“For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17

“Joe always went to his local barber, Mr. Verks for a monthly shave and haircut. But one day Verks the barber was ill. So the barber’s wife, Grace, took over. Joe noticed over subsequent weeks that his beard was not growing. The barber, a good Lutheran, explained the mystery. “You now understand that when we are not shaved by Verks,” he said, “you’re shaved by Grace.”

“…the people you love have two sides to them. One is the side they love you back with, and the other is the side that, even when they do not mean to, they can sting you with like a wasp.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Saved by Grace through faith. It is what we lean upon when we encounter the close shaves in life. It is one of the fundamental teachings of the Lutheran Church – Justification by Faith through Grace. As the scripture states above, Grace is a gift from G-d. There is nothing we can do to earn such Grace. This is important for us all to understand, G-d does still depend upon our works. Now before you accuse me of heresy, listen to what I am saying. Our works are Not to earn G-d’s continued love, but because Grace deserves our continued efforts of an active, loving relationship of faith through loving deeds of service.

Martin Luther spent much of his time in the Monastery trying to earn G-d’s love and favor. No matter how much he did, no matter how badly he mortified his own flesh, he could not find the G-d of love he so much wanted in his life – he could feel the sting of the wasp of judgment, but the love of G-d eluded him. So he returned over and over again to scripture, until he read those words: The one who is righteous will live by faith.

Now that we are well into the New Year, we are either well into the changes we had hoped to make in 2021, or we have already abandoned them. Thank the Lord our G-d is not as capricious with Grace as we are with works. Justification by Grace through faith. It saves us time and time again.

Pastor Dave