are not our ticket to salvation; salvation (a gift of grace) is our path to good works.

 

Grace at a Conference

Last fall, our Foundation recently held an Academy of Faith and Generosity.  From 1:00 on Monday through 11:00 on Wednesday, those attending heard talks from various experts in their fields about creating a culture of generosity, managing their endowments, and encouraging legacy giving. My colleague and I presented the Legacy Giving session. 

After talking for about 10 minutes, I could feel my throat start to close up and my voice became horse.  I hadn’t planned ahead and put a bottle of water near the podium. It got worse, so I asked “Could someone get me some water?” Getting into the situation was my own fault - I speak pretty often and know the value of having water nearby, but I just hadn’t planned ahead.

When I asked, five people jumped up and went into action.  More than was needed. One person put a couple of cough drops on the podium for me, someone else arrived with a glass of water.  I was so impressed by how quickly people helped me.

And then, all the rest of the academy, while other speakers were presenting, someone would walk up to the podium and leave a new bottle of water on the table next to it.  Without being asked.  Just to be helpful and kind.

This is grace, I think.  It’s an abundance of help for someone who asked for it, even when their situation is their own fault, and it’s the quiet help you don’t even asked for, but appreciate.  It isn’t what we deserve - it isn’t what we earn - it’s just helping other people out of kindness.

Thanks be to God for it. 

Perspectives: Grace

 

The Grace of Disagreement

One other thought from Rabbi Jason Bonder's video about Rambam's Ladder (I talked about it earlier).  He says that if you review it, and you don't agree with it, or you don't think it applies today (since it was originally created as an illustration in the 12th century, then that is OK.  In fact, he says it is Good!

"Jewish tradition encourages the next generations, one after the other, and each individual to grapple with the texts that are put in front of them.  Disagreement is a theme that is baked into Jewish thought.  The Hebrew name Yisrael, given to the biblical patriarch Jacob, is often translated as 'wrestles with God.'... The key is to tell someone why and find deeper meaning within it."

Do we do that? Do we find it "good" to disagree and to join with others in Christian Conversation (hint - I capitalized it so that it would remind you of the name of one of the Means of Grace Wesley talked about)?  Or do we stick so firmly and stubbornly with the traditional about scripture we have been thought that we leave no room for the grace of disagreement?

Abundant Love

In Rachel Held Evans and Jeff Chu's book, Wholehearted Faith, in the Epilogue, are these words:

"The truth is, you can't earn God' love because you already have it.  You can't be any more loved than you are because God's love has already been freely and abundantly given."

In Sunday school the other day, we were discussing the curriculum.  The author said (and I am completely paraphrasing, because I'm doing this from memory), we can receive God's grace by asking for it.  I think the corollary of that is the common idea that we can be forgiven by God by asking for forgiveness.  What if our sin is that we can't ask for forgiveness? What if our sin is that we don't recognize our sin? What if we never overcome the perceived stumbling block of turning to God and asking to be loved?

The truth as I believe it is that we are loved before we ask, we are forgiven before we repent, and God's grace is freely given, without condition.

In our world, it's not very hard to believe that someone could love us but still hold a grudge against us, or could love us, and still withhold forgiveness because we haven't asked to be forgiven, or done the right repentant action to restore the relationship.

But I don't think God is like that.  I think God's love, and God's forgiveness, and God's grace are all wrapped up together in the nature of God. God loves us more abundantly than we can imagine - without limits, without condition, without boundary. God loves us, infinitely. And that means we are already forgiven, and that God's grace surrounds us without us asking for it.

So what is the value of repentance?

Because sometimes we can't accept the gift because we hold on so tightly to our sin. God has created a way for us to step into the light. Repentance convinces us to let go, and to find the gift, freely given.

It's not God's nature to withhold love. It is human nature to need a way to recognize it.

 

Amazing Grace in Action

The following is a devotional I wrote for the West Virginia Annual Conference Lenten 2023 Devotional Ministry based on John 9:1-41.

He answered, I do not now whether he is a sinner.  

One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see (John 9:25)

When I was a junior in High School, a friend invited me to her church.  I went that Sunday, and the next, and never stopped.  I always remember being a person of faith, and I remember being baptized as a child, but I had never had an experience like the UMYF would give me.  Among other ministries, our group spearheaded the “tape ministry” for the church.  Youth copied the service onto cassette tapes and delivered them each week to those we called “shut ins.”  Twice a year we would go as a group and visit all of the shut-ins.  I particularly remember going in one day to about 20 different homes, and joining as the youth sang Amazing Grace with each person we visited.  

In this chapter of John, Jesus heals a blind man.  He does so in a way that alarms the religious leaders because they think Jesus has broken the Sabbath.  They call the man to testify about what happened to him.  “I was blind; now I see.” Jesus healed a physical problem the man had had since birth, but Jesus also brings him to faith.  If you read the entire passage, and pay special attention to they way the healed man referred to Jesus, you can see that at first he called Jesus a man, then a prophet, then a man from God, and finally he tells Jesus, “Lord, I believe.” Amazing  grace in action.

Verse 25 of the 9th chapter of John is said to be the basis of the lyrics of the hymn Amazing Grace.  The lyrics were written by John Newton, who was involved in the Atlantic slave trade.  One day, a terrible storm threatened his ship, and he prayed to God for mercy.  Eleven hours later, they were safe from the storm.  He considered this his spiritual conversion, and though he didn’t end his work in the slave trade immediately, he did eventually change his life.  I imagine if asked, his words for Jesus would have echoed the healed man’s words: a man, a prophet, a man from God, and then Lord.  Amazing grace in action.

I know I wasn’t blind to God before a friend invited me to church, but her invitation started me on a path that would not just change my life, but shape it into what it has become.  I believed in God, but until I was a junior in high school, I didn’t understand what it meant to belong to a faith community – to find support and hope through other members of the church and to reach out to the world in service.  Amazing grace in action.  How have you experienced God’s amazing grace? Who can you invite to join you?

Prayer: Surround us with your grace and move us to invite others to join us.

Experience under a tree and in a cave

One of the lectionary readings last Sunday was from 1 Kings.  It's a passage I've always liked.  Elijah is running away, worn out, dejected, and exhausted.  Angels come and minister to him, and then God appears to him in silence. 

One pastor I know posted this one Facebook:

In 1 Kgs. 19:1-15 Elijah falls into a crippling depression and loses all will to live. Depression and suicidal thoughts are rarely discussed openly in church, especially from the pulpit; tomorrow is different.  No matter where you are spiritually and emotionally, I pray this sermon provides both insight and hope.  (Rev. Darick Biondi)

I realized as I read his post and as I listened to the scripture as it was read in worship, that I always focus on the care given to Elijah.  I focus on God's visit, and not on Elijah.

But focus on Elijah for a moment.  Verse 4b says, "He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my  ancestors.”

Darick is right.  Now focus on the response.  The angels don't tell him to "buck up" and stop feeling sad.  The angels minister to him where he is, and provide what he needs.  Not platitudes.  Just acceptance and caring.

And then he goes to the cave.  God doesn't judge Elijah, or tell him that "everything happens for a reason." God doesn't diminish what he is feeling or experiencing.  What God does do is bring Elijah into God's presence in silence, and then sends Elijah out in ministry again.  Elijah is still worthy.

What Does Forgiveness Look Like?

In Sunday school a couple of weeks ago, an article about a Mennonite family was discussed.  You can read about it here..  

A Mennonite man has sexually abused his children.  When his wife did not welcome him back into their home following his probation, she was excommunicated from the church for failing to forgive him.   The article is much longer, and provides more details.  The discussion in Sunday school sparks some thoughts in me about forgiveness.

The Mennonites in this story demanded that she forgive and forget.  Once the person has confessed, and has been forgiven by the church, then the sin is to be forgotten - never spoken of again.  

I think it is reasonable that this man, who may be forgiven, should not have access to his children.  Forgetting the sin would put them in danger.  

What does forgiveness look like?  I have many discussions in Bible Study that explored the idea of forgiveness requiring that the sin be forgotten.  The Mennonites in this article, I think, would say that forgiveness is radical, and that it much include forgetting the sin.

I think that forgiveness looks different for every circumstance.  In some, maybe it does require forgetting the sin, and recreating the person being forgiven - so that we don't see the sin when we see the person.  In other circumstances, forgiveness is given, but accountability is required.  In other circumstances, it may mean that forgiveness is offered, but that the relationship cannot be restored. In others, a person who has hurt someone may be forgiven without the knowledge of the person who has sinned - the forgiveness is offered so that the person hurt can heal.  All of these, and others, can be within the will of God.

Forgiveness, like grace, is offered and created in many forms.  All of them, though, with the help of God.

Freedom at a Cost

On the way out of town this weekend, I saw a church sign in front of a church.  It read, "Freedom is never free."  I understand why it was there - it was Memorial Day weekend, and the sign was there to honor those who have fought for, had their lives changed, and died for the freedom our country is defined by.  And I honor that.

However, the sign made me wonder - is it true for all freedom? Is no freedom free of charge? 

Christ died to free of from our sins.  That was a definite cost to Christ, and I get that grace is not cheap, but does saying, "freedom is never free" support the idea that grace has an exchange rate? That, yes, God gives us grace, but only if.....

We live in a culture that believes that nothing is free.  Everything has a price.  Kindness deserves payback. Favors are debts. We live in a culture where fairness is the golden rule.  

But grace is not fair. Freedom in Christ is not a debt to repay. It has been given to us at great cost to Christ, but at no cost to us.  Free. No strings. No exchange necessary. 

We can't believe it because we have never seen anything like it. But faith is not exchange-based. Love is a gift to all - to me, to you, to all.

I think expecting there to be a cost cheapens it.

 

Means of Grace

According to the United Methodist Church website, the means of grace could be divided into Works of Piety and works of Mercy.

Works of Piety are practices that lead us to holiness of living.  We can do them as individuals or as communal practices.  Individuals practices include reading, meditating, and studying scripture, prayer, fasting, regularly attending worship, healthy living, and sharing out faith with others.  Communal acts of piety include sharing the sacraments, Christian conversation and accountability, and Bible study.

Can you see how these practices can lead to wisdom?  Reading, study, Christian Conversation, and Bible Study open our minds to seek God through the Bible  and through others.  Meditation, prayer and fasting, and worship open our minds to the work of the holy spirit to whisper wisdom from God to us.

What about Works of Mercy?  Individuals works include good works, visiting the sick, and those in prison, feeding the hungry, and generosity.  Communal practices include seeking justice, ending oppression and discrimination, and addressing the needs of the poor.  I think all of us would agree that putting feet on the words of Jesus to love each other, when we do it though acts of mercy, not only benefit the ones who need the help, but also open us up to wisdom.  Help other people, and you will find you are the one who needed mercy.

In our quest to find wisdom, I think Wesley's list of the means of grace are an excellent starting point.

Afraid of Grace

In Sunday school a few weeks ago, the question arose,  "Won’t we just sin if the slate is wiped clean?"  If grace is grace, and God forgives and removes sin from our lives through sanctifying grace, then doesn't that encourage us to sin again? If there are no consequences, then won't we sin?

It's a logical question.  It's a parenting question.  We realize as parents that if we remove consequences for wrong doing, or if we never set boundaries or implement discipline, then will a child ever learn right from wrong, and won't the child make the wrong choices again and again?  We know we have to be the parent and enforce discipline to teach our children.  In addition to that, we have an sense of fairness - we can't imagine that wrongdoing can be forgotten or forgiven.  It doesn't seem fair.  

And then there is this: if God forgives sins - without grudges or points lost - then we have to do the same.  We don't want to.

Paul said this in Romans 6:1-4:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Forgiveness isn't meant to be a "get out of jail free" card.  Forgiveness doesn't remove consequences.  What we do has consequences, and even as forgiven people, we have to work through them. 

We sometimes equate forgiveness as "washing away our sins," as if we threw a towel in the washing machine with bleach and if came out clean and white.  The purpose of forgiveness isn't cleanliness - it's change.  It is part of sanctification - grace that moves us closer to the image of God.  It doesn't reset us to where we were - it should change us.  As a person made new in Christ, our desire to sin is changed.  

Don't misunderstand what I am saying. I don't mean that once forgiven, we no longer are tempted to sin, and that we have a magic sin-resistance field around us.  What I do mean is that as we are experience sanctifying grace, we are changed by love. Changed so that we might say as Paul says  in Romans 7:19, " For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."  I believe our desire to sin decreases because our love of God and gratitude towards God increase.  Forgiveness doesn't motivate us to sin more; forgiveness, because it is love and grace, changes us so that we do not want to sin more.

And, as we are changed by sanctifying grace, our willingness to forgive others, without grudge, increases. That doesn't mean we can forgive without the help of God, but our desire to do so will increase.

God Leaves Paradise

In Sunday school a few weeks ago, we were discussing Genesis 3.  Look as these verses (21-23):

And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

A few interesting items that draw my attention this morning:

• God clothed Adam and Eve.  What does that say to you about his care of his creation, the man and the woman?
• God sent them out of Paradise because they had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - they now knew sin.  Would he allow them to live forever in this state of sin? No.  He sends them out of Paradise, perhaps not to prevent them from achieving eternal life, but to prevent them from living in sin forever.  What does that say about God?
• He sends them forth, away from Paradise. Is that the end of the story? Are they outside of God's presence forever? If you read "the rest of the story," you'll see that God doesn't send them out of Paradise alone.  God goes with them.  God is present in all the pages of the Bible, with his creation.  In other words, God left Paradise with them.

I was thinking of that grace this morning.  God didn't banish them to be alone; God went with them, leaving the garden.  What does that echo (or pre-echo) to you? Can you relate that to Jesus leaving the presence of God to come to earth as a human?  Grace.

Perspectives: Giant Eraser

Grace

Offering Grace

I'm in the concluding chapter of The Return of the Prodigal Son (Henri Nouwen), so these thoughts are generated by that reading.

There is a technique for exploring Bible passages that involves placing yourself in each character of the story.  For the characters in Jesus' parable of the two sons, we can explore how we are like the younger son, who runs away and looses everything, only to return.  We can explore how we are like the older son, who resents the joy with which the father accepts the return of the younger son.  And there is the father.  Are we like one of the sons? Or are we like the father?\

Nouwen writes:  Do I want to be like the father? Do I want to be not just the one who is being forgiven, but also the one who forgives; not just the one who is being welcomed home, but also the one who welcomes home; not just the one who receives compassion, but the one who offers it as well?

We talk so much about being like the sons when the real question is: Are you interested in being like that father?  It feels somehow good to be able to say: "These sons are like me." It gives a sense of being understood.  But how does it feel to say: "The father is like me"?

Do we only want to be the recipient of grace? Are we willing to be the one who offers it?

Burn Your Post-it

I'm enjoying and being enriched by the videos produced and published at the Makers.com.  This site produces videos of women who are trailblazers - who are making change, who are making the world a better place.  

One series on the site contains interviews with Rev. Nadia Boltz Weber - Have a Little Faith.  In one of those videos, she starts with the story of a worship service at the church she started. She asked everyone to write on a post-it note the thing they tell themselves most often. She was saddened by the messages on the post-its, and I can imagine you know what they said. Phrases like, "I'm not good enough." "I'm a failure." "Know one wants me around." "Know one knows who I really am."  

At the end of the service, they burned all the post-it notes.

What is the phrase that you tell yourself over and over? Do you know (do I know) how much it damages you? And do you know that God loves the person you really are? The person you hide? The person you would never tell anyone about?  

God loves that person. Without reservation. Without apology. Without improvement.

Burn your post-it.

Stingy Kindness

Are our acts of kindness "stringy?"

Yesterday, a person thanked me for doing something.  She called it kind, and she said that she hoped she would be able to pay it back someday. Truthfully, when I was doing it, I didn't think of it as an act of kindness - I just saw it as something that needed to be done, but if it was kindness, I didn't do it for "payback." I didn't, and don't, intend for there to be a reciprical action.

When I said so to this person, she said, "Yes, I know, pay it forward, right?"

No.  It's kindness.  It's an act of grace.  There are no expectations. No demands.  No strings.  I told her that, and she had trouble, I think, accepting it.

Do we have trouble accepting grace? Are we kind with the expectation of reciprocity? Stringy kindness is not grace.  It's not free.  And it might not actually be very kind.

Grace Greater

Think about the prodigal son.  Think about his conversation with himself as he contemplates returning home.  This is from Matthew 15, verses 17-19:

But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and  to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!  I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him,  “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;  I am no longer worthy to be called your son;  treat me like one of your hired hands.”

Nouwen, in his book, writes that the son comes back, not claiming the dignity of the son, but hoping to be accepted as a servant.  As we look at the story, knowing how the son left, then we might say that he doesn't even deserve that much consideration. And yet the son dares to hope that he might receive at least the role of a servant in his father's home.

The son plans his return by practicing his speech. He has no expectation of grace. And we do that.  Nouwen writes:

"...I still live as though the God to whom I am returning demands an explanation. I still think about his love as conditional and about home as a place I am not yet fully sure of.  While walking home, I keep entertaining doubts about whether I will be truly welcome when I get there.  

We never (or rarely) accept that grace is always -- always -- greater.

Contrition

Contrition.

I feel it 

as the ashes placed on my forehead

dust down onto my face.

My sins.

Obvious to the world.

My faults.

Staining not just my skin

but the life I lead.

Oh, God, 

Our God,

My God,

Forgive me.

Clean the ash from my face

as you clean the sin

from my life.

And may you cover me

May you cover us

in your sanctifying grace,

so that tomorrow

we might say,

I am doing better.

It's not Fair

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life.  Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.  Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? (Ezekiel 18:25-29)

I am a Rotarian. Rotarians support what is called the Four Way Test as an ethical standard for life. This is the four way test:

• Is it the TRUTH?
• Is it FAIR to all concerned?
• Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
• Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Don't get me wrong - I see nothing wrong with this test for business relationships, but as I was reading it, the phrase, "Is it fair to all concerned" struck me. 

We teach our children to be fair - to take turns, to treat others as they would like to be treated. It's a good way to teach them to live in the world. It seems even Ezekiel supports it. 

However, if we live in a world where God is fair, we are lost. 

Christ changed everything. Grace is not fair. Grace is the epitome of unfair.  Thank God for it.

I wonder if the fact that we have trouble accepting the idea of grace -free and unearned - because we were raised in a world that teaches children that the highest ethical standard is fairness.

If someone takes your coat, give him your shirt, too. Not fair - it's grace.