Grace and peace to you in the name of God our Creator and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
This summer we will be traveling in the Old Testament looking for signs of God’s grace. But what is grace? Growing up, grace was what we said at the dinner table before we ate. I had a friend in high school named Grace. And when we watch the Olympics, we will hear how graceful the gymnasts are. But in the Bible, grace means something different. Grace is the love we have had from God even before we existed. We know that we didn’t earn this gift. And on our best days,
we try to live out the grace of God by loving and caring for the earth and our neighbors. We begin with the beginning of the Bible, Genesis, specifically with the story that began it all in Genesis 1.
We meet God contemplating a formless dark world, and God speaks—creating day and night. God has continued to speak creation into existence ever since. At the end of each day of creation, we hear God say that what has been created is good. But finally on the sixth day, we hear God creating humans, and God declares this creation supremely good! And not only that, but God puts humans in charge of all creation.
As we know, things didn’t go well, and we abandoned or forgot about
God’s grace that we had received, and went our own way. But something amazing happened. God still loved us and continued to pour out God’s grace on the world. Through Abraham and Moses, the prophets, and finally Jesus himself, God continues to pour out God’s grace today. And we can see it, if we take the time to notice.
God’s creation still sings of God’s grace in the beauty of nature. But
we are called to stop neglecting our duty to care for this world God gave us. Grace is found in the faces of the preschool children as we learn about God’s love of us on the playground and in chapel. Grace abounds when we gather together to worship, and when we go out of here and find ways to serve our neighbors in need.
So go out this week, and look for God’s grace. Seek out God’s amazing gifts in nature and family and in all that is good.
Remember that we are called to share God’s grace in every aspect our lives. Grace is God’s gift and is it very good.