A Cautionary Tale

Grace. That’s what Haywood Street Congregation is about. So what do we do with difficult Scripture that talks about sheep and goats and disasters that the Potter is devising for His rebellious people. That’s the question that I have been coming back to over and over recently. This week Brian brought it to us through the Scripture according to Jeremiah, the Prophet, in Jeremiah 18: 1-11.

The part about the Potter shaping a spoiled piece of clay was easy enough to picture. God takes me, a sinner, and reshapes me into a more useful vessel. However, if I, like the house of Israel, don’t turn from the evil I do, then, He will devise an evil plan against me. Whoa! My forgiving God, full of Grace, would do that? To me? That’s what Jeremiah said. Looking back at the history of the Israelites that is what God did. Israel didn’t turn from its wicked ways.  And God let Assyria overtake them and later Babylon did the same and banished the wealthy and powerful to another land. There was a remnant that survived and remained in the Promised Land, but they were mostly the poor and the unskilled.

So what does that mean for me? I returned to the whole idea of Judgment and Grace. God warned the house of Israel what would befall them, but He left redemption open if they would come to Him. God is the only One who is good and therefore He is the only One who can judge. What is Grace? Is it forgiveness? No, Grace is more. Is it an absence of Judgment? No, Grace is more than that. We are free to do or not do whatever we wish, not because God will excuse our lack of concern or outright selfishness, but because He wants us to choose His Way and His love. So Grace is acting in the Way that leads others to God and brings us closer to Him.

What does that mean in daily living? At Haywood Street it means we offer food for everyone once a week so that we can have fellowship with one another and can meet a basic need. It means we have clothes available to adorn the body to keep it warm or dry and comfortable. Clothing is offered with only availability as a limit and with all the choice that we can afford. It means we have haircuts and vaccinations and acupuncture to bring additional boosts to our wellbeing. Most of all it means we listen and care and welcome one another without judgment because we are all imperfect pots that the Potter is still working on.  We gather at His Table for Communion in the Sanctuary and we praise Him with music and prayers. All of this takes tremendous trust in God and faith in His Presence among us, but the more we practice Grace the more likely we are to turn around and discover God is next to us passing the bowls of food, hanging up the shirts and jeans, serving the bread and wine, and sitting nearby loving every minute.