Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
In the past year, I've finally gotten a chance to watch a show I've wanted to for a long time. Blackish.
There's an episode from last season where Dre, one of the main characters, is going through a crisis. His daughter Zoey has declared she's questioning her faith. And Dre starts wondering how this could have happened.
And his mother points out the reason to him. It's because Dre's prayers have mostly been focused on God as a genie. A gift giver and a wish granter. Because that's how we see God's favor, right? It's through the amount of stuff we have. That's why Dre's mom suffers from praying for things just like her son does.
So Dre changes the way he prays. He starts to have more of a conversation with God. He starts to develop a relationship. And he brings to God those things that concern him, like Zoey losing her faith.
And for those of you who are worried, Zoey's faith does start to come back. It's when her mom, Bow, has complications with her pregnancy and pulls through. And Zoey whispers, just loud enough that Dre hears it, "Thank God!"
At times it can be easy for many of us to fall into the trap of believing that God's favor is show through what we have. Through how rich we are. Through how happy we are with what we own.
But it's not in those times that we really see God. We find our real love and thanks for God in the support we are given, undeserved, in the times when we need it.
These are just some of the lessons we receive in our readings today. And what we hear first in Isaiah is who it is God truly favors.
Because, while we might think it is the rich and powerful, the ones whose names we recognize immediate from the news or television, it is not. We hear in Isaiah that the strong nations, the ruthless ones, that God favors. In fact, the point of God's chosen people of Israel is that they are not that. God favors them to be a refuge for the poor, needy, and downtrodden. (That's something we need to continue to encourage Israel to be today and something we are called to try and live up to as well.) Isaiah tells us the ruthlessness will be stilled. That the tears will be wiped away. That those who seemed poor and helpless are the ones God actually favors. That they, not the rich, not those that have things, will be the ones He holds up and protects.
In Psalm 23, we see that God looks out for those who need it. "Ye, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
We see God's favor for the need even further in the Gospel with the Parable of the Wedding Feast. There, we have the wedding feast which the members of the kingdom are invited to. These are the chef priests, the scribes, and leaders of the Pharisees. They are the ones in power.
But because things are going well for them, the leaders choose not to make it to the wedding feast. They stand their Lord up. They snub Him.
So God replaces them with those who will appreciate the offer. And so they go out, into the streets, to gather anyone they can find, both good and bad we are told. These are those without poor. The "commoners". The people who normally aren't invited to this sort of thing. The ones who will be grateful.
God's tendency is to help the poor and helpless. To be present with the lovely and despondent in their troubles. Because these are the people who actually need His help. Often they are ones who really want His help.
These are also the ones who are grateful. Because like the wedding guests, these are the ones often overlooked. These are the ones who aren't invited to the big party. These are the ones being given the greater opportunity.
Such it is with the gift of grace. It is often those who have less who are more grateful, who realize that God is more than just a wish giver, and who know they are being given something more than they could ask or deserve.
This is how we are called to be. We are called not to be like the Ruthless nations, the favored ones, the rich and powerful, or the wedding guests who snubbed their Lord. We are called to recognize the Grace God gives us for what it is. Given freely without merit.
We're called to realize that we need Grace. Because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
And we're called to be thankful. Because we have received a great gift through our Lord Jesus Christ. The gift of being brought back in relationship to God through no work of our own, but through the death and sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross. A gift greater than anything we could ask for or deserve.
Remember who it is that God is looking for. He's not looking for the rich and powerful to give His favor to. He's looking for the poor and lowly in heart. He's looking for the humble and needy in spirit. He's looking for the one who will see His gift of grace, given freely for all, for what it is. A gift that is great and undeserved. And we are called upon to be thankful for a gift greater than anything imaginable.