The year was 1515 and a young priest was immersed in a spiritual struggle. You see, he believed that above all, God was a God of justice, and he had always felt hatred and judgment from God. He wanted to love God, but he was bitter and had suffered because of this judgment for a long time. From his childhood, he had been taught that God's justice was directed toward the punishment of sinners, and that if one-a priest especially-wanted to have eternal salvation, it must be earned. But how could one earn salvation? How could one ever follow all of God's rules and please God enough to make restitution for one's sins? It seemed impossible to the young priest.
Still, he continued to study and to pray. He pushed and pushed, trying to please God. Again and again, he ended up disappointed that he could not achieve the state of perfection that he sought. He was overpowered by the sense of his own sinfulness. He went to confession as often as possible. He threw himself into mysticism. He sought to obey his monastic vows to the fullest. He punished his body, hoping for some relief from the torture that he felt. He was desperate, so caught up in the hopelessness of his sinful state, that even the sacrament of penance brought him no relief. He wanted desperately wanted to love God, but all he felt was hatred toward the one who expected the impossible, the one who inflicted such pain. He truly believed that the present life was a preparation and testing for the one to come, and so his struggle continued.
He was in demand for delivering biblical lectures, and was ordered against his will to teach scripture at a large university. And it was there, as he was studying and teaching, that the young priest was delivered.
As he began to prepare lectures on the letters of Paul, the young priest discovered something. Over and over, Paul spoke of being saved by grace, not through works. Saved by grace! The young priest felt that his prayers had been answered-his heart was unburdened! If God saved us by grace and not works there was hope! The young priest was not responsible for earning his was to Heaven, because it was a gift from God, given by grace through faith.
The book of Romans spoke volumes to the young priest, saying, "If it is by grace, it is no longer the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace." What a beautiful thing! Set free, the young priest was now able to love the God of justice with his whole heart, as he had been struggling to do for so long.
Of course, the priest was Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation. It is because of God working through him that we believe what we believe. In the reformed tradition, of which we are a part, we believe that God has saved us by grace through faith. We do not have to try and earn our salvation. It is a gift from God.
Imagine what Luther went through with his struggle. What would our lives be like if we believed that we had to try our entire lives to be good enough for God to let us into heaven?
I imagine that most of us would be just as frustrated as Luther was-if we took it seriously. We would go around in circles as Luther did, trying every possible way to please God. We would consume ourselves with the laws of God, making checklists of our actions, scrupulously keeping track of every move we make. Eventually, we might feel defeated, finding it hard to love a God who was expecting perfection from flawed human beings. Some might even give up the struggle entirely, believing it foolish to waste time on an impossible task. What a dreadful way to feel, about life and about God.
But because we believe that grace has saved us, we look at it differently. The definition of grace in the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms is this: Unmerited favor. God's grace is extended to sinful humanity in providing salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ that is not deserved, and withholding the judgment that is deserved.
Unmerited favor-that is what our God gives us. A gift that we don't deserve, that we could not possibly earn. But why? Why does the grace of God exist?
We find our answers in today's passage from John. First of all, we are given grace because of God's love for us. We all know John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life." God loves us. That is why Christ came-because of God's love.
Secondly, God desires that we have life eternal with Him. Christ comes that we may have that life. John 3:17 says, "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." God did not send Christ to condemn us for our sins, but to save us. All because of love. That is the grace of God.
But, even though we believe this in our heads, it is sometimes difficult to truly believe it with our hearts. We still try to earn our way to Heaven through our good works. We keep tabs on our progress with God-hoping that we are good enough, or even if we aren't good enough we are trying hard enough.
But when we look back at Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we learn that we are not to count on our works for our salvation. If we do, then we are taking credit for our own salvation. We are usurping God's authority. We are being arrogant. "This is not of your own doing...no one may boast," says Paul.
But, Paul goes on and reminds us, "we are what God has made us," and good works is a part of the mix. Good works are not the way we or earn God's grace. Instead, they are the result of grace. God has created us for that purpose and has prepared for good works in Christ. That is to be our way of life.
God does want us to be consumed and motivated as Martin Luther was, but not by fear. God wants us to be consumed with love. As Luther discovered, God loves us so much that when we finally feel that love we do all that we can to please the one that loves us. We do good works out of love-not because we are afraid of God's judgment. We love to please the one who loves us. Isn't that the way it is with human beings? It is only natural for us to give back what we have been given. When we feel loved, we are able to give love. When God gives us His very self, we want give ourselves back. God's grace makes us able to fulfill what God has intended for us-love and faith-salvation.
May the grace of God infuse our lives, filling us with love, causing us to give ourselves to Him as He has been given to us. Amen.
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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