June 18, 2017

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:1-11

“At the door of the seminary where I work we try to remember the “access” code. At the computer we turn the noun into a verb: “I need to access that file.” When I am at home trying to retrieve messages from my workplace e-mail account and my finger or my memory slips as I try to type in my password, the screen goes blank except for the sad judgment: “Access denied.” Many of us have different passwords for our e-mail accounts, our banking, our travel service and the on-line vendors from whom we order books, CDs and fresh fruit. I write a carefully coded list in the back of my date book of all the passwords I am apt to need and only hope that I do not lose the date book. Paul wrote for a world in which people were desperately trying to find the passwords that would give them access to God. Some thought that careful obedience to the law of Moses was the key. Others thought that civic virtue was the key. Still others tried to placate God by the breadth of their philosophical knowledge. Paul’s astonishing claim is that there is only one password we need to remember: Jesus Christ and that in Jesus Christ everyone has access to grace. And suddenly the entire picture is reversed. It is not that we are striving to reach God, it is that God is striving to reach us–grace. It is not that we use Jesus to attain God’s mercy, it is that God sends Jesus to enact the mercy that God has intended from the beginning of time. Grace, however, is not only the activity of God in Jesus Christ that reaches out to include everyone (in Paul’s case, especially both Jews and Gentiles.) Grace is also our dwelling place “This grace in which we stand.” God’s goodness to us surrounds us and upholds us and defines who we are. Our lives are shaped by the gift we can never achieve but can only receive.” (June 15, 2008, Commentary on Romans 5:1-11, David Barlett, “Access” has become a key phrase in our technological age”)

I know we have this thing called grace that tells me, tells us that we are forgiven.  Paul spent much time agonizing over this very fact – he spells out his argument in his letter to the Romans.  He says basically that “Yes our sins are forgiven through grace and faith, but that should not lead us to continue to lead sinful lives purposefully so that more grace can abound.”  No, instead as baptized children of God, we are baptized into the Grace of Jesus, and then called to go forth and look for ways to do good, not ways to sin.  For you see, the one that knows every sparrow, is the one who knows every person and their particular need.  God calls you and me to go forth each day looking for ways to be the hands and feet of Christ, to be the voice for the voiceless, to bring comfort to the suffering, and to bring the Word of God’s peace to those facing the sword of oppression and disillusionment.  And if we are worried about what to do or what to say, Jesus says “what you will say will be given to you, for it is the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  That same Holy Spirit will guide us past our fears and doubts – that Holy Spirit that is infused in us in our baptisms. 

It is in remembering the promises of our baptisms that God calls us away from our comfort items and out of our comfort zones – to experience that burning inside of us, like Paul experienced a burning inside himself, a burning, a compulsion to share the love of God – to speak God’s Word.  It is not necessarily the beginning of a life guaranteed to be without trouble, without challenge, without cares, but it is the beginning of a trusting relationship with God, where we trust God to lead us and guide us.

Pastor Dave