Grace Makes Us Worthy
(Read 2 Corinthians 12)
With the weeks leading up to Christmas, we’re going to devote time to look forward towards the birth of Christ and more importantly, what that means in this world. Some look at our Lord as an angry, wrathful God where we must earn His acceptance. One to be feared out of fright and avoidance, rather than a God to be feared out of awe and significance. This erroneous understanding played out in a friend’s life until he discovered the gift of God’s Grace.
Until recently, my friend (M) had never thought he was worthy of God’s love. “It was partly from my childhood and the home I grew up in,” (M) explained. “Some of this came from my parents.” He didn’t elaborate as to the details, but I gained a sense that as a child, and even as an adult, he had feelings of spiritual inadequacy.
“I grew up in a home thoroughly familiar with religion,” he continued. “Both parents practiced in a mainline denomination. We sent our four children to Catholic School and I am still a practicing Catholic, because Faith was always a part of my life. A cradle Catholic is what people call it.” As a grown man, (M) became involved in church activities and regularly serve as a Lector at Mass. But then the aha moment surfaced in our talk. “I was ‘in it’ but I didn’t know the faith.”
Listening to this, I didn’t have to ask him to elaborate, I have been there and knew what he meant. Many religious people don’t get it. “I didn’t read the Bible regularly,” he added. “I never felt I was worthy of God’s grace.” It might have been feelings of guilt or coming up short on merit, but (M) was disconnected and, “just didn’t feel it.”
“Grace must reach out to the broken and undeserving. It must reach out to those recognizing plainly, vulnerably, their own need and emptiness. It can only find welcome in those sitting still.” David Brooks, The Second Mountain
During the Coronavirus pandemic, general stress and isolation from sheltering in place really hit him hard. “Adding to this, my wife went back to teach in the classroom.” (M) had a lot of quiet time to dwell in dark places. “I wasn’t doing well in business and after discovering evolving ethical problems, I had to buy my way out of a franchise.” (M) was going down a rabbit hole with self-destructive behaviors. “I was floundering at home,” he admitted.
“Almost simultaneously, at the time that alcohol became way too important in my life, I had a spiritual awakening. It was my job to make things better. I was the bread winner, I was the provider, I kept trying to fix things.” (M) explained that it was his ego fooling him into believing that everything was in his control. It was his ego not letting God in. He believed in Him, didn’t give myself fully to Him. Like the proud being in all of us, he didn’t ask God for help.
He confessed, “Grace gave me worthiness. This Grace from God, can’t be earned, it is received. It’s free and abundant for us.” I was scrambling to write his thoughts quickly enough to keep up with his energetic exclamations. Peace of God emitted through each of his statements. “All that’s necessary is that we’re willing to accept it.”
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
(M) cited this passage above on multiple occasions during our uplifting conversation. The Apostle Paul, the writer of 1st and 2nd Corinthians asked God to relieve him of his suffering. He made a reference to “a thorn in his flesh,” and we really don’t know what he meant. Some scholars suggest it have could have been a physical injury or persecution from demons or foes. For us, it doesn’t matter what Paul was specifically referring to. God’s goal is not to make us happy or fulfill our shopping list. From God’s perspective, life has never been about being comfortable, successful, or pain free. Life is about becoming the soul God called us to be.
When we admit we’re not strong enough or capable enough, we boast in God’s power, His strength rescues us, and He is honored.
I noticed a change in the tone of my friend’s voice during this part of the interview. He sounded calmer. “I began my day with prayer and daily reflection. Soon after, I started listening to Bishop Robert Barron.” Robert Emmet Barron is a well-known dignitary of the Catholic Church serving as bishop. He is the founder of the Word on Fire, a digital ministerial organization viewed by millions. His ministry’s focus is for the formation of a community of evangelizers who share the same passion to, “proclaim Christ to the culture using beauty, goodness, and truth.”
“When I accepted God into my life, was when I allowed God to change my life. I asked God to help because I wasn’t really capable of helping myself,” he added. We always feel that we’re able to handle our lives, control everything about our lives, but we’re not. A flower can’t control its life or its destiny any more than we can. Its life is in the hands of the one who planted it.
“I checked into a rehab facility. I have been sober ever since.”
“What makes you happy is love. Love is willing the good of the other, opening yourself to the world around you. Love is not a feeling. It is an act of the will. It is the great act of dispossession.” Bishop Barron
“Now, it’s my job to make good choices and as a Christian, respond to others with the same love that God showed me.” (M) is not an out of control person. I didn’t know him during his hard times, but the man I know sure seems to be what I would imagine what God had designed from the beginning. He is intelligent, thoughtful, patient, kind, and empathetic. He is wholeheartedly grateful for the grace God extended to him. God’s grace is the powerful answer to our weakness.
So how does my friend show the fruit of this grace God gave him? “By loving,” he replied. That he does. “You can’t love God if we don’t love the humanity He created.”
We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
1 John 4:18-20
“In book club, we learned about all kinds of great speakers and thinkers,” (M) said. “I learned about ego. My very own ego had been getting in the way (of everything).” He then quoted popular Self-Help expert, Ken Blanchard, “’EGO – means Edging God Out.’ Thanks to the Grace of God in Jesus Christ, I let go.”
My friend (M), said he now knows he is worthy. Not for being a perfect, husband, father, friend, provider, or because he’s changed his life. God may or may not be impressed, but my friend knows that he is only worthy because of the Cross. Jesus already paid the price.
“This gives me hope now. My life is about showing others the love that God blesses me with. To be of service to others, especially in leadership roles.” I first met (M) through a longtime client. He was brought in as an expert consultant in an advisory capacity. Essentially, he’s the closer. We casually discussed God in a conversation one day and I thought wow, I’d love to hear his story if he would be willing to share it. (M)’s role as a disciple of Christ is the perfect fit for his career path.
“I work with people to help them be better, do better, and lead better. It affects their personal and work lives. It helps them break that stereotypical cycle of insanity, repeating the same behavior and expecting different results.”
Is there anything you do differently at Christmas time, I asked?
“I don’t really do anything differently, but I’m especially intentional during Advent with my daily prayers, and reflections on Gospel readings.” We should be too!
In a few weeks, we’ll be observing the date we celebrate Jesus’ birth. What does the Christmas holiday mean to followers of Christ? It means different things to different believers. Without Jesus Christ, we are missing grace from God. Without Him, God’s love has an entirely different look. Everything in our lives point to a Savior who lived a life we couldn’t live, who died a death in our place. From what I see, everything in my friend’s life points to the qualities that Jesus wants from us. We are worthy.
‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Matthew 25:35-36
Key Applications:
- How are you prepared for changes in your life? Do you place all your hopes on temporary things? Do you rely entirely on other people for security, comfort, and happiness? Think about God’s love. It has no boundaries or limits. This week, see if you can use this wisdom to boldly be the person that God created. Show others that limitless love.
- What “thorns in flesh” do you have? Does this weakness have total power over your life? Read 2nd Corinthians 12. How do you think your weakness can enable you to be strengthened through Christ?
- In Jesus Christ, there is nothing that would make Him love us more and nothing we have done that makes Him love us less. How does that make you feel? Use it.
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.