The Catch That Isn't--April 1, 2019
"For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing." [Gal. 2:19-21]
It seems more than a little presumptuous for me to dare to say much on top of these words--they cut to the chase well enough on their own. But maybe it is worth a moment's reflection on this "for me" business.
Sometimes our religious talk can become quite abstract. The sentence, "Jesus' death effects atonement for sinful humanity," contains deep and wonderfully good news, but buried underneath jargon, you might never know it. To recognize that the Son of the Living God "loved me and gave himself for me" brings God's action much closer to home. That's not to say that Jesus died only for me, or only for people like me. But it does mean he died at least for me, and me as I really am, even in the mess that my life is at this present moment, even in the mess that my life will continue to be down the road.
Now the "catch" for us in all this--which really turns out to be the fact that there is no "catch"--is that if I can embrace the reality that Christ has love and died for me precisely as I am at this moment, and even despite all the darker moments I have yet to muddle my way into, then I have to admit that his loving me isn't based on the number of gold stars I've earned or positive accomplishments in life.
And--perhaps even more uncomfortable for us to face--it means that Christ has loved and died the whole world precisely as it is in this moment, and despite all the darker moments it has yet to muddle its way into. If Christ has loved me without regard to how well I follow the rules, then Christ's love for others needs to be just that free and unconstrained, too.
The "catch" to grace is that it includes the world, with or without my approval. If the cross is Jesus' gift "for me" without conditions or fine print, then it means recognizing that God sets those same condition-less, fine-print-free terms for the whole world, whether I like it or not. The "catch" is that there is no catch... for any of us.
That can be uncomfortable for us to acknowledge, because it means that God loves the unchurched and the riff-raff and the impolite and the ungrateful just as much as God loves church folk who don't like to consider themselves riff-raff or impolite or ungrateful. It means that Jesus' death is for the whole lot of us, even if we don't have the eyes of faith to recognize that it was for the whole lot of us. The scope of God's love is that wide, even if it rubs us the wrong way to see "those people" welcomed in. Sometimes the catch is recognizing the fact that there is no catch.
Our whole day is changed when we can hear the good news as "for me"--"for you." Today, how can you be a witness, even without using churchy jargon, to someone else you encounter today of the love of God that is "for them"?
Gracious God, let us live and die for you today--after all, you have lived and died and lived for us. Open our ears to hear that your love has come really and truly for us, and then open our mouths to let everyone we meet know that they are included in the "us."
"For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing." [Gal. 2:19-21]
It seems more than a little presumptuous for me to dare to say much on top of these words--they cut to the chase well enough on their own. But maybe it is worth a moment's reflection on this "for me" business.
Sometimes our religious talk can become quite abstract. The sentence, "Jesus' death effects atonement for sinful humanity," contains deep and wonderfully good news, but buried underneath jargon, you might never know it. To recognize that the Son of the Living God "loved me and gave himself for me" brings God's action much closer to home. That's not to say that Jesus died only for me, or only for people like me. But it does mean he died at least for me, and me as I really am, even in the mess that my life is at this present moment, even in the mess that my life will continue to be down the road.
Now the "catch" for us in all this--which really turns out to be the fact that there is no "catch"--is that if I can embrace the reality that Christ has love and died for me precisely as I am at this moment, and even despite all the darker moments I have yet to muddle my way into, then I have to admit that his loving me isn't based on the number of gold stars I've earned or positive accomplishments in life.
And--perhaps even more uncomfortable for us to face--it means that Christ has loved and died the whole world precisely as it is in this moment, and despite all the darker moments it has yet to muddle its way into. If Christ has loved me without regard to how well I follow the rules, then Christ's love for others needs to be just that free and unconstrained, too.
The "catch" to grace is that it includes the world, with or without my approval. If the cross is Jesus' gift "for me" without conditions or fine print, then it means recognizing that God sets those same condition-less, fine-print-free terms for the whole world, whether I like it or not. The "catch" is that there is no catch... for any of us.
That can be uncomfortable for us to acknowledge, because it means that God loves the unchurched and the riff-raff and the impolite and the ungrateful just as much as God loves church folk who don't like to consider themselves riff-raff or impolite or ungrateful. It means that Jesus' death is for the whole lot of us, even if we don't have the eyes of faith to recognize that it was for the whole lot of us. The scope of God's love is that wide, even if it rubs us the wrong way to see "those people" welcomed in. Sometimes the catch is recognizing the fact that there is no catch.
Our whole day is changed when we can hear the good news as "for me"--"for you." Today, how can you be a witness, even without using churchy jargon, to someone else you encounter today of the love of God that is "for them"?
Gracious God, let us live and die for you today--after all, you have lived and died and lived for us. Open our ears to hear that your love has come really and truly for us, and then open our mouths to let everyone we meet know that they are included in the "us."
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