Now is the Favorable Time

Introduction

2 Corinthians 6:1–2 ESV

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Psalm 19:14 BCP1928:P

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Exposition

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season

In Lent, we practice penitence for our sins

Traditionally by fasting until the evening on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday

The Church often practices abstinence from rich foods and drink, such as meat, sweets, and alcohol

It is also proper to engage in spiritual disciplines, either by reinvigorating one that has been neglected recently or by taking up a new discipline

Our epistle lesson today comes in the middle of St. Paul’s response to the Corinthian church’s questioning about Paul’s authority and apostolic credentials

This was a frequent charge Paul faced

He didn’t behave like some of the other apostles

He was often in trouble with civic authorities

He spoke straight to the point rather than use flattery or rhetoric to attract support

In the verses I chose to reflect on today, there are three main points I want to tease out

First, what it means to “receive the grace of God in vain”

Have you ever given someone a gift, anticipating to see them use it, only to be disappointed with what they actually do with the gift?

Maybe they never unbox it, maybe you accidentally find it stored away in the attic, maybe they let slip that they donated it shortly after receiving it

I think this is something like what Paul means when he warns the Church “not to receive the grace of God in vain.”

Grace is given to us for a purpose — God wants us to be in relationship with him

Additionally, we have grace so that we can be changed into people that are concerned to bring others into relationship with God

Grace is the means of salvation — receiving grace efficaciously means that we are no longer looking for the hidden secret of how to really be saved

When we receive grace, which contains forgiveness, we are equipped to give grace to others

When we don’t unbox grace, or shove it in our metaphorical attic, or even — may it never be so for any of you — trade it in for a different gospel, we don’t apprehend the gift rightly, and it becomes useless to us

Second, God promised to listen to his people and help them

By way of explaining why the Church should not receive God’s grace in vain, Paul quotes Isaiah

The best way to understand this verse is that God purposefully and intentionally heard and helped his people

Who are his people? In Isaiah, Israel; but we are joined to the true Israel, who is Jesus Christ, and therefore we are united to all of the faithful people of God

He did not grudgingly listen, or help in a faltering and halfhearted way

No, he listened “in a favorable time,” and helped “in a day of salvation”

The Lord promises to deliver his people, to bring them out of captivity

Their cries do not go unheard, and their exile will be ended

Finally, the day of salvation is here now, because of Christ

This is the great message of the Gospel — the end of the story is told in the middle, as Lesslie Newbigin has said somewhere.

While it is true that we are waiting for the final consummation of the reign of God and the Lamb for eternity, we have the down payment of that time in Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead

The favorable time is not far off, the day of salvation is the present time

As a reminder St. Paul emphasizes this as part of his warning against receiving grace in vain

I believe this is because he is calling the Church to recognize that they have been, are being, and will continually be helped

The Corinthian church constantly battled divisions and petty squabbles

In the generation after Paul, Bishop Clement I had to write a letter to this same church because they had deposed all their elders unexpectedly and unjustly

They did not behave as if the day of salvation was present

They did not behave as if they knew God listened to them

In short, they were in danger of receiving God’s grace in vain

Application

So what do we do with this?

This Lent, as we walk in penitence towards Easter, I invite you to consider each week the ways you may be in danger of receiving grace “in vain.”

Do you find yourself giving into anxiety about the world around us?

Do you have a habitual sin that the Spirit is calling you to confess and work against through spiritual disciplines?

Do you struggle against the call to spread the Gospel to neighbors and friends who seem like they wouldn’t be open to it?

If I’m honest, I answer “yes” to all three of these, so if you find the same is true about you, we’re in good company

Lent is an opportunity to examine and recommit our lives to the standard that God calls us to

To love God with heart, soul, and might, and to love our neighbors as ourselves

As a final thought, we often look at Lent as a primarily inward and individual time of discipline

However: Now is the favorable time, now is the day of salvation — this day is not just for us to contemplate, but for us to share with others

I encourage you to consider taking up a Lenten discipline of evangelism — by which I simply mean sharing the Gospel with those whom you encounter who need to hear it

Let us pray for God to open opportunities to share the Gospel and to use our Lenten disciplines as ways to start conversations

May we be a people who gladly receive the grace of God, for we are in the favorable time, and the day of salvation has arrived. Amen.