Grace is one of those big words in life! Like faith and love and hope. Instinctively we feel that grace carries with it a sense of goodness, generosity of spirit, compassion, and hopefulness. When we talk about someone who possesses grace, we are thinking about a person who contributes pleasure, even beauty, to a place just by being there. When we are in the presence of a person of grace, we feel thankful and grateful to be with them. We do not feel judgement from a gracious person – or ill will or any desire to control us. Instead, we feel a sense of acceptance and goodwill and a desire for nothing but our best.
In the Scripture we heard this morning, we meet someone who is all grace! Jesus Christ was and is filled with such rhythms of grace that the “common people” of his day – the ordinary people – flocked to be near him and listen to him. But those who were arrogant enough to believe they knew-it-all had trouble with him. Those who wanted to control or “lord it over” others had real trouble with him.
But Jesus has an intriguing way about him – a way filled with grace. Jesus takes the compassionate, loving ways of his Father and spells them out clearly to ordinary folk around him. Listen to Matthew 11:25-30 again but, this time, from The Message Bible (Eugene H. Peterson). Listen for the rhythms of life and of grace. And listen for the relationship between Jesus and his Father: Jesus broke into prayer: “Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.”
This is a brief prayer of thankfulness by Jesus. He reminds us that God works his ways in the lives of ordinary people – ordinary people who are open, in their hearts and minds, to God’s ways. God does not force God’s ways on those who think they have everything figured out or have it all together, who are arrogant and those who think they do not need God.
In the preceding verses before this prayer of thanksgiving, Jesus was straightforward, even tough with his words against the religious leaders who felt they had God all figured out. So they did not take Jesus seriously. They thought they knew better what God wanted for everyone—better than the ordinary people who did listen to Jesus! These leaders seemed arrogant and were not very caring toward people who really needed compassion and hope, not more heaviness in their lives. And Jesus was well aware of all this.
It was then that Jesus said: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Now listen to how The Message Bible puts Jesus words:
Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.
Jesus then looked at the ordinary people surrounding him, whose hearts were open to God. And he extended to them this invitation:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Does this description of living seem like a different universe to you? Writer Anne Lamott thinks so. She wrote: “Grace means you're in a different universe from where you had been stuck, when you had absolutely no way to get there on your own.”
In this different universe, we are there because of grace – God’s grace. We are keenly aware we do not get there on our own steam or energy. This is a God-graced universe filled with life-giving rhythms of rest and recovery, life-giving rhythms of renewed spiritual energy and hope, life-giving rhythms of joy and compassion, life-giving rhythms of mercy and forgiveness, life-giving rhythms of healing, even life-giving rhythms of unexpected serendipities or surprises of love. In this different universe of grace that Jesus talked about, we can recover from everyone else's expectations of how we ought to live. We learn instead that the most important rhythm of grace is really about us intentionally keeping company with Jesus Christ. And Jesus, who lives with God so intimately, helps us learn through his Holy Spirit how to truly live God’s way – with love, joy, compassion, forgiveness and mercy. We learn the rhythms of grace that are imbedded not merely in Jesus’ teachings but also in his very person when we welcome him intentionally into our lives.
Many are aware of the two great commandments that Jesus taught. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is the first one. The second is “Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” Now, maybe we can act with compassionate caring toward our next door neighbour. But what happens when Jesus tells us to love a neighbour who is really an enemy, who is out to get us in some destructive way, to persecute us?
I suspect there are few if any of us who do not have someone in our lives who has treated us badly. Sometimes, it may be a work supervisor who doesn't like us for some reason. As a result we are let go from a position we have held for years. Sometimes, it may be a teacher who is out to make sure our marks for his course are kept low. He doesn't care for our ethnicity although this might be very difficult to prove.
Writer Philip Yancey has an extraordinary challenge in his latest book Vanishing Grace. Yancey wrote:
In a command found in no other religion, Jesus bids us show love not only to strangers and sinners but also to our outright adversaries. “Love your enemies,” he said in the Sermon on the Mount, and “pray for those who persecute you.” Once while speaking to my church [Yancey said] I quoted those words of Jesus and flashed onscreen a photo of a dozen al-Qaeda terrorists. I asked, “What would happen if every church in the United States adopted a member of al-Qaeda, learned to pronounce his name, and prayed for him?
We need to be praying for people worldwide who are experiencing persecution, oppression and terrorism. While we pray and work for Justice for them and knowing God will face cruel oppressors with justice at some point, what would happen if every church in Canada also adopted a member of groups like al-Qaeda or ISIL and prayed for him or her? That is living in the universe of grace, God’s grace. It is a rhythm of prayer that desires the best for the enemy and not the worst. This rhythm of prayer also desires the best for the work supervisor and teacher as well. And we just don't know the good that may result.
In this universe of grace, where we keep company with Jesus, we learn to put aside arrogance and learn to live humbly. The late Henri Nouwen spent his life learning to keep company with Jesus Christ. On a mission trip to South America, Nouwen said he learned something of humility. He went expecting to pass on his wisdom to those who were materially poor and unenlightened, or so he thought. Nouwen’s desire was to save others, whether from sin or poverty or exploitation but he came to a fundamental revelation that his ministry was to serve others. “Humility is the real Christian virtue,” says Nouwen. “When we come to realize that . . . only God saves, then we are free to serve, then we can live truly humble lives.”
It is a strange place indeed, this universe of grace – this universe where God lives. It is where Jesus says: “Come to me. Walk with me, work with me, and watch how I live. Keep company with me. I will not force you into anything heavy. There will be nothing ill-fitting in any of the rhythms we will go through together.”
In this universe of grace, Jesus says the most important rhythm of grace is to love God with all your heart and mind and will and soul and body and strength. It is as if this particular rhythm is the very foundation, the bedrock, of every other rhythm of grace. I wonder if this rhythm of loving God with the totality of who we are – with our whole being -- is perhaps a mere beat of the heart away.
According to an old Jewish story – a once upon a time kind of story – there was a four-year-old boy named Mortakai. Like many others, Mortakai’s parents believed it was never too early to begin educating their children. So when children begin to speak, some parents begin to teach verses of the Torah to them, even if they do not understand its meaning at first. But, Mortakai refused. Whenever his parents tried to immerse his mind in the Torah [or the Word of God], he would sneak away and play on the swing set. Every form of persuasion to change his behaviour failed. Mortakai remained stubborn and defiant. The exasperated parents even took him to a famous psychiatrist but that also proved futile. Nothing seemed to work to change the young boy's heart.
Finally, Mortakai's parents took him to the local rabbi, a warm and wise spiritual guide. As the parents explained their plight, pouring out their frustration and despair, the rabbi listened intently. Without saying a word, he gently picked up Mortakai, took him in his arms and held him close to his chest. The rabbi held Mortakai close enough and tight enough so the young boy could feel the safe, rhythmic beating of the rabbi's heart. Then, still without a word, he gently handed the child back to his parents. From that point on, Mortakai listened to his parents and studied the Torah. And, when it was appropriate, he also slipped away to play on the swing set.
I have this sense that to keep company with Jesus is to feel God’s rhythmic compassionate heart beating next to ours!
In this universe of God’s grace, we learn that the rhythms of grace are not forced on us. We will hear instead, God’s tone of love, a most compelling warm beat of God’s healing tenderness and mercy for us. In God’s universe of grace, we will discover that walking with Jesus Christ brings forgiveness and healing for our sins, our deep hurts, our sufferings, even our addictions. Keeping company with Jesus will help us learn of mercy, of forgiveness, of a compassion that enfolds us in the love of God. You see, God is love. We will learn to live in that love as we listen to God as Jesus did and as we watch Jesus’ way of being with his Father.
In this different universe of grace, we discover the unforced yet compelling rhythm of following God because we want to follow God. We learn that God’s desire is for our very best. Christian Professor Len Sweet tells the story about Monty Roberts, the "horse whisperer."
Monty Roberts was raised in the horse business. He learned there was supposedly only one way to train horses: by "breaking" them. Through domination and force, which at times included striking the horse with whips or even tying and suspending the horse's feet and legs, a trainer would impose his will upon the animal until it reached the conclusion that total submission was the only way to survive.
In his early teen years, Roberts began to study the behaviour and communication patterns of wild mustangs in the badlands of Nevada. He took note of the nonverbal communication among the horses. As he worked with the horses and continued to observe their inherent methods of communicating, Roberts wondered if there was a different way of training. Eventually, he developed a breakthrough training technique he first called "hooking on" as opposed to "breaking down" the horse's will. This new training method was based on a concept he trademarked and called JoinUp®. Join-Up not only stopped the "breaking" norms of traditional horse training, but it also showcased how to cooperate with the horse's own spirit, innate ways, and means of communicating as a member of the herd.
The personality and full potential of a horse emerges through loving freedom and desire rather than domination. The Join-Up technique invites an untamed horse that has never been ridden to willingly accept the saddle, bridle and rider. It is a thing of beauty to watch. It really is! Monty Roberts enters a round pen with a wild horse. In as little as half an hour, he'll be riding the horse. Roberts creates an atmosphere of mutual respect that communicates, "I'm not going to hurt you, and you don't have to follow me if you don't want to." After a brief period of introducing himself and interacting with the horse, Roberts turns his back to the animal and walks away. At this point the horse trains her eyes on Monty with all-out intensity and attention. She is asking herself, "Where is he going?" and "Do I want to stay by myself?" The horse must choose: "I want to be with you. I want to join up and follow you on the way." She quickly decides, "My safe place is with you." Dropping her head (horse language for "I submit to you") and trotting to Roberts's side, the horse is saying, "I choose to follow. I want to be with you."
Friends, do you get this picture? Do you sense God’s grace is the safest of places to be? The rhythms of God’s grace are not imposed or forced upon our wills or hearts. In God’s universe of grace, our fullest potential as human beings will emerge through loving freedom and desire rather than domination. Because, we learn to keep company with Jesus Christ, God’s most personal and intimate communication with us. We learn the rhythms of loving God with our whole being – our mind and heart and will and soul and strength. We learn the rhythms of loving our neighbours -- and even our adversaries. We learn to live humbly. In God’s universe of grace, we will learn of mercy, of healing for our minds, hearts, souls and bodies, and of a gracious compassionate forgiveness for our shame and guilt. When we intentionally keep company with Jesus, we will hear God’s rhythmic heartbeat of love for us. And just maybe, just maybe, we will want to keep company with this gracious God.
Friends, Jesus Christ invites you and he invites me to come and learn the unforced rhythms of God’s grace. May this be so for you and for me. Amen.