By Grace Anew. Text: John 13:31-35 , Revelation 21:1-6

Preached by Rev. James Murray at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, May 2, 2010.

 

A few years ago I showed my children a photograph taken of my Grade One Sunday School class. My sons hit the floor laughing. All the girls in my Sunday School class were wearing hats and gloves. The boys were all wearing a blazer and a tie, as we did every Sunday. Those were the rules, and we had to follow them.  Looking back it is amazing to see how much the daily rules of social convention have changed in a few short decades.

 

For many centuries, the Christian religion was very supportive of this rule based society. God was portrayed as a God of requirements and rewards. God was the lawgiver, and the judge. God was the fierce king you didn’t want to get mad. In his book “The Heart of Christianity”, Marcus Borg describes our relationship to God with this model as being based upon legal language. Borg says that the traditional model of religion can be described as a situation where “We have been disobedient to God’s laws and so we deserve to be punished.

 

Such a picture of religion is long on punishment, and short on grace. The reward for being good is salvation, even though salvation is something we were promised as a free gift from the start. In a way, the promised gift of salvation was held back because of all the requirements we must first meet. Those requirements often become a baseball bat which is used to beat people up with. There are many people who have been injured and damaged by such an approach to religion. It is no wonder many people have felt they would be better off without religion if the punishment you have to go through to get in makes the reward not worth getting.

 

For some people, this legal model is how they view their faith. But it doesn’t work for everyone. Thankfully, the model of rules and punishment is not the only way to look at what our relationship to God can be like. We have many other Biblical metaphors and images which can also be used to describe the salvation God offers us. At the Last Supper, Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment. A new rule to live by which has earned the nickname of The Titanium Rule, since it even trumps the Golden Rule. The Titanium Rule is simply this: Love each other the way Jesus loves you. If in doubt, love. If you’re not sure you should forgive someone for what they’ve done, remember the Titanium rule. If you’re tempted to throw the rule book at someone, Jesus is suggesting a different book. Instead of judgement, a spirit of compassion is what is called for. If you are ever in doubt as to what is the right thing to do, follow this simple rule. Love everyone the way Jesus loves you.

 

Marcus Borg is not the first voice to question the limitations of just using the laws of Godly behaviour as the only way for us to draw closer to God. Saint Paul questioned the Law in his letters, and encouraged us to follow God in a spirit of grace which could set us free. The father of the Protestant reformation Martin Luther rejected the buying of good deeds to win God’s favour. Like St. Paul, Luther turned to the radical grace of God. God’s acceptance of us is unconditional. It is not dependant upon what we say or do.

 

Radical grace has most often been too radical for most Christians. We tend to put conditions on God’s grace. We say ‘God accepts you if...” Whenever we add an ‘if’ clause to God’s grace, grace becomes conditional, and it ceases to be grace.” God’s unconditional grace is not simply about how we get a ticket to heaven. God’s unconditional grace is about how we understand our relationship to God right here, right now. Grace is the invitation to join the community. To live the way of Christ, with Christ’s people. 

 

God is a God of love and justice. Justice in the Bible is much more than just following a legal pattern of judgement. Biblical justice is about treating everyone equally with an ethical loving kindness. Justice is about fairness and compassion. As a result, the Christian life is living in this loving relationship with God. It is to bring this ethical loving relationship into all of our relationships. 

 

This offers us a release from the threats and anxiety which we can encounter in the rules and punishment model. This is good news, for this unconditional grace opens us up to the possibility of becoming transformed people, who are free to work for a transformed world. It is an invitation to live, to love, to grow, to blossom, and to be changed forever.

 

We find this message repeated in the closing chapters of the final book of the Bible.  Many people have been taught to look at the Revelation of John as a warning of the coming end-times, a troubling crisis of apocalyptic judgement. Yet as we listen to these verses, what do you hear? Do you hear a threat of punishment, or a promise of grace-filled transformation?

 

Revelation 21:1‑6

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth;

 for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,

and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven from God,

 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them as their God;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said,

“See, I am making all things new.”

Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

Quotes are taken from Marcus Borg’s “The Heart of Christianity” Harper Collins 2003.