[Eph. 4:1-16; Jn. 6:24-35]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Each of us receives grace, each day. There isn’t a person on this planet that cannot receive grace. Let’s repeat that: on this earth, there isn’t a single individual, among 8 billion individuals, who is cannot receive God’s grace.
Everything else flows from that.
8 billion souls in need of grace, 8 billion sinners.
In Paul’s letter we learn about the one Father from whom comes the one hope, the one faith, the one Spirit and the one Body of Christ, which is the one Church. The one Church receives the Word of forgiveness, and also the one Baptism and the one holy meal, which again is the body of Christ.
These are the free gifts of grace from the Father. The Church is the steward or custodian of these free gifts, and it’s the task of the Church to distribute these to the Father’s children. We are invited, called, to come and receive these gifts of grace.
Any organisation that claims to be a church but which refuses people these gifts of grace isn’t a church. Best to stay far away from these.
Of course there are rules to organise a group of people gathering in worship, but these rules should ease the distribution of the gifts of grace not make it impossible for people to receive that which the Father wants them to receive. Rules should be in service of grace, not the other way around, grace serving the rules; then it’s no longer grace because it becomes something you have to earn, and grace can never be earned, it is given.
The Father gives his grace because of the Son.
8 billion souls in need of grace, 8 billion sinners.
But isn’t this grace only reserved for Christians who are part of the Christian Church? Didn’t Jesus say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”?
However, Jesus was speaking to Jewish people and sometimes to Samaritans. Jesus wasn’t speaking to Christians, and Paul was writing to the people in Ephesus who didn’t call themselves Christians. The word Christian comes later.
But aren’t we supposed to be Christians in the Christian Church today in order to receive God’s grace?
There are different opinions about that, but in this discussion, one thing is vital to remember: God’s grace. Not our grace, God’s grace.
God’s grace isn’t private property, not even for Christians in the Christian Church. Any organisation claiming to own God’s grace isn’t a church, it’s a sect, a cult. Best to stay far away from these.
The free gifts of grace are giving to the Church to share, not to lock away behind rules and regulations or to keep only for a so-called chosen elite.
We’re all sinners and we’re all in need of forgivenesses, and in his parental love and concern and compassion God forgives our sins and declares us justified and a new creation. We die with Christ and rise with him to new life, to newness of life.
Every time the priest or pastor, a man or woman called, trained and ordained by the Church, absolves you of your sins, you can be assured that your sins are truly absolved as from God himself. That’s a promise! That’s a certainty!
Grace cannot be demanded or bought, it’s given.
Grace is the way in which our relation with God, each other and ourselves is in constant interaction, almost like an electric current.
Grace is the manner in which God shows mercy and love for the sinner in the most public way, without any reticence or conditions.
Grace is God’s way of rectifying everything that’s askew in Creation.
Grace is the very soul of the Church, the custodian of the free gifts of grace for the people.
And grace calls for more grace, grace multiplies grace.
If we ask forgiveness and are forgiven, do we forgive others? Forgive us our sins as we forgive whoever sins against us, we pray on the Lord’s Prayer.
The forgiveness, the justification that calls us to service also calls us to be merciful. And mercy calls us to serve our neighbour in a variety of ways and vocations.
Grace is God’s way of restoring the interpersonal relationship. A relationship of 8 billion persons.
Grace is a community happening. A community of 8 billion souls.
Grace is personal but never individualistic. A congregation of 8 billion individuals.
Grace won’t be wasted, it refuses to be negative, it’s the very opposite of ego.
8 billion people and not a single one of them who cannot receive grace. 8 billion potential saints.
Grace to you from God our Father.