Because we are of God

 I've really enjoyed gathering with a small group via Zoom every few weeks for discussion as we read through For All Who Hunger: Searching For Communion in a Shattered World. The author, Emily Scott, is an ELCA pastor currently serving in Baltimore, though she was in Brooklyn in the time period covered by the book, which is part memoir and part theological reflection.

My copy has lots of underlines and pencil marks - profound thoughts I want to return to easily. Here's one, from the end of the book, where the author is sharing about presiding over Communion at an Easter Vigil service: "'Holy food for holy people,' I say, and break the bread. We are holy not because we are good but because we are loved. We are loved not because we deserve it but because we are of God." 

Moyers, Mike. Hallelujah, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57147 [retrieved September 1, 2020]. Original source: Mike Moyers, https://www.mikemoyersfineart.com/.

Keeping score seems to be a deeply rooted part of human nature. We're very concerned with what people deserve and have or have not earned. We like to assign value to people based on our own values and perceptions of their actions. We easily fixate on instances where folks seem to be taking advantage or cheating the system, even if it only happens a small percentage of the time. We are rigid about fairness, legality, justice or at least the perception of it. We are often motivated by jealousy or a sense of our own inadequacy. To complicate matters further, we have a tendency to attribute our own successes to internal factors, while blaming our failure on things outside of our control - and do the opposite when considering the success and failure of others. 

I think our tendency to keep score is connected to our sense of self, particularly in relation to God. Sure, we might say that we are saved by grace and not by works, but I wonder, deep down, how much of us actually believe it. It's hard to admit and take ownership of our sin and failure, and hard to accept that our orientation to God is ultimately outside our control. It's easy to get caught in the trap of thinking that if we just try harder, God will love us more, and we'll be able prove how much better we are than others. 

That's why the truth conveyed in Emily Scott's words is such good news. You don't have to feebly attempt to earn God's love. You can't, in fact, make yourself holy, no matter how many good things you do. You are freed from keeping score, freed from the burden of counting points - yours, or anyone else's. "We are holy not because we are good but because we are loved. We are loved not because we deserve it but because we are of God." You are of God. You were made in God's image and called good. You are loved. You belong to God, and nothing you do or fail to do can sever that relationship.

This is true for you, just as it is true for everyone else. How might taking this to heart change your orientation to yourself? To others? How might it free you for love?


Bonus resources: 


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