I am a beloved sinner and child of God . . . .

What a strange beginning you are thinking.  However, that is a true statement – I am, indeed, a beloved child of God and just as true I am a sinner.  I remember well a few years ago at a couples’ retreat that Father Greg Carlson noted that we are beloved sinners.  It does not mean we are doomed; we are redeemed. However, it also does not mean are just free to go and do whatever because we will be forgiven.  

When I read the first reading, I was baffled.  I understood the analogy of Israel as being the motherless child left out if the cold and God nurturing and restoring dignity and health only to be disappointed in the behavior and outcome.  My sense of some Old Testament readings is that God sets rules, and the people follow for awhile and then decide their way is the better way.  Some sort of retribution occurs, and slavery ensues or some other nation overtakes them.  Rinse and repeat many times. I remember in a Bible class a few years ago, thinking when will they get it and just obey the rules?  Then, I got it – we (me!) never seem to be able to just obey the rules.  Yet, I did not see how to make this meaningful to us at this point.    

At a recent church service, it came together.  There was a discussion of the real vs ideal.  We DO strive for the ideal but the real often/mostly falls short of the ideal.  Jesus set the bar high (in many ways even higher than the Old Testament) yet was always there with grace.  This passage from John helped to clarify.

John 1:17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

This is an essential balance of both grace and truth. Jesus sees the real and still loves us and our love for Him propels us to strive for that ideal.  As the discussion continued, it was emphasized grace without truth would lead us to live completely permissive lives.  There would be no regard or need to move toward the ideal. Yet, truth without grace would end in hypocrisy and lies – we would be separated from God.  Jesus provides the opportunity for the balance to make it possible in this broken world for us still to be connected to God.  He is the epitome of grace – something that is given even when not deserved.  Remember when some businesses used to provide a “grace period” for payment. An extra period of time, not because it was earned or deserved, just given.  Not unlike the Grace we receive, not because it is our entitlement, rather it is a gift – the best gift we could ever receive.

Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave