The late Henri Nouwen, a best-selling author and professor, recalls his first days at L’ Arche, a community for mentally and physically disabled, in Toronto.  He writes:

     “The first thing that struck me when I came to live in a house with mentally handicapped people was that their liking or disliking me had absolutely nothing to do with any of the many useful things I had done until then.  Since nobody could read my books, they could not impress anyone, and since most of them never went to school, my 20 years at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard did not provide a significant introduction.  My considerable ecumenical experience proved even less valuable.  Not being able to use any of the skills that had proved so practical in the past was a real source of anxiety.  In a way it seemed as though I was starting my life all over again.

         In the same way, when we entered the Kingdom of God, all our achievements won't matter.  What God cares about is who we are — do we have faith in him?[1]

         There is a certain inequity is believing that our achievements merit us something.  That’s especially true when we are people of faith and are catapulted into an environment where all of our education becomes meaningless.  And yet, it is a startling wake-up call to the fairness of God’s love.  Neither the challenges of a person’s mental or physical state nor the brilliance of one’s mind disqualifies us from needing God’s unearned love.  God’s grace is the great equalizer to humble all of humanity.  We receive it without doing a thing to earn it — the reward is the same for everyone.

• In what ways does the fairness of God’s love humble you when you realize that nothing you do can earn God’s grace?
• Why if the fairness of God’s love so important for everyone?

[1] Kevin A. Miller, editor and author, Wheaton, Illinois; Gordon MacDonald, “Atmospheric Influences”, Leadership, (Winter 1999), p.32

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, humble me to realize that my achievements — however great are small — do nothing to influence Your unmerited love for me. In all circumstances of life, Your love is fair.

         It’s difficult for us to admit that the events of our lives are out of our control.  We don’t and can’t control the weather.  We have no power of the plants of the earth, their life, growth, or death.  But what we do have control over is our willingness to attend to those things that God cares about and being attentive to our concern for others.  Those two things are lived out in God’s commandment to love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Our greatest issue is learning to love and accept ourselves with all of our faults and then learning that others are the same as us.  The overarching message is that God cares for all of us with all of our warts, moles, corns, callouses, bumps, bunions, and onions.  The fact that our place of origin varies doesn’t detract from or negate the truth that God extends God’s grace and love across geographical and theological boundaries.  God is willing to reach out to any and all who are ignorant of God’s grace and reality in the world.  It doesn’t matter that we have our issues with each other, God’s grace extends beyond our issues with each other in order that we might all find a place of refuge within the family of God.  That we have to go through life’s difficulties to realize that truth is an uncomfortable, but sometimes necessary reality.  That God continues to offer unconditional love to all grates on us at times.  But though the grace we all receive is undeserved, with God all is fair in love.

• What about God’s grace has humbled you to accept that God’s grace is free to all?
• What is it about God’s grace that makes it a fair reward for everyone?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious and merciful God, open my eyes and my heart to recognize that the only thing I ca control is the fairness of Your grace offered to all who are willing to receive it.

         It is amazing how differently we see each other.  It doesn’t matter that we acknowledge God’s creative power to make us all.  It doesn’t matter how secure we are in our relationship with God.  We can always find some reason why others should not have available to them the same benefits of relationship that we have with God.  If we can believe Jonah’s story, Jonah was fine as long as he and his people could have God’s relationship all to themselves.  His relationship became strained because God’s vision of repentance and redemption was much different than that of Johah’s.  Jonah would have had God be available only to those whom Jonah had chosen.  What Jonah didn’t understand — and selfishly so — is that God wanted those who had not been considered a part of God’s family to become a part.  It was Jonah who neither wanted nor saw the Ninevites as worthy to receive the same reward of grace and relationship with God that he had enjoyed for years.  Jonah’s desire to choose to whom God’s grace was available was clearly above Jonah’s pay grade.  And rather than rejoice that others had received the treasures from God’s storehouse of grace, Jonah became angry.

         It’s impossible for us to fully understand what drove Jonah to anger — jealousy, envy, fear of the loss of relationship with his God, or some other unknown factor.  But God’s reputation for being merciful remained intact and later, Jonah as much as said so.  And the fairness of God’s love was on full display, both in how the Ninevites faired because of God’s love and how Jonah faired.  Neither were destroyed, but both enjoyed and benefited from the immeasurable riches of God’s grace.  For both the Ninevites and Jonah, all was fair in love.

• What do you believe motivated Jonah to want to withhold God’s grace from the Ninevites.
• What drove the King of Nineveh to have such faith that Jonah’s proclamation would come to pass?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
God of Mercy, empower me to always believe in the boundless limits of Your unmerited grace. Help me to always trust in the fairness of Your love to redeem those willing to repent.