God Before Us

Mark 10:17–27 NRSV

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

You’ll be happy to know that this is not a sermon about giving. And it’s not a sermon to say that it’s morally wrong to be rich. In fact, I want you — for just this moment to disregard the entire fact that Jesus is discussing money with this rich young man.

What we find here in the Gospel of Mark and within Jesus’s teaching is the quintessential question that all who are seeking after truth and find it in Jesus ask: What must I do to be saved?

Jesus’s answer is deeply troubling to both the man and the disciples standing there listening. He says “it’s impossible.” And though he is specifically referring to how hard it is for a rich person, I think that this a generally universal truth — thanks in no small part to the fact that nearly every person born in our country at least would be considered rich by Jesus’s ancient middle eastern standards.

But that’s just the set up for the part of this scripture that I want to focus on. Here’s the good news: How can anyone be saved?

For Mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.

Good Grace

This is the beginning of a new series called Good Grace. We are going to be looking at just how God accomplishes the impossible task of bringing stubborn humans into a saving relationship with Jesus. What we are going to find is that it is entirely through the beautiful activity of God’s Grace — God’s good grace — that we silly, selfish, and often downright sinful humans are given the opportunity to find restoration in everything that sin has broken in our lives.

I grew up the United Methodist Church and I went to Sunday school and youth group and church camp and did all of the things. And so I learned about the word “grace” and basically what I walked into my adult life with was the understanding that Grace is what I received when I made a decision to follow Jesus.

That’s a true thing. But what I learned as I came back around to the United Methodist Church in my late 20s was that Grace did not begin the moment I decided that Jesus was my King. Grace is something that I, and that you, and that every person who has ever lived has been continually given.

Our theological founding father, a man named John Wesley, made it his life’s mission to understand God’s grace and how it intersected with human life. We now understand his work as “A Wesleyan Theology of Grace.”

Very simply put, Grace — which translated from the original Greek of the New Testament is the same word as “gift” — is “the receiving of blessing which we do not deserve.” But for Wesley, that simply wasn’t enough. Wesley believed that God’s Grace was more than just a gift to be received. Grace is active. Grace isn’t something that we posses but is rather something active. Something that is working in our lives. Grace is the activity of the Holy Spirit, the literal presence of God, moving in the lives of human beings.

And for Wesley, and me, and everyone else in our tradition this is not something that begins to happen when we decide to follow Jesus. The Holy Spirit is actively working in the lives of all humans from the moment they are conceived in their mother’s wombs.

This is what God said to the Prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 1:4–7 NRSV

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.

Then again many years later he says this to the Father of John the Baptist:

Luke 1:14–16 NRSV

You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

What we see in these passages is that God is invested in human beings before we even know anything about God. God has hopes and plans for people before we have hopes and plans for ourselves. And it is God’s desire — God’s plan — that all of humanity would seek out and be saved by following Jesus. But God also knows that for humans this is impossible. Therefore, God’s activity begins in our lives from the very beginning to make it possible.

Christian belief has long held that humans are inherently disobedient. We all suffer from a condition called original sin. But before there was an original sin, God called us very good. There was an original righteousness. And that is the status that God’s grace seeks to restore in every human. So while our sin draws us further away from God, God’s grace pulls us toward’s Jesus and towards righteousness.

This activity in our lives is what we call Prevenient Grace. It is the grace of God that goes before our awareness. It is the grace of God actively working in our lives, creating the space and the conditions in our hearts and in our world that allow us to respond to God and say “yes, I want to follow Jesus.” It is the grace of God that prevents us from slipping into utter brokenness.

For some folks, this part of their lives is rather short and they follow Jesus as children. Prevenient grace for them looks like the family they grow up in nurturing them in the faith, their church, the sacrament of infant baptism, a friend who tells them about Jesus, or a trip to summer camp. None of these things alone is an act that can save, but they are factors that lead a person to make a decision to follow Jesus.

And for some people this road is long. But the good news is that God is willing to play the long game. God is relentless in his pursuit of humans and will take as much time as any of us needs.

For me, I found prevenient grace through my cousin who is one year younger than me. I was maybe in 2nd or 3rd grade, and I was over at her house playing one day. And I don’t know why, but she took me by the hand into a closet and we sat down and she told me about Jesus. Now I knew a thing or two about Jesus. But she told me about eternal life and that I needed to trust Jesus to get it. Pretty bold for like a 6 year old right?

So I went home and told my mom that I wanted to go to church. And that’s where my journey began. Over the next couple of years, God shaped my heart until I was ready to really give myself over to following Jesus.

Prevenient grace comes to us through unlikely sources. And often it comes to use through a lot of them. The older we get the more convincing we need right?

Prevenient grace is the presence of God wooing us and pulling us towards God. Prevenient grace is universal, and it is something that should give each and every one of us hope. Prevenient grace means that no one is too far gone to have an transformative encounter with God.

Sometimes that grace shows up through people who dedicate their time to people who are in dire situations. Prison, Hospital, and military Chaplains and volunteers spend their lives as agents of God’s prevenient grace — shining light into the darkest places on earth.

Regardless of how we experience prevenient grace, its end goal is always the same — to bring people into a relationship with Jesus.

The young man asked Jesus: How can I be saved. Jesus’s answer was simple: you’ve been moving in my direction by following the good and decent laws that were given to you. Now all that’s left is for you drop everything and follow me. There’s always a decision to make, but God’s grace carries us to that decision and frees us up to make it for ourselves.

Enough for Today

The good news of God’s Good Grace — of prevenient grace — is that it means that God is present in our lives. It means that God is present in the lives of those we love who are struggling. It means that God is present in the lives of children who have no choice about their traumatic situations. God is present in the lives of babies who are born addicted. God is present in the sufferings of humanity, and that God is actively working in the hearts and minds of those that he desires to rescue.

It’s good news because it means that our work as a church and our work as people who seek to share the love and saving power of Jesus with the people of this world are not done in isolation. It means that God is present and actively working to prepare people for our ministry. It means that what seems impossible for us is entirely possible for God.

This past week I watched as agents of God’s prevenient grace poured into the lives of 44 children here at Art and Music camp. Along with gifts of music and art, you all gave the gift of love and of hope.

Some day, and you may never know when, those children will come face to face with the love of God. And they will recognize that love. They will say “I’ve experienced this before at that camp. That camp at the church with all the Peacocks.”

They will know that they are home — where ever that may be — in the arms of the God who has been loving them for their entire lives, and who for a week loved them through you.

If you’re out there and this is all new to you, and you’re trying to figure out if this Jesus thing or church thing is for you — just keep listening. Keep coming. Everyone is here as proof that God has gone before you and brought you to this place today. And God will take as much time as you need. But you are not alone. God is with you, God is working in you. God has and will continue to go Before you.