2 Advent

 

December 10, 2023

 

Isaiah40.1-11; Mark 1.1-8

 

+One thing we often hear about if any of us have been Christians for any periodof time is the big question:

 

Whatmust one do to be saved?

 

Becausemany of us who believe really do have a fear of hell and eternal damnation,especially those of us who came from churches that preached those things on aregular basis.

 

Now,in many churches, we heard that all one had to do to gain heaven and gloriouseternity was make this simple statement: I accept Jesus Christ as my personalLord and Savior.  

 

Therest of us, who didn’t make this statement, were in deep trouble.

 

Now,on some level, that makes some sense.

 

Itseems simple.  

 

Ifsomeone doesn’t accept God, then Godt shouldturn away from those who didn’t accept God.

 

Afterall, we would turn our backs on those who would not accept us, right? .

 

Andthere should be a place where we had to pay for the wrongs we did.

 

Wesimply can’t sin and expect not to pay for it in some way, right?

 

Butcertainly for me, in my own spiritual life, as I grew into my relationship withGod and as I started to look long and hard at everything I have believed, Irealize that there is one thing those people who believe that way have  missed.

 

Itwas one simple little word:

 

Grace.

 

Now,my very simplistic definition of grace is this:

 

Graceis a gift we receive from God that we neither ask for nor necessarily deserve.

 

Inthe Gospel we heard this morning, we hear the echoing words of John theBaptist.

 

The one who ismore powerful than I is coming after me;

 

Heis that lone voice calling to us in the wilderness.

 

Itis a voice of hope.

 

Itis a voice of substance.

 

Itis a voice of salvation.

 

Moreimportantly, John’s message is a message of Grace.

 

Thispowerful One is coming!

 

There’sno avoiding it. 

 

Godis coming to us.

 

Thisis the ultimate grace in a very real sense.

 

Althoughwe have been hoping for God to come to us and save us, it is not something thatwe have necessarily asked for or deserve.

 

Godcomes to us in God’s own time.

 

Itis this one fact—grace—that makes all the difference in the world.

 

Itis what makes the difference between eternal life and eternal damnation.

 

Now,there are those who believe that there is an eternal hell.  

 

Andif you’re not right with God, they say, that’s exactly where you’re going.

 

Thefault in this message is simple: none of us are right with God.  

 

Aslong as we are on this side of the veil, so to speak, we fall short of what Godwants for us.

 

Wehave all sinned and we will all sin again.  

 

That’sthe fact.

 

Butthat’s where grace comes in.   

 

Graceis, excuse my language, the trump card.

 

Gracesets us free.

 

Graceinvolves one simple little fact that so many followers of Jesus seem tooverlook.

 

Andthis is the biggest realization for me as a follower of Jesus Christian:

 

Just because one doesn’taccept God doesn’t mean that God doesn’t accept us.

 

Godaccepts us.  

 

Plainand simple.  

 

Evenif we turn our backs on God.  

 

Evenif we do everything in our limited powers to separate ourselves from God, thefact of the matter is that nothing can separates from God.  

 

Godaccepts every single person—no matter what we believe, or don’t believe, nomatter if God is some abstract concept to us or a close, personal friend.

 

That’sright, I did say “personal.”  

 

Because,yes, it’s wonderful and beautiful to have a personal relationship with God. 

Ourpersonal relationship with God is essential to our faith, as you have heard mesay many, many times.

Butthe fact is, God or Jesus isn’t the personalsavior to any one of us in this place.  

Godsaves all of us, equally.

That is grace.

Thatis how much God loves us.

Now,I have preached this message my entire adult life as a Christian, and certainlyas priest.

And,as you can imagine, there have been, shall we say, a few critics.

Andsome of these critics—actually quite a few of these critics—have been quitevocal.

Theydon’t like my “universalism.”

Infact, I once preached this very same message one evening not long after I wasordained to the priesthood in a very diverse venue of     what I thought were somewhat progressiveLutherans.

Later,I learned, I was essentially blackballed from that venue for that sermon.

Ialso preached it once at another congregation, at which I was a guest.

AfterI preached it, the presider at the service actually got up and “corrected” mysermon in front of everybody.

Criticsof this message say that what I am talking about is “cheap grace.”

Cheapgrace?

No,I counter.

AndI still counter!

Againand again.

No,not cheap grace. 

It’sactually quite expensive grace.

Itwas grace bought at quite a price.

Andno, I’m not being naïve or fluffy here.   

Trustme, I have known some truly despicable people in my life.  

Ihave been hurt by some of these people and I have seen others hurt by thesepeople.

Theworld is full of people who are awful and terrible.  

Andsometimes the most awful and terrible person we know is the one staring back atus in our own mirrors.

Butthe fact is, that even when we can’t love them or ourselves, when we can’t doanything else but feel anger and hatred toward them, God does love them.  

Godaccepts them, just as God accepts each of us.

Goddoesn’t necessarily accept their actions. God doesn’t accept their sins, ortheir failings, or their blatant embrace of what is wrong.

But,not even their despicable nature can separate them from God’s love.  

Nothing—noteven priests or bishops—can separate us from God’s love.  

Thatis how God works in this world.

Thatis why God sent Jesus to us, to give us an example of how to live our lives asbeloved children of God. .

Ibelieve in that image we hear from our reading from the prophecies of Isaiah today:

 

[God]will feed [God’s] flock like a shepherd;

[God] will gather the lambs in [God’s] arms,

andcarry them in [God’s] bosom,

 W

ewill be gathered up by our God, and we will be carried into our God’s bosom.

 

Ilove that image!

 

Becauseit conveys God’s true and abiding love for us. 

 

It’sa hard concept for those us who were taught otherwise.  

 

ButI do believe it.  

 

Ibelieve it because of the personal relationship I have with God.  

 

TheGod I have come to know and to love and to serve is simply that full of love.

 

So,do I believe we’re all going to heaven when we die?

 

Well,yes.

 

Ireally do believe that. 

 

Why?

 

Because,the love of God is just that big.  

 

Itis just that wonderful and just that all-encompassing.

 

Itis just that powerful.  

 

Ifone person is in some metaphysical, eternal hell for being a despicable person,then, you know what?  the love of God hasfailed.  

 

Somethinghas, in fact, come between that person and God.

 

Ido not believe that hell or Satan or sin or the Church or anything else is big enough to separate us fully and completelyfrom God. 

 

Noteven we, ourselves, can turn our backs on God because wherever we turn, God isthere for us.

 

So,listen.  

 

Inthis Advent season of hope,  John’s voiceis calling to us from the wilderness.  

 

Heis saying,

 

Godis near.

 

Godis coming to us.

 

Letus go out, in grace, to meet our God!

 

Letus pray.

 

Cometo us, Holy God. Come soon to us. Come to us with power and glory. And grace. Andlet us know that no matter how often we may turn our backs on you, you havenever once turned your back on us. You have always been with us and remain withus. And that nothing in all the world can separate us from you. For this, weare truly thankful today. Amen.