Grace for All

Today, select Bible verses from the previous week's devotionals have been woven together to present a challenge to us all.

Our scripture today comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 21, verses 15-17.

At one point during his ministry on earth, Jesus called Peter “a rock“ and said that Peter would be the foundation of his church. Not long after that, Peter was put to the test, and he failed spectacularly. When Jesus was arrested and tried, Peter denied Jesus three times.

What happened to that man who was supposed to be the Rock, who was supposed to be the foundation of the new religion and new life that Christ wanted to introduce?

In this passage, we see Christ, going to some length to redeem Peter. Yes, Peter denied Christ. It was no accident. He had done it three times. So here, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?“ Of course he does, Peter says why do you keep asking?

This scene tells us something about our own lives and our relationship to Christ. We failed spectacularly, not just once but many times. We do the wrong thing. We say the wrong thing. We let our cowardice overcomer courage.

And yet, for every time we fail, Christ offers us a way back. Do you love me? That’s the question he continues to ask. Of course, we do. Then feed my sheep, he says. Do not just confess yourself, but put your confession into action. Feed my sheep. 

Ain’t it the truth?

God says, “Go to the place I will show you.”

How many times in life have I started out thinking I had a clear sense of direction only to find the place I arrived was not at all the place I had envisioned. 

Can you relate? 

Often the journey has been long and hard, filled with unexpected twists and obstacles. Often I have found myself asking whether I could possibly be on the right path, and I have been tempted to give up or turn back. 

But more times than not, the place God showed me, while different than I imagined, filled me with awe and gratitude. Mostly, I have been surprised by how the real beauty and blessing was in the journey itself. Such is life in faith. 

Usually, when God calls us, the only things that are certain are the things we leave behind. The destination is a mystery, revealed only when we have arrived, and we can finally say, “Oh, now I see. This is where You were leading me all along.” 

It strikes me that God’s promise to Abram was not in the land so much as in the showing. “I will show you,” God says. “I will.” It is God’s faithfulness to Abram and not Abram’s faithfulness to God that results in fulfillment of the promise. 

God’s faithfulness still results in fulfillment of God’s promises. Even now God is calling us with these same words, “Go. To the place I will show you.”

Faithful God, increase our faith in you, that we would not hesitate to go, knowing you will show is the way. Amen.

In this passage, we see the transfer of leadership of the children of Israel from Moses to Joshua. It is a political transfer, but God infuses it with his presence and makes it holy. God makes some incredible promises to Joshua. No one, he tells Joshua, will be able to stand before him throughout his life. He promises Joshua success.

Joshua, of course, has his role to play. He has his decisions to make. He is not some wind-up toy that God simply sets in motion. He is a human being with free will to make his own choices, but God cautioned him to follow in the ways of Moses, and to turn neither to the left or to the right. Joshua will be successful only as long as he acts in concert with God.

This is a powerful passage, one that demonstrates God’s direct intervention into the life of a person. Joshua is to “go and do,” as we all are, but we are always to go with the Lord. What do we see and hear when we imagine the conversation between God and Joshua? Does God treat us any differently from Joshua?

God makes promises to us. What are we to do to fulfill our part of those promises? Joshua, as we know from later parts of the story, had many successes in leading his people into the land of Canaan. What successes does God have in store for us?

Let us pray together: Dear God, give us the strength to fulfill your promises. Give us the wisdom to turn, neither to the right, nor to the left, but to follow in your Paz, and to act with your guidance. Amen.

Jesus said, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” 

Luke 10:36-37 (NIV)

Have you ever crossed the street to avoid someone? Or ducked into another aisle in the grocery store, hoping they didn’t see you? Maybe it was someone you knew but felt you didn’t have the time or energy to face. Or maybe it was someone you didn’t know, but you made a judgement based on their behavior or appearance. 

Regardless, something about that person made you uncomfortable, so you looked away, or moved in another direction. 

What about the opposite? Has anyone ever crossed the street or looked the other way to avoid you?

We tend to avoid engaging with people who might pull us out of our comfort zone. 

In the parable, Jesus tells to demonstrate what he means when he says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He chooses to identify the protagonist as a person who was used to being avoided.

As a Samaritan living on the fringes, he had likely watched people cross the street to avoid him on many occasions. And now, here was his chance to do the same. After all, even the religious leaders crossed over and walked on by. This robbed, beaten and injured man was not their problem. It was a reasonable thing to do. 

Who would have blamed the Samaritan if he had crossed the street and kept on walking too? 

What would it take to stop and offer help to someone knowing that if another the situation were reversed, they would have crossed the street to avoid you? 

This is the grace Jesus offers each of us, and it is the grace he calls us to offer our neighbors. 

It is what he means when he says, “Go and do likewise.”

Prayer

Brother Jesus, teach us how to be good neighbors, that the deep woundedness of this world might be healed. In Your Holy name we pray. Amen.

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Mark 12:28-34

When we recite the Apostles' Creed, we usually say the lines “born of the Virgin Mary“ and “suffered under Pontius pilot“ with nothing in between. In doing that we skip over the time that Jesus spent on earth and his ministry to those who are fortunate enough to hear him in person.

During his time on earth, Jesus declared the establishment of the Kingdom of God. He repeated this phrase again and again, and he often began parables with "The Kingdom of God is like . . ."

What Jesus was saying was that there was a new way of thinking about God and a new hope for all of humankind. The Kingdom of God was at hand, and Jesus was inviting us to be a part of it.  

His words to the scribe in this story are important. The scribe shows a depth of understanding of what Jesus was saying that was unusual for his day. It was obvious from the scribe's words that he had discovered something new and unique about Jesus. Jesus compliments him by saying that he is "not far" from the kingdom.  

The question for us, then, is how far are we from the central message of Jesus's ministry?

James 2:15-17 (NIV)

           As I was growing up, my mother used to repeat to me a saying passed down from her grandmother to her mother and then to her. It goes like this: “Pretty is as pretty does.” As conflicted as the cultural messages about beauty and esteem were for an adolescent girl trying to find her way, I understood the truth of those words, because I had experienced it. I knew that a person could be physically beautiful but act in a way that was ugly and unkind toward someone else, and it was like they morphed before my very eyes.

In a similar way, we might paraphrase the verses we just heard from the book of James: “Faith is as faith does.” James is telling us that a living, breathing faith moves with purpose. Faith that is living is active and shows itself in good deeds. And if we are not moved to reach out and act when we encounter the needs of others, our faith may as well be dead.

Just like my perception of a person’s physical attractiveness can be changed when I see them act in a way that is ugly, it is sobering to think how often peoples’ perception of the church is negative because they see a group of people proclaiming faith but don’t see that faith lived out in action. 

Friends, “Faith is as faith does.” How will we “do faith” in our encounters today?

Introducing Grace for All, a new daily devotional podcast from laity of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee.

Each episode will present a verse of scripture and a brief reflection on that verse written by one of the members of our church.

These short podcasts are meant to inspire you and to help you in your journey of understanding and faith.

We believe the central message of Jesus is one of grace. Grace for all human beings.