All posts tagged grace
I'm not always wearing my full habit...
Today in Church Sign Theology, we have this gem:
GOD GIVES AND FORGIVES AND PEOPLE GET AND FORGET
It meets Rule Number One of church signs, in that it’s a catchy little phrase including a play on words. It’s cute, and I liked it right away.
Even better? It’s actually pretty decent theology. What God gives isgrace,the freely-offered gift that we can never earn or deserve. Part of God’s grace is limitless love, love that knows no boundaries; out of that love comes God’s limitless forgiveness, forgiveness that God offers to every single person in the world, every person who ever has been, is now, or will be in the future.
We are not so good at the receiving, though, are we? How often does someone offer a gift — like a compliment or praise — that we try to diminish? How often do we refuse to accept a gift of kind words? Or try to control the gift, to offer something in return so that we get to set the value? There is absolutely nothing we can give to God in exchange for grace; the value of God’s grace is infinite — how can we possibly grab hold of it and control it?
The answer is simple: we can’t. And yet, many of us spend our entire lives trying to earn God’s love or to refuse God’s forgiveness or to accept God’s gifts only on our own terms.
Instead of merely getting, perhaps we should try receiving and accepting. Instead of just allowing God’s love to fall on us, maybe we could try saying, “Yes, God! Thank you for such a wonderful gift! I know I don’t deserve it, but I will share it with others. You’re so generous — really, thank you!”
And that, beloved friends, is today’s episode of Church Sign Theology.
Of life, death, family, love, and the meaning of it all
This is an absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful story. If it doesn’t make you cry, it will at least make the tears well up in your eyes. I would include some of it here in a blockquote, but I couldn’t bear to lift any piece of it on its own.
As I read, I was reminded of my time in late November, at my grandmother’s bedside in the hospital and in the hospice. Nana was unable to really respond to us, but she heard us and I believe she could understand some of what we were talking about. When the conversation became agitated, because my sister got screwed over by the airline, Nana became restless and made sounds of pain. But when we sat around sharing memories and family stories, laughing about Nana’s foibles and our own, she was peaceful. Her brow would un-furrow, and she would lie still and quiet.
Not only do people talk about family when they are dying, but that’s what the people around them talk about. Our lives are made up of stories, and our relationships are made up of shared stories. When you peel away all the trappings of our lives, that’s what we have left: our selves, our families, our stories. This is how we know just the slightest bit about God’s love, God’s forgiveness, God’s grace.
Go read the story. You’ll be glad you did.
“So according to Ronnie’s logic… If we don’t accept the grace of god into our lives, we’ll eventually become psycho redneck racists.”
So that’s why we need God. I see.
(Thanks http://bretthatkameras.tumblr.com/)
Undercover Nun is a believer, and this is every bit as disgusting and offensive to Christians as it is to atheists, agnostics, and believers in other traditions.
Yes, I will pray for this man, as part of praying for those in prison, for those who commit acts of hate, for those who are my enemies. I pray that he will find forgiveness from God, because it’s going to be pretty hard for him to find forgiveness here. God’s grace — which is unearned and undeserved, because it is unearnable and undeservable — is what makes both this vile man and me eligible for forgiveness, but it has no bearing whatsoever on our actions.
One element of God’s grace is that each one of us has the freedom to choose our actions; God knows we are capable of treating each other abominably, whether we believe in God or not. God does not force Godself on us; God does not force any manner of behavior on us, even though this means tacitly allowing us to treat each other abominably.
It’s not that God’s grace prevents us from vile behavior. Rather, it is that God’s grace promises that no matter how vilely we behave in this world, we are still eligible for forgiveness and love in the next.
(via asdfjlaskjdflksjdflk)
Is Santa Claus Christian?
Some thoughts for you on Santa Claus:
In the time leading up to Christmas — during and before the season of Advent — we often hear debates about Santa Claus. We may even participate in the debates: explaining why we think teaching our kids about Santa is a bad idea or how we could never bear to take the “magic of Christmas” away from them. We encounter people who tell us that the Santa tradition is satanic, as if everything not explicitly made sacred is satanic and not merely secular. And we encounter people who seem to celebrate Santa far beyond their celebration of Jesus. If you’re a clergyperson or a leader in your church, you probably get asked about this. Is is okay for Christians to believe in Santa Claus? Can Christian parents keep the Santa tradition alive for their children without compromising their faith? Where did all this Santa Claus stuff come from, anyway?
The primary answer to all of these questions is: It depends; you are responsible for listening for the still, small voice and acting on what you’ve heard. Seriously, you expected a definitive, absolute answer from an Episcopalian?!? I do have some answers for you below the fold…
- Wait, Saint Nicholas is real?!
- How could the Santa tradition possibly be bad?
- How could the Santa tradition possibly be good?
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.
Undercover Nun is overwhelmed at the moment. I am grinning like a wild woman, while tears run down my cheeks. What has overwhelmed me so?
Each week, my parish sends an e-newsletter to our members. Usually the e-news opens with a reflection from our rector, but this week’s is different. This week, the newsletter opens with an excerpt from a letter that the parish received from a man who had come to us homeless, addicted, and full of pain and grief. His fianceé had kicked him out, and he yearned powerfully to be good enough for her to love again.
I remember this man, and I’ve been wondering about him over the last few months. I hoped he was in a home again, and not on the streets. I hoped he’d been clean from alcohol and drugs. I hoped he’d found forgiveness and love from his family and his fianceé. I prayed for him every day. And now I know just a little bit of his story:
I haven’t smoked or drank anything since September 19, 2010. God gave us another chance and now we are together in a suburban neighborhood in Fort Worth, TX. Tomorrow (July 8) we will be married. My seizure condition hasn’t gotten any better so I set up an office in our new home. I work from home…and will begin college in September to finish the pursuit of my Bachelors of Psychology.
I could not rest until I said thank you to you and to let you know how much that I love you for being so helpful and influential. We stayed for one week at St. John’s in the (winter) shelter and all you asked was for us to come to church the following Sunday. Four of us came and I still remember the tears (you) shed because you were glad to see us there. Genuine sincerity is what you…have in your hearts.
When he first came to my parish, I was leading the discussion time in the Adult Forum. I’d gotten there early to copy my handouts and make sure the room was set up properly. Over the next several weeks, I got to know this man a bit more. He told me some of his story and asked me to pray for him. I would see him before the Sunday school hour each week, and we’d talk a little while I got set up.
A few weeks later, our interim rector invited the homeless support organization through which our parish does a lot of work, so they came and spoke at the Adult Forum. Since I wasn’t leading the forum, I attended the first part before slipping off to the choir room for our warm-up and rehearsal. I learned later that this man had spoken about me, that if I’d heard what he said, I would have been just as overwhelmed, grinning like a madwoman through the tears of awe and joy. I don’t think I’ll ever know what he said, but that doesn’t matter.
What matters are these.
- God is at work in the world around us. We may not understand how or why, but we are never alone.
- Prayer changes things. Prayer isn’t the dollar bill you slip into a vending machine God, who dispenses the item you request. It may be that prayer changes God, or that prayer changes the world, or that prayer only really changes me. But it does something.
- There is hope. There is always hope. Even when you have been kicked out of your home by the love of your life and rejected by your family, even when you are living on the streets, even when you are ill and addicted and have no place to turn — even then, there is hope.
- God is the king, queen, and entire royal family of second chances. And third chances. Seventh chances, Eighty-fifth chances, four-hundred-ninety-fourth chances. God never gives up on us, even when we give up on God.
The prodigal fiancé has returned home, and there is rejoicing in heaven! He was lost, and now is found! He had died, and now is alive! Thanks be to God!
In Sunday school, they always make hell out to be a place for people like Hitler, not a place for his victims. But if my Sunday school teachers and college professors were right, then hell will be populated not only by people like Hitler and Stalin, Hussein and Milosevic but by the people that they persecuted.
If only born-again Christians go to heaven, then the piles of suitcases and bags of human hair displayed at the Holocaust Museum represent thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children suffering eternal agony and the hands of angry God.
If salvation is available only to Christians, then the gospel isn’t good news at all. For most of the human race, it’s terrible news.
— Rachel Held Evans, in Evolving in Monkey Town
Christian universalism has a long tradition, extending back to the “early church” days that are documented in the book of Acts and in the New Testament letters. In fact, you can see these ideas even in the prophetic books of the Hebrew scriptures.
See, the bible — as the story of the unfolding relationship between God and God’s people — shows us a tribe chosen by God to be a light to all nations. Eventually that tribe becomes a nation, but its purpose remains the same: to show the entire world that the living God is a loving God, who yearns to live in relationship with each and every one of us.
The most amazing statement I ever heard on this subject came from the priest who baptized my children, on Christmas Day in 1996. During our preparation meeting, he said this:
If I could believe that God would condemn a perfect, precious baby to hell because it hadn’t been baptized, then I would choose not to be a Christian.
He extended this further, to include perfect, precious babies of all ages. At the time, I was shocked. I’d been so sure that the church had no place for people who believed things like this, but here was someone — a priest! — saying something so utterly scandalous! I was thrilled… and challenged.
We run into danger whenever we try to limit God’s power. If we try to lock God into a box by claiming that God cannot give grace, forgiveness, and love to non-Christians… well, then we say a whole lot more about ourselves than we do about God, don’t we?
audioper: I almost posted a piece that would have made me sound like a complete misanthropic bastard.
He’s right, you know. It’s right there in Mark 18:24-25
Verily I say unto you: be not an asshole. Thou shalt endeavour diligently to be not an asshole to thy brothers and sisters.
This is also known to some as the Second Commandment, but a more useful interpretation of it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Matthew 22:39, from the KJV, because the Elizabethan language was required, natch.)
It was pretty much true, but it didn’t come out right. And it involved world issues, and I’ve had to deal with the consequences of posting on issues without proper wording.
The way it goes is this: I care about Egypt, Wisconsin, and Libya. I do.
But my problem is that when I care about something, I can’t half-ass it. When I care, I care passionately, and right now with the way things are in my life, I can’t care that much about something I have absolutely no say in. The situation may break me. I have a thin grasp on general happiness right now. It’s not strong enough to weather much upheaval.
As the world goes insane all around us, please institute a personal rule:
Don’t be an asshole. Actively try not to be an asshole.
Things almost always work out better when (most) everyone is trying to be nice. And not an asshole.
I’m sorry, though. Good luck, good guys.
Also, dear one, Undercover Nun is holding you in prayer. You and all who care deeply for our neighbors both near and far away.
What are your beliefs?
Religious, political, existential… whatever it is you find important, what do you believe in?
Undercover Nun believes that good will always triumph over evil.
I believe that redemption is possible for all persons, no matter how badly they’ve messed up. I also believe that the opportunity for redemption does not end with our physical death.
I believe that there is something waiting for us beyond death, though we cannot know for certain what that is within this world.
I believe that the commandment to love all persons is absolute, universal, radical, and profoundly difficult. I also believe that choosing to live a life of this kind of love has made it amazingly easy.
I believe that kindness is always the best answer.
I believe that violence is never necessary, in thought, word, or deed. I also believe that violence is often easy, and that choosing another path is almost super-humanly difficult.
I believe that humans were created with incredible potential for love, hope, faith, and joy. I believe that our natural state is one where we fully embrace these. I also believe that most of us turn away from them, because they run counter to 21st century western culture.
I believe that there is a Music of the Spheres, that all of Creation dances, and that God delights when we express wonder, joy, admiration, and awe.
I believe that the Divine One is present within every part of Creation, even the parts that humans have reformed into new and different things.
I believe that religion itself is neither a force for good nor a force for evil. As with anything else, its fruits depend on how religion is used by persons.
I believe that we are imperfect, flawed, incomplete. I’m not sure I believe in the doctrine of Original Sin.
I believe that Christianity — like Judaism — is not about right belief or even right behavior, but about right relationship. God lives in relationship with us, enabling us to live in relationship with each other.
I believe that the more love a person pours out for others, the more love is poured into that person, until he or she overflows with kindness, patience, and mercy.
I believe that loving-kindness is a worthy goal for all persons.
I believe that what is true and eternal and good is what we cannot see, touch, or understand.
I believe that love, faith, hope, and joy are actions — we are able to choose these orientations to the world, deliberately and intentionally, based on our whole selves, heart and mind and soul and body.
I believe that pain, hurt, anger, tragedy, death, and disaster are not part of God’s plan, that they do not happen for a reason. I believe that, basically, shit happens, and shit happens because we have free will. Most of all, I believe that God can — and does! — bring redemption to every situation that occurs, no matter how shitty it is.
I believe that prayer has effects, but that we cannot know what those effects are. I believe that prayer changes the one who prays, and just might change the world around him or her.
I believe that every single prayer is answered. I believe that God’s answers to prayer are yes, no, and not yet. And I believe that what we vainly call an “unanswered prayer” is merely a prayer that we didn’t like the answer to.
I believe that people generally want to be good, generally try to do the right thing, and generally don’t intend to be destructive. I believe that we all make flawed choices that can seem bad, wrong, destructive, or evil.
I believe that believing the best of others gives them the opportunity to be the best. I believe that people live up to — or down to — our expectations of them.
I believe.
(Source: absurdreasoning)
Chart: Does the God of the Bible love *you*?
Undercover Nun would like to file this under D for DUH!!! Alas, not everyone realizes the amazing and wonderful truth here.
Faith is a choice
In response to my post about faith as an intentional choice, I got this question:
I’m pretty sure I understand what you’re saying here. But, don’t Christians believe, and doesn’t the Bible say that faith is itself a gift from God, granted to his children? (I think your point is all the acts and decisions that come afterward…)
I find only one place in the New Testament that talks about faith as a gift from God, and this is in the list of spiritual gifts that is found in 1 Corinthians. However — as is true for any scriptural passage — it is important to read this statement in its context. The first letter to the Christians in Corinth is a pastoral letter to a fractious, divided community where some claim precedence over others because they have gifts that they consider to be more important than others. Paul gives a brief list of some (not all) spiritual gifts, where the gift of faith is best interpreted as a particular type and depth of faith that is required to work a miracle.
Clearly, this is a gift that is active in a very small minority of persons of any faith tradition. For the majority of us, we stumble day by day into and through our faith. We do our best, especially here in the United States, to remember for 24 hours that we believe in God. It’s even harder to remember what a profoundly counter-cultural, upside-down, difficult faith Christianity is to practice, and few of us manage to truly practice Christianity two days in a row.
My former rector has the core of a sermon that he uses for most weddings. Part of this core wedding sermon is a reminder that after the ceremony, after the honeymoon, after all the gifts are unwrapped and the thank-you notes written, each person in the couple wakes up in the morning, day after day. He tells the couple and the congregation that each morning they should wake up and think — before anything else — “I’m married!” This is because marriage is a intentional relationship, and we choose every day (every hour, every minute) to be married to our partner. The truth of the matter is, we can choose not to be married to our partner, and a separation or divorce usually happens years after this choice gets made.
Our relationship with God is similar. And this priest uses the same language when he prepares new Christians (or the parents or godparents of brand new little persons) for baptism: each morning, you should wake up and think, before anything else, “I’m a Christian!” I’m a Christian! Today I am in relationship with God! Yesterday may have been different, and tomorrow may be different, but today, I choose to be a Christian! He is right. Just as we choose every day to be married to our partner (or not), we choose every day to be in relationship with God (or not).
Relationship is the key to the entire story of God and God’s people. From Genesis to Revelation, from the first century to the twenty-first, all of Judaism and Christianity is about relationship. The story goes like this: God chooses to be in relationship with each one of us. Because God makes this choice, lavishing us with God’s perfect love, we are able to choose relationship with God. When we choose to be in relationship with God, to accept that overflowing love, we are able to live in relationship with each other, to pour out God’s love onto other persons. The entirety of Hebrew and Christian scripture points to this truth.
Christianity is not a religion of right belief or right behavior; Christianity is a religion of right relationship. And God has given us the ability, through free will, to choose who we will live in relationship with (including God) and what kind of relationship that will be. We can choose to hate God, we can choose to love God, we can choose to ignore God. We can even choose to refuse to recognize the very possibility that any god can exist. Free will is a gift from God, and this is the gift that allows us to choose whether to have faith or not.
So no, my point is not that we are able to choose the things that come after the gift of faith. Instead, my point is that because we are given the gift of free will, we are able to choose where to place our faith (with ourselves, with God, with Allah, with Zeus, with Nature, with money, with the government, with humanity, or with nothing at all) and what kind of faith that will be. And not only are we able to choose, but we must choose. We are not born having faith in anything. We learn about faith, we learn how to have faith. We have faith in our parents not because this is inborn and intrinsic, but because they take care of us. An infant separated from other humans will not develop this faith, will not learn it.
Of course President Obama chose to be a Christian. That’s how Christians come to be, by deliberate and intentional choice. If you did not choose to be a Christian, then how did you become one? Truly, every person has the ability and the opportunity to choose Christianity — or something else — on a moment-by-moment basis. Tomorrow you could wake up and say, “I want to be a Muslim!” And you could set about learning how to become a Muslim, because of that choice.
All because God has graced each person with freedom of will. God gives us the ability to choose relationship with God or to reject it. God never forces. God offers. God pleads. God even weeps. But God always gives us the freedom and ability to choose.
Thanks be to God!
