do you feel at home from all directions
first bloom, you know it's spring
“You just need to be forgiven,” Dr. Jones said after much discussion of the latest predicament I had gotten myself into. “And what if,” I replied, unable to keep my fear at bay, “What if she doesn’t forgive me.” “Well then,” Dr. Jones said matter of factly, “it won’t happen in this instance.”
As it came to pass in the warp of woof of this old life, that’s what happened. My fears were realized. I wasn’t forgiven. The engagement ring I had given in hope was returned in anguish. And with it, an entire future I had begun to imagine for myself was returned insufficient.
Now, as you know, I eventually landed Amanda. And she’s no consolation prize. So it all worked out for me in the long run. But I didn’t know that at the time. And it didn’t diminish the heartache and anxiety I experienced in the moment, either.
This morning, each one of us walked through those doors carrying no less distress and disappointment. Didn’t we? We come here with all that weighing on us, only to hear St. Paul talk about something as abstract as justification.
Now, we’re good Lutherans, so we know justification is important. And we think it’s nice and all that we’ll be taken care of in the sweet by and by, too. But right now, life has gone topsy-turvy, and we could use a little more immediate assistance. Couldn’t we?
Perhaps that’s why church attendance is flagging. We live in an uncertain era. And as far as we can see, we’re in desperate need of some direct assistance. Theology may be a worthy endeavor, but it’s just a little too out of step with our day-to-day needs. Isn’t it?
…In the course of time, that failed engagement and the forfeited future that went along with it turned out for my own good. And I don’t just mean that it kept me available for that pivotal day my path would cross Amanda’s. What I mean is that the Holy Spirit transformed that failure INTO the doorway to grace.
And not grace as some philosophical conceit, either. But grace as in a fire in the bones. Grace as the only last hope any of us have. Grace as that one little thing that turns out to be, unexpectedly, more than enough.
And that’s precisely what St. Paul’s talking about when he dares to utter that great word justification! Go back and read carefully. You’ll notice Paul doesn’t once mention the pearly gates. That assumption is just us reading something into the holy writ.
Now don’t get me wrong; of course justification impacts our ultimate destiny. But to hear justification in exclusively such terms is not only to misunderstand St. Paul, it’s also to fail to grasp how destinations themselves actually work! As any of us who’ve finally gotten to go on vacation this summer know, where you’re going has a direct bearing on your immediate circumstances. Don’t they?
We are, if nothing else, teleological creatures. In other words, we are inherently target directed. What I mean is, our orientation determines not only our destiny, it also determines the path we will take en route.
This is all plain enough, too. In real life, though, where the prospect of being knocked off course, or worse, being misaimed from the start, is all too real, this fact quickly turns ominous. And that’s the hazard the folks in Galatia have run up against, much to St. Paul’s great dismay.
Interestingly enough, when Paul charts the Galatain’s course, he doesn’t consider their lives before he came preaching. As far as St. Paul is concerned, the Galatian’s life after his arrival represents a total break from their past. So when Paul speaks of their start, he speaks not of birth, but baptism.
And the thing is, at their baptism, the Galatians were aimed dead on. All there was, was Christ Jesus. Along the way, though, they went off course. And worse still, they happily went along with the misdirection, too!
What happened, as we said a couple weeks ago, is that not long after Paul left the Galatians to their honeymoon with Christ, some interlopers came along. And these unwelcome bedmates told the Galatians that if they wanted to get serious about Christ, there were just a few things they needed to do. And like every one of us workaholics, this message sounded self-evident to their ears.
St. Paul, though, who had learned the way all Christians do, which is to say the hard way, could see that the Galatians had been misled. And not just a little, either. No, that shift in focus represented nothing less than a complete about-face!
I know that sounds dramatic. And for a long time, I thought good ‘ol St. Paul was just being polemic. But events like my failed engagement and all its aftermath have taught me otherwise.
That painful experience taught me that we’re not just up against it. In fact, we’re actually flat on our back. We don’t just suffer tough breaks. No, we’re really as good as dead. Or worse, actually. We think whipping the dead horse of our corpse will make something happen.
The truth was, we’re not just in a bind. We’re helpless—utterly powerless to do anything whatsoever to affect our future one way or the other. And what’s more, nothing we do can change that.
As painful as that realization was, though, it turned out to be the beginning of a romance with the grace of God! For it was right there that I finally glimpsed the truth. I was forced to reckon with the promise that God’s love is not just some help along the way. Rather, it’s the only thing any of us have. And what’s more, it was more than enough!
In Christ, God didn’t disdain my helplessness. On the contrary, God had infinite compassion ON it! An endless reserve of resurrection FOR it! And that, and that alone, made all the difference—all the difference in the end, AND at the moment, too!
You and I, we live our lives in progress. Christianity, though, is life lived after the fact. After the fact of baptism. After the fact of the crucifixion. As such, our lives run, not by the power of our own steam, but by the breath of Christ’s Holy Spirit let loose when he breathed his last two-thousand years ago!
This means that Christianity is lived in reverse. Our objective is not a destination. It’s a declaration! We are not what we accomplish. We are what Christ has accomplished! And what St. Paul wants you to know is that, at the cross, Christ accomplished it all!
The miscalculation the Galatians made, and all of us, I suppose, is that they thought God works like anything else on this side of heaven. As such, they thought they had to do their part to make sure their lives stayed on course. What St. Paul knew, though, is that such a perspective can only ever take our eyes off Christ. And whenever that happens, we’re destined to go off course every time! *Just ask Peter…
But you’ll notice that while St. Paul may be galled by this latest development, he doesn’t write the Galatians off. Now, this isn’t because he’s giving them a slight course correction. On the contrary, Paul’s offering the Galatians nothing less than a total break with their current course as significant as their baptism when he first came preaching to them!
That’s what we mean when we say Jesus’ love is unconditional! It’s not just that it come with no strings attached. Although, of course, that’s part of it! No, what it finally means that Jesus’ promises are unconditional is that they know no end!
Grace is not a one-and-done kind of thing! Grace has no limit! That’s what Jesus means when he describes himself as the reckless shepherd who will leave the other 99 to go in search of that one lost sheep every time! And that’s why St. Paul dares to offer that Galatians a clean slate all over again!
There’s NOTHING you can do to escape, repeal, or earn God’s love! In Christ, it all COMES to you! And comes of its own volition, too.
But, and here’s the rub, when it comes, it makes all the difference, and at this very instance, too! In Christ, not only is your future assured, but your present is GIVEN to you right along with it, too! And given, not as something you must merit or make, but given as a gift FREE as grace!
Your identity, your vocation, and even your self-worth are all GIVEN to you! And given right now! And given freely from the wounded hands of Jesus Christ!
And here’s the sentence, acquitted! Here’s the judgment, Christian! Here’s the verdict, beloved child of God. Come what may!
The purpose of your life is not a purpose. It’s a promise! And the promise is that, in Christ, it’s all accounted for! And accounted in good stead, too! In Christ, the end has gotten out ahead of time!
This promise has the power to unlock the rest of your life! By the fecundity of this promise, your summer will blossom with real freedom and fruitfulness! Under the weight of this promise, your callings will crack with significance! And by the light of this promise, your relationships with burst with transcendence, too!
By this promise, your sense of self will so utterly transform that you will finally know, for yourself, that Paul means no metaphor when he says it is no longer he who lives, but Christ who lives IN him! This one little word has such power that when you look at yourself, you will no longer see yourself! Instead, all you will see is the working of Christ raising you up, making you new, and loving you into existence, too!
And when you catch a glimpse of that, you’ll see eternity secured, the future opened, and the present given in tow! As such, the only thing St. Paul wants to know is, when you’ve seen all that, why would you look anywhere else?
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