by Bishop Bill Gohl
This is a portion of my homily at RoadTrip, our synod's high school youth event, held in Ocean City, Maryland on January 19-21, 2018. We gathered under the theme, "Reform School," as part of our synod's Reformation 500 Commemoration. My assigned topic was "grace;" this is a snippet of what I shared.
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? – Romans 8:31-32
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? – Romans 8:31-32
If God is for us, who can be against us?
You might feel like family have turned their backs on you, your BAE or your BFF may have disappointed you, an important dream may have disappeared into thin air, the way you hoped and worked hard for something to turn out just right might have gone bad, quickly...but the promise is sure: God is for you. Not was, not will be or might be, but is, right now. There is no waiting. There will be no probationary period. There is no small print, no early termination fees, no small charge for shipping and handling. Right now, God is for you. God's availability to you is not dependent on whether you've been good or bad, God's not Santa Claus checking his list twice, to see how you've been naughty or nice. No, this God is for you, right now!
You might feel like family have turned their backs on you, your BAE or your BFF may have disappointed you, an important dream may have disappeared into thin air, the way you hoped and worked hard for something to turn out just right might have gone bad, quickly...but the promise is sure: God is for you. Not was, not will be or might be, but is, right now. There is no waiting. There will be no probationary period. There is no small print, no early termination fees, no small charge for shipping and handling. Right now, God is for you. God's availability to you is not dependent on whether you've been good or bad, God's not Santa Claus checking his list twice, to see how you've been naughty or nice. No, this God is for you, right now!
God is for you. God's the one racing down the sideline, cheering your touchdown run. God's the one who gets you out of bed for band on a Saturday, or up for class in the morning after a late-night listening to a friend, and God's encouraging you, reminding you that you can, because God is for you. That, my friends, is grace, grace that is still amazing.
Still, we Lutherans are so thick headed. we talk a good game about grace, but it still doesn't amaze us. The problem in believing is that we're so familiar with our failures.
How many times have I pretended like I didn't hear someone say something hurtful or offensive about or to someone else?
How many times have I rolled my eyes about someone's drama rather than really listen to what it was that was hurting them?
How many times have I failed to walk the walk of the talk I talk when no one else is watching?
And so, our heart says, God might be for other people, but I've done too much wrong. I've made too many mistakes, made too many poor choices. I can't really believe that God would be for me - because God knows all about me.
Kay was a member of my former congregation in Glen Burnie. When I was starting out as the pastor there, the interim pastor was walking me through the membership list and when he came to Kay, all he said was: "Her son died in the Vietnam War."
"Her son died in the Vietnam War." Seven words to sum up the sacrifice of a lifetime?
When I later visited Kay, she told a story: When she first discovered she was to be a mom, she felt nauseous for weeks. She loved her baby inside her through morning sickness. Eventually, she felt labor pains, and screamed in agony, moments before she saw the most precious sight she'd ever laid eyes on. She nursed this baby boy, she gave up sleep for this boy, she held this fragile infant. She and her husband changed the diapers, washed the diapers (it was a different time), dried the diapers, folded the diapers. They bounced him through colic and rocked him through fevers. She cheered his first steps and wiped away the tears, and the blood, from his first scrape. She provided firm discipline, she read him books, she took him to school. She told me that she learned as many spelling words as he did, she explained math and history and, eventually, answered the inevitable questions about the difference between boys and girls.
She and her husband watched him grow tall and strong and she provided socks and shoes for every step of the way. She learned the rules of his favorite sport, and the favorite fast food meal for after band practice. She read the newspapers with the frightening headlines, she was numb when the draft notice came, she cried when he left for boot camp, she wrote the letters and prayed for miracles, she provided the perfect weekend for that last Thanksgiving together, and she answered the door when the officer came with the news that her baby boy, that her Scott had died in a ditch.
"Her son died in the Vietnam War." A seven-word sentence hardly tells the story.
Yet, in seven words we learn something of why, If God is for us, who can be against us: God did not spare His own Son.
In seven words, Paul sums up why grace is still amazing: God came, wrapped in our flesh, so that one day, after all of the words, after all the teaching, after all the miracles, he would die to give us life, that Jesus would suffer to free us from suffering, so that we could spend ourselves to alleviate other's suffering, too. God did not spare His own Son. God is for us. If God is for us, who can be against us. The cross is the unspeakable, indescribable sign that God is for you. And that, my friends is grace, and that grace is still amazing.
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:31-35, 37-39
Still, we Lutherans are so thick headed. we talk a good game about grace, but it still doesn't amaze us. The problem in believing is that we're so familiar with our failures.
How many times have I pretended like I didn't hear someone say something hurtful or offensive about or to someone else?
How many times have I rolled my eyes about someone's drama rather than really listen to what it was that was hurting them?
How many times have I failed to walk the walk of the talk I talk when no one else is watching?
And so, our heart says, God might be for other people, but I've done too much wrong. I've made too many mistakes, made too many poor choices. I can't really believe that God would be for me - because God knows all about me.
Kay was a member of my former congregation in Glen Burnie. When I was starting out as the pastor there, the interim pastor was walking me through the membership list and when he came to Kay, all he said was: "Her son died in the Vietnam War."
"Her son died in the Vietnam War." Seven words to sum up the sacrifice of a lifetime?
When I later visited Kay, she told a story: When she first discovered she was to be a mom, she felt nauseous for weeks. She loved her baby inside her through morning sickness. Eventually, she felt labor pains, and screamed in agony, moments before she saw the most precious sight she'd ever laid eyes on. She nursed this baby boy, she gave up sleep for this boy, she held this fragile infant. She and her husband changed the diapers, washed the diapers (it was a different time), dried the diapers, folded the diapers. They bounced him through colic and rocked him through fevers. She cheered his first steps and wiped away the tears, and the blood, from his first scrape. She provided firm discipline, she read him books, she took him to school. She told me that she learned as many spelling words as he did, she explained math and history and, eventually, answered the inevitable questions about the difference between boys and girls.
She and her husband watched him grow tall and strong and she provided socks and shoes for every step of the way. She learned the rules of his favorite sport, and the favorite fast food meal for after band practice. She read the newspapers with the frightening headlines, she was numb when the draft notice came, she cried when he left for boot camp, she wrote the letters and prayed for miracles, she provided the perfect weekend for that last Thanksgiving together, and she answered the door when the officer came with the news that her baby boy, that her Scott had died in a ditch.
"Her son died in the Vietnam War." A seven-word sentence hardly tells the story.
Yet, in seven words we learn something of why, If God is for us, who can be against us: God did not spare His own Son.
In seven words, Paul sums up why grace is still amazing: God came, wrapped in our flesh, so that one day, after all of the words, after all the teaching, after all the miracles, he would die to give us life, that Jesus would suffer to free us from suffering, so that we could spend ourselves to alleviate other's suffering, too. God did not spare His own Son. God is for us. If God is for us, who can be against us. The cross is the unspeakable, indescribable sign that God is for you. And that, my friends is grace, and that grace is still amazing.
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:31-35, 37-39