Loading...Sermon December 25, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Christmas Day
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When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy…. Titus 3:4-5
Please be seated
In the past year a friend of mine was part of a group that started a Facebook group, called Susquehanna Gift Circle. The founders of the group wanted it to be a place where people could post things they want to give away, hopefully finding someone who needs it. Or for people to ask for what they need or are looking for.
It doesn’t always work out that people find someone who needs what they have or that someone gets what they’ve asked for, yet in so many cases people do meet up, getting what they need or able to give away something they no longer need.
This is all done with no questions asked. Recently some who joined the group found that difficult. They decided to judge whether someone really did need to the help or not. The founders of the group needed to put a stop to that. The group was set up to freely give and receive no questions asked. No one is compelled to give to someone else.
This type of free giving is so hard to imagine and to be part of, isn’t it? Before we give away things, we want to judge whether the person is worthy or not. This group isn’t for everyone.
Yet, when we hear this reading from Titus this morning, we realize that the God we worship freely gave. And we know we were and are not always worthy of that gift.
We do tend to make a mess of things sometimes, don’t we? Wars and hatred and selfishness and greed and self-centeredness seem more prevalent than love for each other. Judging others is wired into us. God came in Jesus Christ to save us.
Jesus came to save us…to show us the way of love…to show us how to build a better world.
We are free to destroy ourselves, whether it’s exploiting natural resources or exploiting each other.
Yet, God freely gives salvation through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. God came to earth to model deep love, even when we did nothing to deserve it.
Hallelujah!
