Swooshing Grace

Prayer of Illumination

Oh Holy God, use me to plant seeds of faith, love, and confidence for your people to feel seen and heard and to respond to the grace that you so freely give. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you, O LORD. Amen.

Grief

This last year has been a season of grief for me. Last fall, I lost my paternal grandmother—one of the earliest influences on my faith formation. I recall visiting with her in the hospital room weeks before she passed, remembering a life filled with celebration, lessons, and joy. I recall recounting our family history. The love she held for my grandfather and the travel stories. Oh the travel stories, she loved to travel across the country and around the world with her children and grandchildren. She would be that type of person, who’d travel across route 66, see something interesting off the beaten path and take a detour to explore. She was a true adventurer. I remember our time after school, puzzling, scrap booking, and crafting. I remember the moments shopping for new clothes before the start of a school season, her ever encouraging words to love God, to love my parents, to love my community, and to love those who often go unseen. I grieve the loss of this remarkable woman, the last of my grandparents, that knowledge, love, and grace. I grieve.

Then there was the loss of Sangatsu this winter, the first dog I ever owned as an adult. Often, the first to greet me at my car door as I pulled into the driveway. The dog that I traveled with all throughout the Midwest when we lived in St. Louis and competed in obedience, rally, and conformation shows. Sangatsu was so intuitive and sensitive to my emotions that she immediately knew how I felt, even when I was putting on a brave face. I grieve.

Then came spring, where my Uncle passed away. This was a faithful servant of the Lord, I remember my parents sending me and my brother, Travis to church where my Uncle was a troop leader in a program called Awana’s. A youth program modeled a little bit like Boy Scouts but where the badges were for memorizing scripture and doing various service activities around the church. Uncle Michael was patient, loving, and kind to invest so much of his time in stewarding some rambunctious kids. Uncle Michael and Aunt Renee went on to share the love in their heart and home by fostering and adopting children throughout the years. I recall going to the zoo with them as a child and afterwards coming home to wrap presents. They had a unique way of wrapping presents. We’d wrap them in brown paper, and then stamp, color, and decorate them. Such a unique and personalized way to present your gift to a loved one. When my Aunt fell ill resulting in the loss of her vision, a series of dialysis treatments, and much more he was there to support her. He always put others above himself. I grieve for his loss.

How about that interview that you had your heart set on? You prepared for it… You went in, and it felt genuine; you were ecstatic that this was the right fit… You began to visualize yourself in that position, the future... Only to find out that they passed you up, perhaps for someone younger or less experienced and cheaper in salary costs. To grieve the loss of expectation and hope for something better…

Then there are the institutional structures that sometimes fail us, the ideals and values that we grieve for…

I could go on and on about grief. The fact of the matter is that a season of grief happens in our lives. You see, Samuel grieves that Saul doesn’t meet the expectations of being a just and righteous king. He grieves for wanting something better and not materializing. Samuel grieves… the Lord grieves… But there is a season for grieving, and then there is a season for hope and renewal.

Scripture Recap

God directs his prophet, Samuel, to stop grieving, for it’s time to anoint a new king. This new king is to be found in Bethlehem and is among Jesse’s sons. Samuel obeys God and travels to Bethlehem, where Jesse brings out most of his sons. One immediately catches his eye, Eliab, whom I imagine has a mighty and statesmanlike appearance and stature. I am sure you’ve met those people in your life who are charismatic, natural-born leaders, those folks who immediately draw in a crowd when they walk into a room. But those first impressions, those outward appearances, aren’t everything. The LORD told Samuel, “Have no regard for his appearance or stature because I haven’t selected him. God doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the LORD sees into the heart.”

Israel already had a charismatic, warrior-like, natural-born leader in Saul. It didn’t work out for Israel… God wants something better for his people and won’t settle for less. Each son is presented, and the Lord rejects each one as the next king. Samuel asks Jesse, are these all your sons? And as it turns out, it’s not. There is David, who is out tending the sheep. Samuel directs Jesse to send for David, and when David arrives, the LORD says, “That’s the one. Go anoint him.” This reminds me of a fairy tale...

Cinderella Outward Experiences

“Once upon a time, there was a kind, sweet girl called Cinderella.” Yes? How many of you remember the story? One morning, a footman comes to the home, inviting ALL the girls in the kingdom to attend a ball with the prince. Cinderella's stepsisters tell her the invitation isn’t meant for her. Yet the father protests and says that EVERY girl is invited. The wicked stepmother does all she can to keep Cinderella busy with chores so she can’t attend. Then comes the fairy Godmother, and with the wave of her wand, SWOOSH.... a pumpkin is made into a beautiful coach... SWOOSH..... horses and a coachman appears… SWOOSH… a plain dress is transformed into waves of soft silk, and on her feet are two dainty crystal slippers. She goes to the ball and has a lovely time with the prince. However, at the stroke of midnight, all these outward appearances disappear, and she makes a quick return home. The prince hunts for Cinderella and finds her stepsisters whose feet don’t match the glass slipper. He asks if there is anyone else. The father sends for Cinderella, who is in her servant's clothes and comes forward to find the perfect match. The prince and Cinderella live happily ever after.

Cinderella reminds me of this Old Testament story. Just like David, they were both hidden out of sight. Now, the Old Testament doesn’t say David’s outward appearance was hideous; we’re told he had beautiful blue eyes and was good-looking! Cinderella, too, was a beautiful woman in her own right… and even without all the SWOOSHING grace of the Fairy Godmother… in the end, the prince didn’t care about her clothes or the car she rode in on… In the end, it was her heart that won him over, what was on the inside…

Judgement in Today's Context

Friends… A recent study by Vanderbilt University observed that 11% of human resource executives reported an applicant's weight factored into whether a job offer was given. This impacts women in particular; in fact, the study found that, on average, women who are considered obese earn five dollars and twenty-five cents less per hour than women considered to be at a normal weight.

I recently attended a conference hosted by the National Council on Aging. There are 80 million boomers in Peak 65, with 4 million turning 65 every year. That is about 12,000 people every day. The median savings for retirement is $259,000 to last them 17 years. That equates to roughly $16,000 a year to live on. We’re finding more and more that people in their 60s need to work longer. In an unstable economic environment with layoffs and mergers, we suddenly find people in their 50s and 60s needing new work. Unfortunately, AARP has reported that one in six adults looking for work report that they were not hired for a job because of their age, and two-thirds of adults ages 50-plus in the labor force think older workers face age discrimination in the workplace today.

Recently, I was having dinner with some friends at Rotary. We were talking about the effects of smartphones and youth having access to social media, Reddit, and other forums. We discussed the need for youth to seek validation on these forums and the need to fit into a “norm.” We discussed the harmful effects these environments are having on our youth. The National Institute of Health reports that the rate of nonsuicidal self-injury ranges between 14% and 21% among young people.

Church… people are feeling unheard and unseen. The way people are judged for their outward appearances leads to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, systematic poverty, self-injury, and, in some cases, death.

Yet… in our Old Testament story, we’re reminded that it’s not a person's outward appearance but what’s on the inside… what is in their heart.

Kingdom of God

See, God is love. God grieves when we grieve. When we feel unseen, unheard, slighted because of injustice and systemic oppression… God grieves. God doesn’t want this for us—God gives us hope. God gives us renewal.God gives us Jesus. In the opening hymn, we sang, “He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free; to take away transgression, and rule in equity.” God has sent Jesus to heal. Amen.

Jesus has come to break the oppression and to set us free, my friends. In our Gospel reading, we learn about the amazing things God can do with people despite their appearance. The Scripture shows that God works through failure, defeat, rejection, and crucifixion. “With what can we compare the kingdom of God with?”

In the first parable, someone scatters seeds among the earth. We can take that to mean Jesus and his disciples, my grandmother, my pup pup, my uncle… you and me… Planting seeds of faith.

Then we’re told something amazing happens. A SWOOSH of grace happens… a transformation! The seed begin to develop a drawing for nutrients and water, Wesley might call this prevenient grace—a drawing and desire for God. When we embrace this desire, we encounter the grace of God more and more. We begin to express this outwardly in acts of love, justice, and mercy, as Jesus demonstrated. And so does the seed, it begins to grow and produce the stalk, then the head, and then the full grain in the head.

But how does this transformation happen? We’re not told how; in fact, we’re told the farmer is ignorant and has no knowledge of how the seed grows. What does this mean? It means we can’t produce good wheat or fruit on our own. Those around us can’t sow our good works.

There is a cooperation, a partnership between the the earth and the seed. God is working in us to do amazing things. Daily, we grow in our knowledge and our love for God. We receive the nutrients that we need, we receive the instructions that we need, and we get right with how our soul is through confession, repentance, and knowing who we are on the inside. It’s a cooperative effect—it requires a response from us. We have to say YES, GOD I love you. YES, JESUS, I believe you died for my sins and rose again so that I may have ever lasting life. There may be those out there who don’t see you—who are sizing you up. But you are valued—you are sacred—you are holy! You are a child of God! God has given grace to all and Jesus had sacrificed for all who believe.

Jesus goes on to tell us in the second parable that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed; the smallest of all seeds “grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” Simply put my friends, God is working in us, and those who respond to the call of faith and believe in Jesus, can witness good fruit, can witness branches so large that birds can nest, and can witness happiness and joy. SWOOSH into this amazing grace, embrace God’s love for you and grow in your self-knowledge, confidence, and relationship with God.

So SWOOSH, my friends, grace abounds for all. In the name of our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer, Amen.