[Gen. 8:4-20; ii Cor. 4: 13-5: 1; Mk. 3: 20-35]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“So we do not lose heart.” (v. 16a)
It’s an admonition that recurs very often in the Bible.
Do not lose heart.
Paul himself was trying to keep up his spirits: after all his adventures, after all his preaching and writing and efforts, there were still those who would deny him his apostleship.
Defending his role and contribution next to the other Apostles is a recurrent theme in the second letter to the Corinthians. Here more than anywhere else we catch a glimpse of Paul’s personality, we encounter most of his individuality.
Probably written in AD 56-57, this second epistle forms part of a series of letters -at least four that we know of- of which two have made it in to our New Testament. The Apostle Paul is ‘jet-setting’ around the known world establishing new congregations and encouraging or correcting existing ones.
All through his travels and his encounters, he tells about the free gift of grace, and he warns people not to be trapped in old habits and not to be seduced by false teachings: God redeemed the world through Christ because God loves the world, there’s no other Gospel!
Do not lose heart, remember: God has redeemed you.
Hold fast to what you have heard about Jesus, repeats Paul over and over again, about what the Hebrew Scriptures have told about God’s promises for His people and for His Creation.
Hold fast to the Apostles’ teachings, don’t let others -not even angels- seduce you into believing that in order to be saved you must earn your place among the select few.
No, Paul emphasises, salvation is free and it has come by no other means than Jesus of Nazareth, God’s own Son!
Do not lose heart.
God has seen you and He has not turned His face away from you.
Paul’s absolutely certain of his message, he’s unwavering about the Good News which he’s proclaiming; it has been pointed out that it’s as if he knows it all to be true.
But if Paul’s certain, unwavering, if he knows rather than believes then what about faith, what about doubt?
We all experience times when our faith is so rock solid it cannot be shaken. At other times everything is a question mark and there seem to be no certitudes at all anymore, not only concerning our faith but concerning everything and everyone hurtling around us in the never ceasing chaos that is our life.
Thankfully grace isn’t only meant for those in the know or for those who never doubt
-which seems highly unlikely to begin with.
Grace is the means by which God tells us all that He’s involved with Creation.
God didn’t create the world and then retreated in to some far corner of the universe letting all creatures great and small to their own devices. God created all things seen and unseen out of love in order to engage with them.
If God were not interested in Creation, God wouldn’t really be God and we might as well all just go home.
Do not lose heart, God’s interested in you!
Everything’s for your sake.
It’s okay to be confused, it’s okay to be uncertain, we all are, we’re human after all.
God knows about your fears and concerns, and guess what, God loves you all the more for them.
Do not lose heart, you are His, God’s grace surrounds you, like a blanket it wraps you in to the love of your heavenly Father.
Do we feel included in this promise? Do we believe God’s promises are also true for us, as an individual, as a group or as Church?
Can we accept we are part of the larger whole because God reckons we’re worthy of the call just like everybody else?
Or does it completely baffle us, stun us into a very uncomfortable silence? Does it worry us, scare us so much we rather ignore the call and run the opposite way. Many have tried that last option, even prophets; needless to say it didn’t work, the Spirit’s nothing if not persistent.
Each of us is called to spread this Good News, just like the Apostle Paul, each in our own way: some are teachers, some are evangelists, some are pastors, some are area deans, some are servers, some are readers...the list is endless and it’s not limited to tasks inside the wider Church or our own local congregation.
We’re called to believe this is true, we’re called to believe that God’s grace extends ever further also through us.
Our contributions can be great or small but they are all equally valid.
If you cannot preach like Peter,
If you cannot pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.
There is a balm in Gilead.
The words of the old hymn still ring true.
To pray like Paul and to preach like Peter is important, admirable but the love of Jesus is life-changing, life-affirming, an all-encompassing redemptive power of love.
The balm in Gilead is a balm of peace, a balm which quietens us, puts us at ease. God’s grace is a balm which heals the scars of everything that pains us, no matter how deep these scars may run and no matter how long we’ve had to live with them.
The balm of Gilead is a balm of reassurance.
Like the Scriptures reassure us this morning, just like Saint Paul’s preaching and letters, recorded through the work of the Holy Spirit: more free gifts from God.
Do not lose heart, God’s on our side, and on your side, and on her side, and on his side, and on their side, and on and on and on...
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
May you walk with God
This summer
In whatever you do
Wherever you go
Walking with God means...
Walking with honesty
And with courage,
Walking with love
And respect
And concern for the feelings of others
May you talk to God
This summer
And every day and
In every situation
Talking with God means...
Praying words of praise
For the beauty of creation
Saying prayers of thanks
For friends and good times,
Asking God's help
In all your decisions
Expressing sorrow
When you have failed
May you talk with God
Every day Amen