A WORD FOR TODAY, April 6, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 6, 2021
“You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:1-10, WEB
I certainly rejoiced on Resurrection Day because of what the Lord had done for me. I also rejoiced because we had a church full of people celebrating the incredible gift of new life from our Father thanks to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We did not have that experience last year because the churches were locked down. We worshipped online from home which wasn’t the same. Yet, there was something different about this year, too. I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The problem was that Lent didn’t feel like Lent. Unfortunately here in Texas on Ash Wednesday we were in the midst of the worst storm in many years. Many Texans, including my family, had no electricity. We couldn’t drive anywhere because the roads were dangerous. Ash Wednesday services were canceled.
That should not have mattered, but after a year of struggle and days of suffering, I never really got around to choosing a fast. My husband and I did several twenty-four hour fasts, but we didn’t “give anything up.” We both read extra devotions, but even those didn’t really feel like much for me. When we arrived in church on Sunday, it seemed like any other Sunday because I didn’t feel like I’d left a wilderness to experience the renewal of Easter.
I was really grateful, then, that I read this on Easter Sunday from John Chrysostom: “If any person is devout and loves God, let him come to this radiant and triumphant feast. If any person is a wise follower, let him enter into the joy of his Lord, rejoicing. If any have fasted long, let him now receive refreshment. If any have labored from the first hour, let him keep the feast with thankfulness. If any came at the third hour, let him keep the feast with thankfulness. If any arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings for he shall not be deprived. If any delayed to the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have waited until the eleventh hour, let him not be alarmed at his tardiness. For the Lord will accept the last even as the first. Therefore, all of you, enter into the joy of your Lord. Rich and poor together, hold the high festival. Diligent and heedless, honor this day. Both you who have fasted, and you who did not fast, rejoice together today. The table is full; all of you, feast sumptuously.”
I needed to read that on Sunday, because I confess that I despite my love for God and my assurance that He loved me from the cross to the grave and back, I often feel unworthy of that grace. Don’t we all sometimes? I shake my head and wonder why God would care so much for me. I fail to live up to His expectations daily. I grumble. I doubt. I get angry with my neighbors. I sin against them in thought, word, and deed. Yet, what St. Chrysostom wrote is absolutely true. Jesus went to the cross for the worker who has labored from the beginning and the worker who makes a deathbed confession. He died for the Christian who made and diligently lived according to his Lenten promises as well for those of us who just could not find the strength or energy to give anymore of ourselves at this moment.
Paul reminds us that we are saved by grace and not by anything we have done. As Christians, we are meant to live faithfully daily, but as fallen and imperfect human beings we all have our moments. The promise of the Resurrection is for the lifelong Christians and for the last minute believer, for the person who is a saint and the one who stumbles and falls. Jesus did this for us when we are at our best, but more so for when we are at our worst. We all deserve the wrath Jesus received on the cross, but God does not strike out at us. He loves us. He doesn’t see every fault or every sin. He doesn’t record the work we do or count our failings. He sees us through mercy and grace and kindness. God treats us with love. He does good things for us. He fills our hearts with peace and joy and our lives with good gifts. He gives us Easter even when we forget how to walk through Lent. He doesn’t do this because we deserve these good things; He does it because He loves us. He never stops seeing us as the beautiful child He created in our mother’s wombs, and He continues to act with kindness even when we do not deserve it.
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