Copy
Logo

Living Word

From the Delaware Maryland Synod Reads together initiative­

Today's reflection is by Ron Fairchild, our Synod's Discipleship Team leader and a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Westminster, MD.

There is an image contained in our text from Romans 11:2-10 that I find to be an extremely comforting bit of theology. The author writes in verses 5-6, “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”

The nature of God and the quality of grace is that there is always a remnant. We can know that with confidence. There is a scrap of hope, a leftover that nobody thinks is necessary, or a seemingly insignificant or inconsequential element everywhere in creation for all time. The text gives us the assurance that no matter what happens, God’s grace shows up as a remnant – a seed of eternal love and grace in the most desperate, rejection-filled, and hopeless situations.

And the beauty of that remnant that God preserves is that it is there regardless of our own actions, works, or worthiness. As the writer says, otherwise, grace would no longer be called grace. The preserving and saving from God always comes before and persists through any human experience with resistance, suffering, and death.

I see at least two challenges with this. First, I wonder if we sometimes miss or otherwise neglect the remnant. It’s often hard for me to see, hear, and understand how God is working within the midst of something overwhelmingly awful. Second, I wonder if we also tend to make grace into something that is no longer grace. When things aren’t going well, it’s often tempting to fall into the trap of self-improvement or into what William Faulkner called the “frantic steeplechase toward nothing.”

Where do you see the remnant of God’s persisting love and grace? How have you trained your hearts and minds to look for it – and recognize it as grace that is really grace?

What do you think?

7834 Eastern Avenue Baltimore, Md 21224

Support Our Ministry
Logo






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Colgate Community Ministry · 7834 Eastern Ave · Baltimore, MD 21224-2115 · USA

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp