Grace for All

Introduction

I shared with you that my mom died at the age of 50 after a long battle with cancer. When she died, my dad was very angry and maybe for several reasons. I believe the hardest part of her death to accept is that it was not fair. If God was in control then the quality of life ought to reflect how you lived it. He said it this way. “Why did your mom have to die so young? She did not have any enemies and actually she was very well liked by many.” He was right. There were so many people attending her funeral service that the mortuary had to open every room they had and set up all their chairs to accommodate the crowd. My dad continued, “And look at those who sell drugs and commit crime, who kill people and makes lots of money. They live into their 80’s and live on the beaches in Florida.” You need to know that Florida was my Father’s Garden of Eden. “There is no sense of justice in what has happened.”

In the passage we are about to read, this is the issue Jesus is addressing. The theology prevalent in the Jewish faith is in essence, “You reap what you sow.” The social position you are born into is dependent upon how deeply God cares about you or your family. If you are born into the priesthood, God loves you the most. If you are born a woman, you have obviously made God mad. If you are born with an infirmity you are in God’s disfavor. What we are about to read shows another similar belief. If you experience a calamity, it is because you have sinned and made God angry and God is punishing you. Let’s hear how Jesus responds to those who are questioning him about this issue of punishment.

Read Luke 13:1-5

The first calamity is one where people have acted in evil toward another group, but the people believe that God was using them for punishment. In the second calamity it was an accident. An accident, especially in the insurance industry, perpetuates this thought of God’s punishment as it is at times called an act of God. After the crowd asks their questions, Jesus challenges their beliefs. He says, do not believe that these people were being punished, for these people were no better or no worse than any of you. All of you need to repent, need to change, for you are all in need of God’s grace. Paul said it this way. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

In challenging the premise of this theology of God blesses those who are good, and punishes those who God is angry at, he also challenges the idea of some are more loved than others. No one is loved more than another. Even though scripture teaches that all are sinners and in need of repentance, it also teaches, “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” True, none of us is perfect, but we are all loved. While we learn and grow, while we repent and change God is with us. God’s love embraces all people without favorites. If you are a parent, you know your children are different, and some, as Nancy suggested last week are rebellious, but my suspicion is, unless it is a really extenuating circumstance, you love them all the same.

I remember my first Bishop telling a story that impacted him very much as he told it to us several times in sermons. He was called to the home of a family who were close friends of his. This family had five children, four girls and a boy. The parents really wanted a son, so they kept having children until they had one. One night the boy was killed in a car accident, and obviously the parents were devastated. When the Bishop entered the home to be with the family the father was sitting on the couch, obviously totally consumed in his grief. He just sat there saying, “If only it had been one of the girls. If only it had been one of the girls.” Finally the wife responded saying, “Which one would you choose? Which one would you choose?”

It seems to me that sometimes this is what we ask of God. To make the un-makeable choice between children God loves. Or we prioritize who is more important and more loved by God. When we say, “We cannot all have health care for all, some will have to do without.” God says, “Who would you have me choose? Which husband would you ask to not want care for his wife? Which parent must I tell cannot have coverage for their child?” When some gain a quality of life at the expense of others, the question is, “Who would you have me choose?” Who can live in extravagance while others sleep in their car? Who can go to quality schools and get a good education which opens doors to a good life, while others must attend schools that are falling down and without proper educational materials? Who would you have me choose?

Jesus challenges the people and this underlying belief that who we are and what we have is a reflection of God’s love or lack of love. The passage continues with a parable.

Read Luke 13:6-9

There are other passages of scripture about the fig tree not producing and in them Jesus curses the tree and it withers and dies. But in this passage just the opposite happens. The owner has been waiting for several years for this tree to produce and when it does not, he tells the gardener to cut it down. But the gardener asks to let him have one more year to prune and fertilize it and see if he can get it to grow fruit, to be productive.

I believe Jesus is using this story to paint a different understanding of life for those he is teaching. All of our lives fall short. All of our lives are not producing the fruit they can, but the response is not one of punishment, but one of nurture. A response of let me continue to tend to the tree and water it and fertilize it and help it grow. Jesus is challenging the people. He is telling them that who they are and what they do matters. But, I also believe that Jesus is saying, my grace is there to help you realize the hope and potential of who you are.

Is this not the message of what we are about to do as we prepare to receive the Sacrament of Communion. We share every time we receive this gift of grace that we have an open table. That all are invited to receive the gift of grace, for all are loved, all are children of God, all are our brothers and sisters in the family of God. We come as one, needing to receive God’s grace. It is a leveling moment. As many of you have observed, Nancy and I and Carol take the sacrament after all of you. For us, it is a reminder that we are servants of God, here to get our needs out of the way so we may be present to serve the needs of others. But I had a Bishop who took the sacrament first, as he believed he needed to receive grace before he could offer it to others.

We all come as one, in need of God’s grace. While we were and are all sinners, Christ died for us. But we all come as one to the table not asking who is chosen, for this grace has been given to us all.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on March 7, 2010.