As
a church, we have a radical message to proclaim to the world. It may be easy, particularly for those of us
who’ve been part of the church our entire lives, not to realize how shocking the
gospel is, and to fail to grasp the enormity of the challenge that we proclaim
it. I’ve recently encountered two
examples of how the gospel undercuts the messages in the world around us.
“God
loves you.” This simple statement can sound ridiculously
simple, even trite, for those who have lived a long time with an awareness of
God’s love for you. But in my work as
a pastor, I frequently encounter people who don’t believe it, or who can’t
comprehend, as Ephesians 3:18 puts it, the width and the length and the height
and the depth of the love of Christ. Far
too often, when I ask someone if they know that God loves them, they’ll respond
with a comment such as “I hope so” or “I wish I could believe that.” I recently spoke with someone who believed
that God would reject her because of a deep-seated pain from her past. And I recently spoke with another person who
thought that God was angry with him for failing to meet a goal that was beyond
his ability. And these were both people
who grew up going to church! Never make
the assumption that people can conceive of, let alone believe, the fullness of
God’s love for us. The burden of our own
sense of guilt, or of criticism we have received from others, or of the need to
“measure up,” hinders many of us from realizing the power of grace: God doesn’t
need a reason to love us. He just
does. Unfortunately, this good news is often
undermined by well-intended church leaders who feel it necessary to emphasize our
sinful condition apart from God’s love. I
don’t feel the need to point this out because in nearly 31 years of ministry, I
have never met someone who was not already fully aware of their
sinfulness. But I’ve met plenty who
doubt God’s love for them.
“God
desires unity.” If you’ve attended
worship at Old Union Church even once during the past two months as we’ve been
studying Ephesians (or if you’ve listened to my sermons on the website), you
know that this is a pervasive theme throughout the letter. But this concept is not limited to one book
of the Bible. For example, 2 Corinthians
5:19 tells us that God has given us the “message of reconciliation,” and Jesus’
final prayer with his disciples was that we may all be one (John 17:20). We look forward to the day when all of
creation will be united under Christ’s lordship. No exceptions. Someone who heard me preach this recently
took great offense at this concept of unity for all people. She proceeded to pepper me with outlandish claims
about what “they” were doing, and that I am deceived if I don’t think we should
do everything we can to oppose “them” with everything we’ve got. But even if “they” are guilty of everything
she claimed, Christ is nonetheless calling us to work for reconciliation toward
the goal of unity. I don’t think she’ll
be listening to any more of my sermons, but unfortunately I suspect that she
may find preachers who will support her divisive spirit.
God
loves you. God desires unity. Such simple but profound truths. The world needs to hear these words. Our community needs to hear this message. Some of your friends and family members may
need you to help them wrestle with the reality of the gospel.
