Rochester, MN UCC - "Grace All the Way Down" - Ephesians 2:1-10

During the season of Lent, we sometimes fast from something, or take on some new discipline, as a means of centering ourselves in God. I have done this on several occasions, and on a very few of these occasions, I have actually been successful in my discipline or fast- I’ve stuck with the plan for the whole season of Lent. There is a temptation to view these rare occasions of success as a triumph of our own will- to think that we have done well and earned our reward. We are tempted to think that our own works have brought us closer to God and we may be tempted to pride, or even to boast about our achievement.

 This is not to say that we shouldn’t feel good about what we have done. If we’ve stuck with a spiritual practice and felt ourselves become closer to God that is a great thing and we should absolutely celebrate it. The problem begins when we focus a little too much on our own role in the achievement and not enough on God’s. As the Apostle Paul points out in the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, we all were at one point separated from God by our own sins. “You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.” All of us were in need of a salvation that we could not affect ourselves, we all needed to be reconciled to God. It was when we were in this condition, when we most needed salvation and when we least deserved it, that God acted to accomplish our salvation. “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved…” Paul wants us to remember that our salvation was a gift freely given from God and totally unmerited on our part. Our salvation was an act of pure grace.

 God is no less active in our continuing sanctification, our living of a Christian life, than God was in our initial moment of salvation. When we are able to truly pray, it is God the Spirit praying within us. When we are able to successfully fast, or stick with a spiritual discipline, or genuinely be of service to others, all of these things are accomplished in, with, and through God, and not on our own. This is important to remember because it is true. It is also important to remember because it shapes our attitude towards ourselves and others. When we focus only on our role in our accomplishments, we can begin to think of ourselves more highly than those around us who are struggling; as though it was only through our own merit that we have achieved. We can, in Paul’s, begin to boast. On the other hand, if we remember that all that we are and all that we have is a gift from God, then we can achieve while maintaining humility, and gratitude, and our center in God. We can also view others who struggle with compassion, knowing that we too struggled before we knew God’s presence, and believing that just as God has come to our aid, so too may She come to the aid of others in time. May God grant us spiritual progress and true humility and may God ever keep us from boasting. Amen.

 Rev. Andrew Greenhaw