Saying Yes

Isaiah 43:18-25, Psalm 41, 2 Corinthians 1:18-22, Mark 2:1-12

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, February 19, 2006

Heritage Congregational Church, Madison, WI

When I was twenty five years old I was at the lowest point in my life. My marriage was falling apart and I was having trouble coming to terms with it. I was sitting in Andy’s home office. He was my pastor, half of a clergy couple that served four Methodist churches in northern Illinois. We knew each other well. I was choir director at one of the churches, and teacher of their three children. During this difficult time I had visited many times. Andy was a great counselor. He was really helping me deal with my impending divorce.

But I will never forget this one time. We were getting down to the nitty gritty. Andy was really pushing me to come to terms with how I was feeling, about what was really bothering me. This was a good thing. I was stuck and couldn’t move forward. Divorce was not in my vocabulary. I couldn’t accept it and couldn’t forgive myself. I kept thinking and feeling that there must have been something more I could have done. And Andy kept pushing me.

I started crying. Andy was used to it. I cried a lot back then. And then he said, “What’s the matter? Don’t you think God can forgive you for this?” And that was it. I knew in my heart I had done everything I could have done. I knew our marriage was over. I knew our covenant had already been severed. But in my heart it was God I was worried about. I couldn’t forgive myself because I thought I was disappointing God.

And then I felt it. I don’t remember exactly what Andy said, but whatever it was, I felt God’s grace. I had never really been confronted with it before. I felt secure in my faith and knew what I believed. I had tried to live my faith as best I could. But now I was face to face with God’s grace for the first time. And I knew that grace was what defined God. I felt forgiven and was able to begin forgiving myself. With this one moment in time, my healing began.

Today we find Jesus introducing the idea of forgiveness, or grace. We have finally moved to the second chapter of Mark, after weeks of living in the abundance of events found in the first. Jesus has been tempted in the wilderness, called disciples, healed, exorcized demons and taught in the synagogue. He has gotten the people’s attention. Crowds follow Him so closely that Jesus has trouble breaking away to pray. They know He can perform miracles and they accept Him as somehow being connected to God, sent by God even. Now it is time for Jesus to take the next step, and Jesus adds forgiveness to the list of what He does when fulfilling His earthly ministry.

There is more to the passage. A lot happens here. Jesus uses new words. Those who question and resist Jesus are highlighted (this is the first inkling of the religious authorities working against Jesus in Mark), and Jesus defines the Good News He was sent to share. The Good News of God is grace. It is the new thing spoken of in Isaiah. And forgiveness is the way God says yes to created humanity, as told to us in 2 Corinthians. God says yes to our relationship, yes to love, yes to complete forgiveness, for all eternity.

Forgiveness is an interesting concept. In the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, forgiveness is defined as pardon from an offence, it is a part of grace. Forgiveness can be a difficult thing for us to accept, just like me with my divorce. We want so badly to deserve it, to be able to earn it, but that is not what forgiveness is about. Forgiveness is a part of grace, defined as unmerited favor, forgiveness and salvation (WDTT). God’s grace is a greater gift than Jesus’ miracle of healing and exorcism. It is God’s unique work that we do not deserve and cannot earn. Yet it is given freely, willingly, lovingly. More than anything God desires to be in right relationship with us. God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. God’s grace is our real help.

The question for us is, will we accept it. Will we continue God’s work by completing the circle of what God has begun? It has already been given to us. Grace is here. How do we respond?

It can be difficult to begin. But I suggest we begin with ourselves, by believing God has forgiven us. And if God can forgive us who are we to not accept it? When we accept the gift of forgiveness, we can feel it and we are changed. The way we share our faith is enhanced. The way we live our faith is multiplied. There is contentment of heart in knowing God’s grace.

After we have we have accepted God’s gift we can share it with those we are closest to and love the most, our families. We freely give forgiveness, just as God has given it to us—willingly and lovingly—because the relationship is more important than any grudge or argument or disagreement. We are all so vastly different, even with those we are related to by blood. It can be a real struggle to get along at times, to see the good in those we love the most. And, with those we love so deeply, our expectations are so very high. When we are hurt by those we love the most, it is the worst hurt of any and the most disappointing. But if we are willing to take the first step and extend our forgiveness, our family dynamic is affected just as we were as an individual. God’s grace when allowed to work has great effect.

Then, I suggest we share God’s grace as we interact with our community of faith, our church. Imagine a church that practiced grace first, before anything else, a body of Christ living as the embodiment of God’s grace. We give up our own expectations, and see the gifts of all as God sees them. We extend grace first, before we judge, before we take offence, before we jump to conclusions or fight for our own way. A church that is able to live in God’s grace will be able to hear God’s voice more clearly because they are not consumed with their own thoughts and ideas. A church that is filled with grace will not waste its energy on negativity, but use its energy wisely on prayer and love. Just think what a church like that would be able to do for its friends and members, for its community, for God’s beautiful world.

One of the most important things about the gift of grace is something we learn today from our scripture passages, asking for help. Like those who climbed through the roof, carrying their friend on a mat, like the psalmist who knows how much he needs God, we too should ask for God’s very real help. If we believe God says ‘yes’ to us through the gift of grace, we must not hold back from asking for God’s help. Too often we don’t want to bother God, or we think we should be able to handle it ourselves, or we do not feel deserving. These excuses plague us and keep us from accepting God’s gift of grace. But when we do these things, we miss the whole point. We are not deserving. And yet God is not bothered. God wants us to ask for help. We need God and we need each other. That is why we are here. It is why God has placed us in families, in churches, in communities, in this beautiful world.

Accepting God’s grace is the first step toward spiritual healing, and asking for God’s help is a sign of spiritual strength—not weakness.

A couple of weeks ago in worship, I challenged us all to think about sharing the gospel, about being evangelists. As evangelists we must practice what we preach, share God’s grace and then live by it as if our lives depend on it, for truly they do. God says yes to us. How can we say no? Amen.