Author: Lowell Grisham

I’ve watched a potter spinning clay, carefully shaping a design that I don’t yet see. I’ve seen when things go awry.

Confession is not a medicine leading to recovery. If we could recover – if we could say that beginning tomorrow or the week after next we would be well again – why then, all we would need to do would be apologize, not confess.

I’ve never quiet understood some of Paul’s argument in this passage from Romans. He seems to imply that the law is a little bit like someone saying, “Don’t think of a hippopotamus.” By putting a name to sin, the law raises the sin to our consciousness.

Sometimes churches are very conflict averse. We seem to think that being Christian equals being nice. Not so, say Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus.

When you know yourself to be securely grounded in God, there is an essential sense of safety that can liberate us from the fear and anxiety that accompanies so many troubles. It is a state much to be desired. It is a gift that takes faith to receive.

Paul is an icon of that security.

For those who knew the Messiah could not come from Galilee, who were certain because the Bible told them, their ears would not allow them to hear these words that brought springs of living water to others.

What is primary is the sheer gift of God’s infinite acceptance, grace and love. From that should flow freely spontaneous acts of compassion toward the weak as well as living institutions and rituals to celebrate and explore the blessedness of God’s prevenient and ever-present love. We are loved, so we can love.

We have no privilege because of our religion. We are not better because of our belief. There is goodness and godliness present in the non-religious and other-faithed person. God comes to us in the unexpected one. Our theological presumptions, even when founded on the scripture, can be wrong or shortsighted. We all need God’s compassionate mercy. We’re all in the same boat, believer and non-believer alike.

The failures that the prophets like Jeremiah and the apostle Paul articulate have two dimensions. There is the dimension of personal faithfulness and holiness-of-life which is the goal of each believer. There is also the dimension of social justice and compassion which is the goal of corporate life. In both dimensions they commend special attention and care on behalf of the poor and vulnerable. The Biblical writers also note with approval of acts of justice and compassion by those who are outside the circle of faith.

We’re not told of his inner geography, but only of the direction of his feet. He hears Jesus’ word of hope — “Go; your son will live.” And he turns his feet in the direction of active trust.