Glorious Grace
Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14
We gather today to dive into a powerful message in Ephesians. Ephesians is a letter brimming with themes of unity, love, and the power of faith. Who wrote Ephesians? Traditional scholarship attributes authorship to the Apostle Paul. However, some scholars offer a different perspective. They see Ephesians, written by a close follower of Paul, someone deeply influenced by his teachings. Imagine a student, brimming with the wisdom of their teacher, crafting a letter to inspire a new generation. The voice might differ, but the core message – the message of Christ's love and grace – remains a powerful message to us all.
Our text is a true gift for us today. I suspect that there is a message in here that many of us need to hear. There are also many (theological) questions that this text can bring to mind and even maybe wrestle with: Election? Predestination? Is God a puppet master-not giving people freedom? Is faith necessary? Are some people recipients of God’s grace and others not? Does election mean that the gospel is good news for some people and bad news for others? Are all people saved? Is salvation universal? These are just a few of the questions that might be swirling around in your head after hearing the text. Questions are always good but unfortunately we are not tackling these questions morning (feel free to discuss over brunch/lunch today!).
We are going to spend some time basking in the theology of grace.
Ephesians for many is a song of hope-and message yes, of grace, for also a message to strengthen the church of Jesus Christ---to be faithful in serving him. We are reminded again and again of who we are and whose we are and brought back to the sheer joy of living as God’s people.
How can one not like the beginning of our text: it’s a pouring out of beauty and riches. Abundant blessing and glorious grace- are lavished upon us for God’s pleasure. This is no whim of God but planned before the foundation of the earth! God has chosen us to be holy and blameless in love, forgiven and redeemed through Christ. Imagine the riches showered upon us – not earthly treasures, but spiritual blessings that empower us to live a life transformed.
We aren't chosen because we're inherently good; we're chosen in Christ, through his sacrifice and love. This is prevenient grace, God's love reaching out before we even knew to seek it. This is a big deal for United Methodists. John Wesley believed, as did many of the theologians of the Reformation, that our salvation is only possible because God moves toward us by offering grace. Now, in some Christian traditions, salvation is mainly about being saved from something—like going to hell when you die.
Wesley would say, however, that while we do need saving from sin and its consequences, we are perhaps even more so saved for something as well. God’s grace works in us to shape us into people who are holy and set apart as people who reflect God’s own image. God’s grace enables us to become the people we were created to be from the beginning—a people who can walk with God and know the power of God in our own lives in the present.
Wesley was concerned as much about how we live as about how we die, and his theology was less about a formula for getting people into heaven than it was about a way to get heaven into people. This is the way of grace.
Wesley would say that God’s grace comes to us in three movements, which he called prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace. Everything that Methodist Christians do and believe flows forth from this understanding of grace.
Today’s text is really about prevenient grace. It comes from the Latin praevenire, which means to “come before, proceed, or anticipate.” Prevenient grace is the grace that “comes before” our knowledge and love of God. It is the grace that God offers to us even before we know who God is or what God is up to. Prevenient grace recognizes that God has known us and cared for us from the very beginning of our lives. It is front and center in our baptisms. We are claimed as God’s own. To understand this kind of love and grace I want to you to think of a person who has made you feel loved. For me it is many people but I want to share about my grandma.
My grandma Helen was so very special to me. She lavished her love on her grandchildren when they came to visit- me included. See, each of her 4 grandchildren could come spend one whole week away from their parents (and rules/chores) and just be loved on by grandma and grandpa. There were special treats, special meals prepared—ones I loved like macaroni and cheese, special gifts, special trips—like the big trip to Watertown and eating lunch at the Chinese Restaurant. There were raft rides on the lakes. There were lazy afternoons playing rummy cube and swims in the lake with grandma. There was staying up late and eating popcorn. By the end of the week I knew I was precious. I was, beyond any doubt, absolutely convinced I was loved.
Ephesians reminds us of God’s love for us, and the flowing words of our passage envelop us with that kind of love; excessive, tender, richly abundant, glorious, and prevenient. Grace is what defines us. We are chosen people—Christians are a chosen people--not because we are perfect, but because of God’s unconditional, unmerited, and unbounded grace. We don’t hate people who aren’t like us; we don’t see faith as a formula. We trust instead in God’s grace for us and for the world, because God is the one who chooses God’s people. We proclaim that grace through our worship and service-through the way we move and live in this world.
So, yes we may have lots of questions that remain with us this morning about this grace—about election, predestination, and salvation but maybe it is enough, today, this moment, to soak in the wonder of being God’s beloved and the glorious grace that is ours . In the words of the old hymn we just sang a few weeks ago: All things are mine since I am his! How can I keep from singing?” Amen