A Love to Share

05-08-13

Matthew 25.45-46 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (ESV)

Who is Jesus talking to - Christians? The difficulty of some passages in the Gospels is they seem to have a punitive tone to them which, in my mind, don't square with the grace of God. How can I be a recipient of grace and yet be awaiting a 'judgment' about my works? These are some of the difficulties of sayings of Jesus in the Gospels that I think lead to confusion and cause folks to think grace is really somehow tied into the Law and to performance.

Are we who believe, unconditionally loved by God or not? We need to carefully consider that question. If we are, then what does that love do to us? Is God's grace only with stipulation? If so is it not conditional? How can it be unconditional and have conditions?

Who was Jesus talking to? That is another thing we must consider. If He is talking to the Church, then we are all back in the conditional boat. And if that is the case, all of Paul's arguments in his epistles contradict what Jesus is saying here: Paul says grace is not by works or it cannot be grace.

So, how do I approach this? If I understand and embrace the unconditional love of God my life will be different. I won't have a charge to dismiss, but I will have a love to share. I have often feared these verses as if I somehow won't measure up to the demands of God. Tell me, where in grace is there a demand? Friends, where there is fear there is ineffectiveness. Where there are demands, there is Law. And where there is Law there is no grace.

O the freeing love of Jesus, liberating my confused soul
O the grace of God the Father motivating me and making me whole
O the indwelling of God the Spirit guiding me to heights unseen
O to share Their power and presence with every other human being - amen.