Tell The Truth: With Grace and Love

"We are sent to tell the truth of God’s unconditional love, even when it’s difficult or unpopular. When we embrace our calling as vessels of God’s hope and love, sharing the Christ message with our own unique stories, we become part of the living word of God."

When we first got married, Kathleen and I live next door to a rabbinical school where  students were trained to memorize the entire Hebrew Scriptures word-for-word.

​The reason for this was simple. If anything should happen to their ancient scrolls, as it had in the past, there would still be people who could tell God’s story.
 
This is how it was before written word. Stories were passed down orally. Children learned about God by watching their parents and listening to their stories.

​As written language emerged, so too did the sacred text, providing not only a moral blueprint for life, but also gave us creative ways to see and share God’s great story.

For example, in Psalm 19 “The heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies display the works of his hands.” All of creation knows and speaks of God’s truths. And Psalm 96 tells us, “the heavens rejoice, the earth is glad, the sea resounds, the fields are jubilant, the trees sing for joy” reminding us that everything made by divine hands bears witness to God’s majesty.
 
Although scripture is written by human hands, I believe it carries the divine breath of God, the Spirit who inspired its writers, and continues to guide our understanding today. But here lies the challenge: we can all read the same passage in scripture but interpret it differently. So, we must always be mindful to trust God’s Spirit - allowing the sacred words to inspire our faith into action. And not manipulate scripture to fit a particular narrative or personal agenda.
 
Scripture tells the story of God and we all have a place in it. And this begs the question: How do I bring my unique version of that story to life? Here’s how Paul describes his.
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Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,  in whom we have access in boldness and confidence through faith in him.                                                                                                                                          ​             -  Ephesians 3:7-12.   -

Many of the Apostle’s letters were written from prison. This isn’t surprising considering he was often arrested for helping people understand and respond to “the boundless riches of Christ.”
 
Believing himself to be “the least of the saints” Paul did not anticipate this calling. He was a Pharisee, a good one at that. One that knew scripture inside-out. He followed the laws and traditions, not challenged them. He was faithful to a fault, even if it meant participating in the stoning of Stephen, who was killed for helping people understand and respond to “the boundless riches of Christ.”
 
Everything changed for Paul on the way to Damascus, where Jesus met him and empowered him to be an Apostle - a person sent to proclaim the good news of God’s redemptive love to the world.
 
While Paul’s letters might seem personal, they are very universal. His message is timeless…and speaks to everyone, everywhere. Paul tells the truth - that God’s love is given to all in Christ.  
 
We are one in Christ - sharing one heart and one gospel story. Some folks in the Ephesus had trouble understanding this. As a major port city Ephesus bustled with Jews and Gentiles who lived and worked side by side. The two did not always get along. Their division was seeping into the church Paul planted. Sound familiar? Today, it’s not Jews and Gentiles, but Republicans and Democrats.
 
Yet Paul’s call for unity still remains. We are the body of Christ, each with a unique purpose but one agenda: “to share the news of the boundless riches of Christ”…the very mysteries of what God has been secretly doing all along.
 
So, the goal of the church is to tell God’s story. Like Jesus showed us, to do so by our words and deeds. This is what Jesus did every time he healed the sick, forgave sins, or reached out to the marginalized. Every meal with sinners or confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus gave the world a glimpse of God’s heart by living out God’s story into the world.
 
This is what Jesus told the Apostles to do in his absence: He said, “go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I commanded you to do” (MT 28:17-20). And what was that command? “Love one another as God has loved you.”
 
Jesus’ mission is our mission. His calling is our calling. Jesus isn’t asking us to memorize scripture. He’s sending us to be the living embodiment of God’s words where love and grace are manifested through acts of kindness, compassion and mercy.

Every time we love God, love others, and serve both, the gospel comes alive - living and breathing the Spirit through everyday, ordinary people like us.
 
This is what we have set out to achieve by building a community of love in the space between. We created Anamesa to be a sacred and holy space where everyone participates in God’s story in real, tangible ways.

According to N.T. Wright, “The church exists primarily for two closely correlated purposes: to worship God and to work for his kingdom in the world.”

Our job is to fill every space with God’s love and justice, “making it known to the rulers and authorities”  - even if it means rejection, betrayal, or death.
 

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This is what Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C., did last Tuesday at the National Cathedral. Standing before those in power, she gently delivered a plea for mercy and compassion toward the vulnerable and marginalized.

Quoting directly from scripture, Rev. Budde reminded us that our mission, as both the church and nation, is to reflect God’s justice, mercy, and inclusivity. Her words echoed God’s deep concern for the poor, the voiceless, and the foreigner - truths proclaimed throughout scripture.
 
Yet, many people called her message nasty, divisive, and politically motivated.  What hurts me the most is the majority of those criticisms came from people who profess to follow Jesus.

At what point did Jesus tell us to return God’s call for mercy and unity, with hate and division, as my friend Bob Cooper wrote,  all “because a Christian minister dared to speak the words of Christ in a Christian church.”
 
I wouldn’t surprise me if the American churches receive a letter from Paul today. How have we forgotten God’s grace isn’t just for those who can afford it. God is for everyone. And God’s mercy and grace is  for anyone who wants it or needs it.
 
No matter who you love, where you are from, or which political party you belong to you have “access to God, in boldness and confidence, because of the faith of Christ.” In him, we have been written into God’s story…a divine story of unconditional love and unmerited grace.
 
This story isn’t just to be read or memorized, but shown and shared in all that we do. Love knows no boundaries. It holds no grudges or resentment. Love is not boastful, arrogant or demanding. Love is the good news… it rejoices in truth.
 
Standing before those in power, Martin Luther King proudly professed, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

When a fellow Christian, like Mariann Budde, boldly stands for love, our response should not be to knock them down or attack. But to stand alongside them, encouraging their faithfulness.
 
As the body of Christ, the church is sent to tell the truth of God’s unconditional love, even when it’s difficult or unpopular. When we embrace our calling as vessels of God’s hope and love, sharing the Christ message with our own unique stories, we become part of the living word of God - revealing the truth and beauty of God’s kingdom where there is “no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female” (Galatians 3:28). 
 
That rabbinical school next door to us, practiced their faith with piety and devotion, but the scripture they memorized they used to separate themselves from the world. For years, I greeted their teachers and student only to have them divert their eyes from me. I know they were not trying to be rude, just faithful to their tradition.
 
Again, what’s the point of scripture if it doesn’t pierce your heart and inspire you to make God’s world come alive? Paul’s letter reminds us that we all have access to God, whose Spirit empowers us to participate in God’s extraordinary plan to reconcile all things on earth as it is in heaven.
 
If we believe this scripture to be true - that it is God breathed and Spirit led - then let us embody the words. And embrace our calling with humility and joy.

Let us go out into the world as living testimonies, bearing witness to the hope and beauty of God’s kingdom; where truth, mercy and love reign forever.  Amen.