The Blessed Life

What comes to mind for you when you hear the word “blessed” ? It is a word that we hear a lot, and in many different situations. We almost throw it around out of habit. So, for example, what do you say when a person sneezes? “bless you.” It can be used as an expletive. Someone stubs their toe and says, “God bless America.” It can also be used as a cover-up. I once had somebody tell me that you can say whatever you want about a person, as long as you follow it with “bless their heart.”

Now would you believe that such a popular and well used word is difficult to find a joke about? You know that I usually like to have some kind of funny beginning to my sermons, but I could not find any jokes that were appropriate to share. By the way, do you know what you call a bunch of millionaires who get together to the watch the super bowl? The Detroit Lions. Bless their hearts. Yeah. I don’t really like that whole “bless their heart” thing.

So those are some of the ways that we use the word in our day to day lives. But what does it mean to be blessed? This is something that we will also hear a lot. I am so blessed. It is such a blessing to be here, to have a job, to have my family, etc. And indeed to have those things is a blessing. Now I cannot prove this, it is simply a hunch, but I am willing to bet that if we were to look at the items that people listed as blessings and the life situations that they considered blessed, they would pick good and happy ones. Right? That seems to make sense. After all, if you look up the word in the dictionary, you will discover that the word has such meanings as bringing happiness and thankfulness; being blissfully happy or contented.

So if this is the case, then what in the world is going on with Jesus’ words here the fifth chapter of Matthew? I mean if we talk about blessed and blessing as usually being associated with happiness and thankfulness and all that good kind of stuff, the things that Jesus mentions here are not even close. Is he being sarcastic? Is he using hyperbole? Is he losing touch with reality?

Poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, it seems to me that these are all things that are lacking? How then could Jesus call them blessings? Because, Jesus sees life and world differently from the rest of the world. This is what is being shown to us. This is what we are being called to live. Even though the world may not see it the same way, it is there.

For example, the world may try to tell you that in order to be happy you have to have an iPad, a house you can’t afford, amazing vacations, a snow blower, a whole bunch of letters after your name, a whole bunch of money in your bank account. For us as followers of Jesus we can say, “Yeah. Those things are nice. But in the big picture they are not what life is about.” We may enjoy those things, but we don’t need them. We don’t have to be controlled by them. We can live our lives for something more than these. We can live our lives for something eternal. And that, well that is blessed.

Think about it. Last week we saw Jesus beginning his preaching ministry. Repent. For the Kingdom of God is at hand. We talked about how Jesus brings God’s kingdom with him wherever he goes. And we see this as he forgives sins, heals diseases and drives out demons. Today we hear Jesus talk about what it is to live in that Kingdom. What does life lived in God’s kingdom look like?

In a word, it is a blessed life. Not one that the world would declare so, but one that in reality really is. When life is about us or our stuff, or lack thereof , depending on where you are, well that is not living life as it was meant to be lived. But life lived in relationship with God, life lived in God’s kingdom, because of and for the sake of Jesus, well that is simply better than anything we could ask or imagine. In other words, this is life that the world would not considered to be blessed, but in reality it is because it is life lived in relationship with God. It is life lived in the kingdom of God.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. This means that we are not caught up in or held captive by the world’s treasures, prosperity, success, good times, wealth and power. These things may be nice, but there is more to life than them. We don’t live for them. We aren’t consumed by them. Being poor in spirit means that we understand we are sinners who have nothing in us that is worthy of God’s love or praise. And yet we certainly do have God’s love and grace and mercy and forgiveness in our lives, because and for the sake of Jesus. This is blessed because it allows us to see, focus and reach for those things that really are important, and that really do matter.

Blessed are those who mourn. We mourn when we look at our world and see all the brokenness and suffering and injustice that come from sin. We mourn when we take an honest look at our own lives and our own hearts and see sin there as well. This is blessed because it allows us to look forward to and work for that day when Jesus returns and brings with him restoration of all of creation. It allows us to see and understand that we cannot save ourselves, but we have salvation because of Jesus. This also leads to humility. And not the false kind either, but the good kind.

Blessed are the meek. The meek are the ones who put up with and are lovingly and graciously patient in all situations. They put others before themselves, yielding, listening, always putting the best construction on everything. This is living out Matthew 18. If we have a problem with someone, we go to them and work it out with them. We don’t gossip, we don’t talk to other people about it. Now I know that this can create uncomfortable experiences, but it also creates a safe environment where people trust each other. Being meek is blessed because we realize that this is what our God, in Jesus, has done for us. And when we treat one another this way, well imagine what that does for life in this community and for the witness that we give to our neighbors.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That is wanting things to be made right in our world. Now, this is not the same thing as having everything be fair. But this is wanting to see the injustices in our world made right. So we seek to live our lives together in a way that shows the things that God values. We hunger and thirst for the coming of his kingdom in all of its glory where things will be as they should be. We hunger and thirst for righteousness in our own lives as well. Not that we can earn righteousness, we have it for the sake of Jesus. But we hunger and thirst that it would be shown in our lives. That our lives would reflect that God is an active part of our lives. So that as people look at the way that we lives our lives they see a difference. We shouldn’t look so much like the world around us that you can’t even tell we are the church.

We have such good and wonderful news that isn’t just good things to hear, but it is actually life changing. It is really and truly awesome. Jesus said that we are like salt and light in the world. Those are good things to have. But we will talk about that soon enough.

Blessed are the merciful. This is very similar to what we just talked about. Being merciful is about being gentle and patient, and gladly forgiving sins when sins are committed. God is merciful with us. His mercy is rich and abundant. We do not deserve it. But we have it. It is who are God is. And we who have been shown much mercy, and continually are shown much mercy, are to have lives that are marked with mercy. We who receive mercy and also to be fully of mercy. This is indeed blessed.

Blessed are the pure in heart. We have been made pure for the sake of Jesus. Our sins washed away. Removed from us as far as the East is from the West. We have been brought together as brothers and sisters to live out this life that God so graciously gives us. We don’t have to live bound to our sin or struggles, but in Jesus we have freedom. This means that we can learn to see things as God sees them. We can love what he loves and values what we values. How do we know what he loves and values? Well a good place to start is by looking at what he calls blessed.

Blessed are the peacemakers. God makes peace with us in Jesus. Therefore we make peace with one another and where possible, among others in our world. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. While living life for the Gospel is the only way to live, while living this blessed life is the best way we can live, that does not mean it is a life that the world approves of. It is even a life that our own sinful nature wants nothing to do with. And sometimes that brings about strife, struggle or persecution. Yet if that happens, it is because we are making a difference and that is a very good thing.

Living the blessed life is the only way to live. It is life as it was meant to be lived and experienced. It is life in relationship with our God. God blesses us greatly. He gives us life, forgiveness and salvation. He will never leave, abandon or give up on us. But we cannot live the blessed life and live for ourselves. Where our will is most important. By his grace we live in this blessed way and it makes a difference.

This past week someone from the community contacted the office needing food. A family in this congregation, on their own, went out and purchased food for them. No one asked them to. No one forced them to. I was so proud. They were living out this blessed life. They got it. This is what we are to do too. This is how we are to live. Not because we have to, but because we get to.

We get to because of God’s grace, and may that grace always fill and mark your life. Because in Jesus we are certainly blessed. Amen.

A Gracious Invitation

A painter, more interested in making a buck than in providing quality work, would often thin out his paint so that he could cover more space per gallon of paint. This meant that he was always able to put in lower bids for jobs than his other, more honest competitors. Well, the local church was getting ready to celebrate their one hundredth anniversary and decided to have the place freshened up with a new coat of paint. Of course our friend put in the lowest bid and got the job. On the last day of the job, as he was standing on some scaffolding finishing up a section near the roof, there was a large clap of thunder. They heavens opened up and rain came pouring down. The thunder was so close that it knocked the painter off the scaffolding and the rain washed the thinned out paint off the walls. Taking this as a sign, the painter called out, “Forgive me, Lord. What will you have me do for you?” And a voice from the heavens called out, “Re-paint! Re-paint! And Thin no more!”

Today we see the glorious and wonderful picture that Matthew paints of Jesus filled out a little bit more. It is really pretty awesome. From his genealogy, to his birth; from the visit of the magi to the journey from Egypt; from the baptism to the temptation in the wilderness; with each scene Matthew opens our eyes to who Jesus is and the significance that he has for us in our lives.

Now this would be important during any time of the year. But it is especially important during the time of Epiphany. Because in this season we are celebrating and remembering who Jesus is as truly God and truly a human being, and how that is revealed to the world, and the impact that this has on the world in general, and our lives specifically.

Today we see a little more of this picture that Matthew paints for us. Today we see Jesus beginning to preach up in the northern part of the country, near the Sea of Galilee. He goes there after he hears that John the Baptist had been arrested. This too fulfills what was written by the prophet Isaiah that a great light would shine in the darkness.

Do you remember all the time we have spent talking about the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; how they split, and Israel was eventually destroyed by the Assyrians? Ever since that things had not quite been the same. The days had been rather dark, especially when you compare them to their former glory. But now all that changes. Because now, the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light. That light is Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Old Testament. It is not just that he did amazing kinds of things. But God told us about this Jesus many, many years before he came, and we see that coming about. This is what we would call proof of identification.

So, the fact that Jesus heads up to Galilee to begin preaching is no accident. It is really pretty significant. He goes and he begins to preach. And his message is really a simple one. “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” How do those words strike you? Do they sound a little bit like a threat to you? This would be a little like the experience of the painter. You better do this or else you are going to get it. The time is short hurry up. Repent.

Do these words strike you as applying more to someone else? Yeah. That’s right Jesus. You tell them. You tell those sinners what’s coming to them. I’m sure glad that doesn’t apply to me. So those are your two options. But either way it is a message that is a tough pill to swallow.

So what is going on here? What is happening with this? What does this mean? Well, what we see here is influenced a lot about what we believe about who our God is and how he acts and what he wants. That is something that we can almost take for granted, but if you think about it; it makes a lot of sense. For example if I believe that God is an angry judge who is sent out to punish the sins and sinners of the world and life is about appeasing him so we do not experience his anger, well that is going to really impact how you see and treat other people; how you see and treat yourself; how you see and treat your God.

If, I believe that God, while being just, does not simply ignore sin because it is an issue that needs to be dealt with, but I believe that that is why this God has done what he has done in Jesus. That he is a God who is merciful, loving, gracious and forgiving. Not so that we can do whatever we want, but so that we can experience life and peace and joy and hope. That this God is about the work of healing and restoring his creation so that we can live life with him not based on fear, but in sure and certain knowledge, that because of Jesus we experience life as his own dearly loved sons and daughters. If this is how you understand God, well that is going to really impact how you see and treat other people; how you see and treat yourself; how you see and treat your God.

In other words, what we believe about God is going to impact how we see Jesus’ words here. If you believe that God is the angry judge who wants to give all evil doers what they deserve, well then Jesus’ words to repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand will be a threat. You better do this or else.

If, on the other hand, you believe that God while being just is also gracious and merciful and forgiving, then you will find in Jesus’ words not a threat but an invitation. Repent. Change the way you think and act. For the kingdom of heaven, the reign of God is at hand.

By the way, talking about the reign of God as being at hand, is not saying that the reign of God is close in the sense of a time line. Although that is certainly true. But to talk about the reign of God or the kingdom of God as being at hand is to mean that it is nearby. It is here. Right now. We get to experience it and live in it. We get to bear witness to it and show it to others. Now, it is not yet here in all of its fullness. That is yet to come. But it is here. It is really. We see it as Jesus brings it, and we get to live it and experience it and all the benefits in our lives today.

In other words when we are talking about the Kingdom of God, we are talking about what happens when God shows up. We are talking about what happens when he takes up residence. We are talking about what happens when he moves into the neighborhood. It is life changing. It is life giving. Living life in relationship with God is not about keeping a grumpy deity happy so that he does not inflict woe and suffering upon us. But living life in relationship with God is experiencing life in all of its fullness and as it was meant to be lived.

Living life in relationship with God is living in the forgiveness and grace and mercy of our God that comes because of and for the sake of Jesus. It means having peace and reconciliation and wholeness. This is a pretty big deal. Especially in a world that is so broken and twisted. This is a big deal in a world where so many feel lost and that they don’t matter or have a purpose.

Life lived in relationship with God is life as it was meant to be lived. It is life before death and not just life after death, although it is that too. Life lived in relationship with God is abundant and full life where we can experience restoration in our relationships, in ourselves and in our souls. It is about having purpose and meaning that is not centered on us or about us, but is about showing, giving witness to and proclaiming the love of God in Christ Jesus.

This is a life that does not allow us to be in control. It does not allow us to call the shots or to be number one. This is a life that is costly. This is a life that totally belongs to God. It is a life lived as a living sacrifice. It is a live lived as a servant. It is a life that is better than anything we could set up for ourselves or ask or imagine.

That’s why Jesus’ words here are so important. It is an invitation and not a threat. But it is a gracious invitation that requires a pretty big change. Repent. Turn around. Change the way you think and act. Do a complete 180. This is not just an adjustment. This is not give it your best. This is not close enough for government work. But this is repent. Change in order to follow the one who is worth following.

This is the one who causes fishermen to drop their entire livelihood and all that goes with it to follow him. He is worth following. And by the power and grace of his Holy Spirit, we too are able to follow. To be sure, he is the one who gets all the credit in this. He extends the invitation. He enables us to accept. He enables us to repent and to follow. And yet we are the ones who benefit from this. All because of our great and awesome our God is.

Hopefully, by now, you will never hear these words in the same way again. Hopefully they will not be a threat, but a gracious invitation to live and experience life unlike anything in our wildest imagination. Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Follow Jesus and you will know life as it was meant to be lived. And may that life be a blessing to you now and always. Amen.

A-Ha

Have you ever had one of those a-ha kind of moments? You know what I am talking about. They can be small kind of moments, like when you get a joke that may or may not be funny. A farmer went out in his field and watched the sun set. He stayed there all night pondering where the sun went, until finally it dawned on him.

The a-ha moment can be small, or it can be absolutely huge. I mean one of those moments that is life changing, and defining. After it happens, you are never the same again. When I went to college, I was going with the intent of being a Christian counselor. One night my roommate asked me why I wasn’t going into the ministry. I didn’t have an answer for him, so I began praying about it. I didn’t dare ask for a sign, but I got one anyway.

That year, on Easter Sunday, I found my confirmation video. I had not seen it in six years, and did not remember it. Threw it in the VCR, and there is this dorky looking seventh grader standing next to his pastor. And the pastor addresses the congregation, “We have someone up here practicing to be a future pastor.” And the rest is history.

In our Gospel lesson for today, we see one of those kinds of moments. It may not seem like that big of a deal, but if that is the case it is only because it is something that is so familiar to us. But it is worth it to let these words hit us all over again, because they are powerful, and they mean that we will never be the same again.

Jesus is the Son of God. This is what we have been celebrating in the season of Christmas. Jesus is God with us. He is the one who is named Jesus because he will save us from our sins. This is the one whom wise men traveled many, many miles to see. The one whose birth the angels sang and proclaimed, and quite frankly, scared the daylights out of some poor shepherds. We know that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

And now having see God in the flesh come among us. We see him as his ministry begins. We see him now as an adult at his baptism.

The scene opens with John the Baptist. John is out in the wilderness baptizing with a baptism of repentance and preaching a brief sermon. “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am – so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” Enter Jesus. He shows up from Galilee and asks to be baptized by John.

Ok. Hold on a moment, Time out. What is up with that? I mean Jesus is perfect and sinless right? This is told to us throughout the Scriptures. The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that he was tested or tempted in every way that we are, only without sin. We know that Jesus is God in the flesh, so there is no way that he can be sinful, so why is he being baptized with a baptism of repentance? That is a great question. I am glad that you asked.

We often talk about how Jesus took our punishment upon himself when he died on the cross. He took our place, and the punishment that your sins and my sins deserve, Jesus took. The other side of this coin is that Jesus also lived the perfect life that God requires. If life were a test, then you would only get one shot, and one wrong answer would be a failing grade. We are all in a lot of trouble. But Jesus lived that perfect life. If you look at the history of God’s people in the Old Testament, everywhere that they messed up, Jesus did it right. And so the same applies to you and me too. So we get to have his test score so to speak. And that is what is happening here.

It can be easy to talk about sin almost as if it were an annoying splinter that did little more than cause irritation. But sin is much more serious. The Scriptures tell us that sin makes us spiritually dead and enemies of God. We can do more spiritually than a corpse can do on its own. This means that we cannot even repent of our sins on our own. We need help to do even that. And so we see that in Jesus. Jesus is not being baptized because he needs to repent, he is being baptized because we need to repent, and in this he helps and enables us to repent too.

Now that is a pretty big deal. That is a pretty good a-ha moment. But after that an even bigger one comes. As Jesus is coming up out of the water he sees the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove one him. Mark’s gospel tells us that the heavens don’t just open up like a door. They are torn open in an act of God. In Jesus God has come down to save and redeem his people. He has come to bring them back to himself, and he does this through Jesus who is both God and a human being.

The heavens are opened. The Spirit descends like a dove and a voice from heaven says, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” It is almost as if Matthew is giving us proof of the identification that he identified Jesus with in the first verse. Jesus is the son of God, but you don’t have the take my word for it. Check this out.

Jesus is God’s son, and here God shows and tells us that that is the case. So in the baptism of Jesus we see that he is the son of God and that he is living the perfect life that God requires in our place. A-ha. This is awesome. Because this is the case life will never be the same again. Now perhaps you don’t believe me, but consider this. Jesus is who God says he is. God is correct. He is not wrong.

We are who God says that we are. The baptism of John was one of repentance. The baptism of Jesus is one with the Holy Spirit. At some point in your life, you were held over a font, and water was poured over your head and you were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. At that moment you were named as a child of God. His own dear son or daughter, and that is a source of identity that will be with you your whole life.

It is all too easy for us to identify ourselves by the things that we do or the relationships that we have. I am a husband and a father. I am a pastor and a student. I am a son and a brother. I am a member of this club or that place. And yet those ways of identification can give us a false picture of who we really are. They can cause us to think that our value and worth comes from the way that we connect to others and the things that we do.

When we see things from this perspective it is all too easy to believe the world when it tells us that we are not good enough. That we are not doing a good enough job. Or that we are not good looking enough. Or that we are not smart enough. Or that we really don’t matter. It is all too easy to believe those voices, but at the end of the day, the only voice that matters is the voice of God, and we hear his voice in the Scriptures.

Who are you? You are a child of God dearly loved by him. In fact he loved you so much that the heavens were torn open in other to work your salvation, so that you could live your life with him as his own dearly loved son or daughter. Wow. Isn’t that amazing? You are really special. You are really something. And even though we are still sinners and can mess up pretty bad. That does not outdo our God’s love for us.

This is the season of epiphany in the church. It is a time to celebration the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God, as truly God and truly human. Because he is, and because he has given us life with God, the season of epiphany is a time of awe and joy for the church. Because awe and joy are the reaction to the amazing things that our God has done for us in Jesus. And if our God is for us, and he is, then who or what can be against us? We are here to reveal Jesus to one another and more importantly to the world. That is our goal, purpose and reason for existence.

The season of epiphany is also a celebration of the work that God is doing in the world. Because his people have been given the privilege of joining him in that work. Just think, you get to tell people how God loves them, and you get to show them that. You get to be the mouth, and arms and hands of God in this world. And as you serve them, you are serving your God. This is truly life, and life as it was meant to be lived. This year, there will be many opportunities to participate in service through this congregation. Pray, and ask God to show you how he wants you to proclaim his love in word and in deed.

And as you do, may you know more fully God’s love for you. That you are his own dear daughters and sons. And may that be in your life the only identity that matters. Amen.

Our Incredible God

Have you seen the movie The Incredibles? It’s a cute little movie that Disney and Pixar put out a few years ago. It is about a family of superheroes. They have gone underground, because one of them rescued someone who didn’t want to be rescued and sued the superhero. So the government ruled that superheroes were no longer allowed to be super. They could only be like everyone else. But they weren’t. They didn’t fit in. They couldn’t hide who they really were, even though they tried. It is a terrible feeling when you find yourself in a situation where you don’t fit in or belong. Have you ever had the experience where you feel like you just don’t fit in or belong? It is a horrible feeling. It is a terrible experience.

I am sure that most of us can relate to that. Unfortunately most of us know what it is like to be left out. We know how it feels to be the last kid chosen on the team. We have experienced that time where you were different from everyone else, and all the awkwardness that comes along with that.

But this is an issue that isn’t limited to kids alone. Because adults can and do, have this experience too. Although we would prefer that we don’t, and so we pretend that we don’t. But adults have this kind of thing happen to them too. We like to compare ourselves to other people. As long as we come out on top in the comparisons we feel good, but if the other person comes out as better than us, than we feel bad. So life becomes one big competition where I am simple trying to outdo the person next to me. We try to be the best or have the best, not because we value quality, but because it allows us to see ourselves as better than others. And if we are better than others, well then we have value. But that is no way to live.

It seems that with each passing day we find ourselves living more and more in a world where the value of people is being reduced. Your value is based on what you do, or on what you produce. We live in a society where more and more people are reduced to numbers. So we find ourselves as nameless, faceless numbers. We have employee numbers, Student numbers, Social security numbers, account numbers, credit card numbers. When a person is reduced to a number or value based on what they have or do, well it is easy to fell lost.

We know this isn’t exactly right. We know, because inside of us there is something screaming that there is more to life than our numbers, grades, jobs or what we produce or even having the right behavior. There is more to a person, and more value to a person than what they do. So what do we do with this?

Wow. That’s kind of a bleak picture isn’t it? Hey. Way to go, Pastor. Nothing like starting out a brand new year on a positive note. Right? You know, just because you are disappointed in the bowl games yesterday, doesn’t mean you have to drag the rest of us down too. Well, if this were all that was there, then I suppose it would be a terrible note to start the new year. But it is not. And that is the point of this text from Ephesians today.

This whole life thing that our God gives to us a great blessing and a gift. It is not just something to be endured or survived. But it some to be experience, lived to the fullest. We live in a creation that is beautiful and vast. We live as a community of faith where we have a family who really loves and cares about us, no matter what. Life lived in relationship with one another and with our God is awesome. It is, well, Incredible. And this is what our text points us to. But it does it in a way, that when you pause to take a moment to understand it, will take your breath away.

Ephesians 1:3-14 is a single sentence in the Greek. That is 201 nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions and conjunctions all working together to show us, to give us a glimpse, to allow us to see the awesomeness of our God, and just how incredible he is.

So we begin with God. That is a good place to start. The Scriptures begin that way. In the beginning God… God so loved… God said. It is easy for us to lose sight of beginning with God. He is main, he is central. It is all about him. So this is a good reminder. God is the beginning, with the big things, like creation. And with the little things too, whether those are things that cause us to wring our hands, or things that bring joy and warmth to our hearts. So we begin with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.

God blesses us. This is who God is. This is what God does. And the blessings that he blesses us with, well they are no small potatoes. But everything that we have, we have from our God; house and home, food, clothing, our bodies and lives, our families. He also gives to us forgiveness, life and salvation. He gives us himself and is always with us. Our God daily and richly blesses us with more blessings than we could ever count.

God chose us. He chose you. He chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world. He didn’t choose you because of what you do, or how much stuff you have, or how good of a life you live. He didn’t choose you reluctantly, or because he felt sorry for you. But he purposely, joyfully, wonderfully chose you, to be his own dearly loved daughters and sons in the waters of Holy Baptism. He chose you to be his. And you are.

God destined or predestined, depending on your English translation. But the point here is this was no mistake. Life is not just random chance. Your life is not just random. But that God destined, means that there is a place where he wants you, a purpose that he has for you. You are valuable. God chose you. He has plans for you; in what you do with your life to bring him glory, and to live in his love and salvation in Jesus. You are not here randomly or by mistake. But this, is the body of Christ. You belong here. We need you.

God gives grace freely. It is his joy to do this. We do not have it by right. But we have it because of who our God is, and the love that he has for each one of us. We have it for the sake of Jesus. Who loved us so much that he gave up his life on the cross that we would have forgiveness and healing and restoration in our relationships with God and with one another. God delights in you and it is his joy to give this to you freely for the sake of Jesus. This is what grace is.

God doesn’t just give us this grace, but he lavishes it on us. Paul is very fond of this word. Of the 78 times you will find it in the New Testament, Paul uses it 45. He uses the word “lavish” lavishly. It is a way of illustrating with words how much God gives to us. This means that we can’t run out of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love. These things God pours out into our lives lavishly. There is an endless supply. Every time we ask for forgiveness. We receive it. Every time we ask for help, it is given. Every time we need a second, third or fourth chance, it is there. God is lavish with his grace.

God makes known to us the mystery of his will. That is, he lets us in on what he is doing in our world. He lets us in on the ways that he works and the things that he does. He does this through his word. He lets us in on the actual work as he invites us to join him.

God gathers up, bring to fulfillment. This gathering up is being gathered up into or under Christ. It is only in Jesus that we are truly healed and whole. It is only him that we experience life in abundance and in the way that it was meant to be lived. Just as God has brought us together in Jesus, and into this community of faith, so too he is working in our world to bring back, to restore all of creation back to himself. We, who have been reconciled back to our God, also get to be ministers of reconciliation as we share God’s love and grace and mercy and forgiveness in Jesus with the world around us.

So when you consider all of this, well I think that you have to include that it is, well incredible. In a world where we don’t always feel that we fit in or have value or something that is noteworthy that others should look up to, we always have the love of our God in Jesus. That gives to you great value. You matter. You are important.

Where this really has an impact on a community is when they see themselves this way, and they see one another in the same way too. If God loves me this way, then I know he loves you this way too, so that should impact how I see and treat you. It is really a wonderful thing. Not a bad way to start a new year. Not a bad way to do ministry either.

May you grow in your knowledge and understanding of God’s incredible love for your and may that be a source of identity, comfort and strength. Now and always. Amen.