Dear Morehead Family,
This past week beloved theologian and writer, Frederick Buechner, died at the age of 93. He wrote beautifully about Jesus and the spiritual journey. I thought this week that I would offer to you all a snippet of his words. Below is one of my favorite short reflections of Buechner’s on the concept of Grace. As we ramp up into the school year, Fall programming, and all the busyness that comes with the end of summer, I hope these words encourage you to rest in the grace of God.
I look forward to preaching on Jesus’ first sermon in Luke 4:16-30. The youth studied this text on their beach trip and one of them exclaimed, “Well this is bizarre!” They’re not wrong! Join us this Sunday as we pray over students and teachers and hear a little bit about the youth beach trip!
Grace,
Pastor Nikki Raye
A reflection by Frederick Buechner, originally published in “Wishful Thinking”and later in “Beyond Words.”
After centuries of handling and mishandling, most religious words have become so shopworn nobody's much interested anymore. Not so with grace, for some reason. Mysteriously, even derivatives like gracious and graceful still have some of the bloom left.
Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.
A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?
A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do.
The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you."
There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.
Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.