Living by Grace is Hard ... But Not AS Hard!

Reverend Philip Stringer

Luke 11:1-13

Colossians 2:6-19

Genesis 18:20-32

LET US PRAY: O merciful Father in Heaven: You give the knowledge of your saving help -- a comfort to your people. Feed our hearts with your Holy Word, and make our hearts instruments of your glory, today and all days. AMEN

I’d like to begin with a question -- How many of you have arrived where you want to be? Learned all you need to learn? Grown in the ways you want and are the person you wish you were? It’s a never-ending process -- a life-long challenge. We live and learn hard lessons along the way.

Paul -- I do what I don’t want to do, and don’t do what I do want to do.

Jesus -- The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Today, our scripture texts are all about the journey -- And as we face the challenge, they offer us words of encouragement and hope.

I brought something to share with you today -- a scroll with a rubbing of a Chinese poem by Lao Tsu, a Chinese philosopher who was born in 571 BC. He wrote the poem about 2,500 years ago. I want to share it with you because it points to a truth that is at the heart of our Scripture texts today.

THE SCROLL:

“Being smart is hard.

Being stupid is harder.

If you begin smart

but act stupid,

this is the worst.

Don’t be contentious with others.

Be gracious, giving to others

before taking for yourself.

If you do this,

you will not have to wait

generations to see peace;

it will produce peace in the heart today.”

I like the poem because it points to a timeless truth that spans the ages. We can all recognize that kindness and generosity are signs of peace but how do we have it? That is a problem that has also lasted through the years.

Jesus told a story about persistence -- it’s a story about God’s graciousness and our need to pray. Consider that the Holy Spirit is the one perpetually knocking on OUR door. God never gives up.

When it comes to us succeeding in life, it’s not about our strength — It’s about God’s strength. Specifically, the power of God’s grace. God’s grace is the highest form of justice, and the source of enduring peace.

That is one of the things we see in the story of Abraham’s discussion with God about Sodom and Gomorrah. At first glance, it might appear that this is a story about Abraham changing God’s mind. But consider, instead, that by drawing Abraham into discussion, God has made Abraham a partner in God’s expression of grace.

Imagine if God had simply said to Abraham, “the people in Sodom & Gomorrah are an abomination against all that is good and right . . . but I’m going to let it slide.” We would learn nothing about God’s heart or about justice.

But through Abraham we see both the extent of the people’s injustices -- and also the exceptional quality of God’s grace.

“I am owed JUSTICE!,” says God, “There is no doubt -- But I let go of it.”

Today we see -- through Abraham -- that God’s grace is the highest form of justice. To God, justice is about all things being as they should be. It is about healing and reconciliation, unity and harmony. That includes our unity with each other and with God. God intends for us to be co-creators with God. Co-agents of grace with God.

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, in the simplest sense he taught them to pray for what God wants. He taught them to pray that they receive hearts like God’s heart -- hearts that long for God’s form of justice. Hearts that will enable them to live grace-filled lives.

This poem speaks about the wisdom of grace -- but it begins by acknowledging the problem.

“Being smart is hard.

Being stupid is harder.

If you begin smart

but act stupid,

this is the worst.”

A friend of mine wrote a book a few years back called Not Trying Too Hard, and in it he explored some of the things that brain scientists have learned. One thing that they have learned is that when we become angry, certain chemicals are released in the brain that shut down areas of the brain used for reasoning and problem solving. In other words, anger literally makes you stupid. When you are angry, you become less capable of making intelligent choices and of comprehending the consequences of your actions. So, you say things that later you wish you hadn’t said -- “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said.”

Or you do things you later regret. “That was stupid. I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry.”

When we carry around inside ourselves, deep-seeded anger, prejudice, resentments or feelings that we have suffered injustice, it actually affects us physically. Unfortunately, there is a lot for us to be angry about, too.

Do you suppose that if we were to begin naming the injustices in the world, we would ever be able to finish? Even individually we would have a hard time recounting all the ways we have each felt we have been wronged or treated unfairly in life.

Carrying those memories is a tough way to live, and even if we’re able to push them to the back of our memory, we will always know we deserve better.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “forgive us our sins because we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.”

I’ve been thinking about the choice of the word “debtors” used in our translation. In one sense, being in debt does not mean being in sin -- at least I hope not -- mortgage and monthly bills.

But if someone has wronged you -- don’t you feel that they owe you an apology? If they have injured you -- physically or emotionally -- if they have stolen your property or even if they have simply stolen your joy -- shouldn’t they be held accountable? It’s unfair. Don’t you deserve justice? Shouldn’t they owe you some payment for the suffering?

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them a different way of addressing injustice: “Let go.” Stop struggling to get your fair share.

Let go of thinking about “what I deserve from others,” and replace it with thinking about “what I want FOR others.”

CHINESE POEM:

“Don’t be contentious with others.

Be gracious, giving to others

before taking for yourself.

If you do this,

you will not have to wait

generations to see peace;

it will produce peace in the heart today.”

The kingdom of God is not in our far-off future. It is today.

We carry the name of Luther in our tradition. We remember him because he re-taught the church what it had forgotten. He pointed us again toward God’s wonderful form of Justice. He reminded us that we experience true Justice -- the fullness of life -- when we believe that the grace we have received from God supersedes all other claims, arguments and solutions. And when we believe that to be gracious ourselves is the best way to live.

Or more simply stated, we can only experience justice when we have faith in the power of grace.

Justification by grace, through faith.

Luther didn’t invent the idea. He just re-discovered it. And he spent the rest of his life growing in his understanding of what it means. To paraphrase Lao Tsu, what Luther realized is that living by grace is hard, but living without it is harder.

Luther never perfected a life of faith in God’s grace -- but to the degree he WAS able to live by it -- he experienced life in the kingdom of God -- and he was an instrument of its coming to others.

THE POEM AGAIN -- This poem brings us back to the question of strength. Luther saw the solution in God’s grace. When he reflected on this in the Small Catechism, he wrote, “‘Thy kingdom come.’ What does this mean? God’s kingdom comes, whether we pray for it or not. But when we pray this prayer, we ask that we may share in its coming.”

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father: Give to us hearts like yours, full of grace and mercy, that we may be part of the coming of your kingdom and have peace in our hearts today.

AMEN