The following meditation was written by Rev. Dr. Michael B. Brown, pastor at Blowing Rock Methodist Church in North Carolina and a professor at Wake Forest University.
“ . . . where sin increased, grace multiplied even more.” Romans 5:20 (Common English Bible)
“God’s love does not presuppose goodness in us, but rather causes it.”[1] I find these words from Thomas Aquinas to be both comforting and challenging.
Initially, I am comforted that I do not have to earn God’s love. I’m not required to attain it by deeds, merit, or even proper mortality. God doesn’t love me “because of,” but rather “in spite of.”
Think of the child who is told to change clothes after coming home from church. But, he is so anxious to work on the fort he is building in the backyard that he conveniently forgets to do as told. Later, when he enters the house covered in mud and dirt (perhaps with a rip in those new Sunday pants you purchased), do you quit loving him? If the question were, “Do you become frustrated?” the answer would doubtless be “Yes” (and understandably so). “Do you get angry?” Probably another “Yes.” “Do you scold? Even punish (“No TV tonight!”)? “Yes” and “Yes.” But, do you quit loving your child? When he is scolded and the smile on his face turns upside down and tears begin to make small rows down his muddy face, isn’t your immediate impulse to gather the child into your arms and comfort him?
Our younger daughter consistently left things at elementary school, having no idea where those items were when asked about them. Often, they were unusual things to be left behind. We would regularly go to the Lost-and-Found closet at her school and find one missing show. Who loses one shoe, and how does that even happen? Or, we would find her sweater or coat that had been left behind on a day with a low temperature in the 30s. Were we frustrated? Sometimes, yes (though often it was more humorous than irritating). Did we seek to correct her, possibly even lecturing from time to time? I’m sure we did. But, did her mistakes cause us to stop loving that little human gift who God had placed in our lives? Of course not.
God loves us because we are God’s children. We don’t earn it. We are marred by failings and flaws. But, as Martin Luther observed, “God does not love us because we are lovable, but because he is love; not because we are worthy, but because he is merciful.”[2] As one who makes mistakes on a daily basis, I find comfort in that. “Where sin increased, grace multiplied even more.”
And, don’t forget that second lesson from Aquinas: God’s love causes goodness in us. Grace may be free, but it is never cheap. It assumes that lessons learned by sinning and being forgiven will alter the ways we do business morally. We will move in new directions (which, in fact, is what the word conversion means). One of those new directions becomes the discipline of forgiving. What was provided to us, we feel called and compelled to pass along to others. We are forgiven, and therefore, we forgive. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Forgive us . . . just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.” (Matt 6:12) That is the challenging part, that you and I are expected to “treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you.” (Luke 6:31)
When I served as Pastor at Marble Collegiate Church in New York City, our resident on-staff Bible scholar was a Roman Catholic nun named Sister Carol Perry. Sister Carol was a walking source of wisdom, witticisms, and modern-day proverbs. One that I heard her articulate frequently was: “Begin and end every day with the words, ‘God loves me and calls me to pass it along’”. That’s a lovely definition of grace, isn’t it? I am loved often in spite of myself and am, therefore, called to pass along to others that which God has shared with me.
Joy,
[1] Aquinas, Thomas. The Summa Theologica. Translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. New York: Benziger Bros., 1947, 1, q.20, a.2.
[2] Luther, Martin. “The Heidelberg Disputation.” In Luther’s Works, Vol. 31: Career of the Reformer I, edited by Harold J. Grimm and Helmut T. Lehmann, 35–70. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1957, Thesis 16, 56.
Nurture Faith with Dr. Doug Hood 