Study 1 Sought in the Way of Love

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Godwin Sparks
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1 Study 1 Sought in the Way of Love Welcome and Prayer This study will focus on the nature of life as gift gifts we receive that we do not earn and perhaps do not expect. Pray together: Loving God, Before our lives began, before communities were shaped or nations formed, you were about your work of creation. You are perfect love. You are perfect goodness. You hold all things together in grace. Guide us now as we attend to your Word and seek the wisdom of your Spirit. In the name of Christ. Amen. Life is full of surprises. Some of them we expect. We generally expect we will get presents at Christmas or birthdays. There are often people in our lives who do nice things for us and when they do, we might say something like, Isn t that just like Helen. Other surprises come as a natural part of life, but, until we experience them or reflect on them, they surprise us because they are new to us. Such a surprise might be an experience travelling overseas and discovering the richness of another s culture and discovering some value in one s own. It was there all along, a given, but a new discovery deepens our appreciation. 7

2 Invite group members to share surprises they have experienced that brought them joy. One of the great apologists of the twentieth century was the brilliant British writer CS Lewis. Lewis was attending a conference on comparative religions. A debate broke out on whether there is anything unique about the Christian faith. Was it incarnation? No, others had such stories. Resurrection no it wasn t confined just to the Christian story. As it got more heated, Lewis entered the room. The others explained to him what was going on. Lewis thought for a moment ad replied, Oh, that s easy. It is grace. The others finally agreed. While Judaism has the law, and Islam requires obedience to the Prophet and the Quran, and Buddhism has its eight fold path, Lewis believed that only Christianity was audacious enough to suppose that in Jesus, God has modelled a faith that requires nothing other than to accept that God loves us no matter what we might do. Grace is a gift. For Christian people it is the foundation of faith. Often described as the unmerited gift of unconditional love given by God, it carries a rich array of meanings, such as divine favour, kindness or gratitude. All we can do is accept, respond and enjoy. not just humans, but all creatures live by participating in the life of God, by partaking of the Spirit and breathing (God s) breath It is talking about a finite world that is infinitely holy, a world of time and space that is filled with life that is eternal. Wendell Berry 8

3 What do you think of when you hear the word grace? How would you define it? In this particular study, we are interested in a particular kind of grace, sometimes called prevenient grace. The word prevenient comes from the Latin word venio, to come. Prevenient grace is a grace that comes before. It is grace that is there even though we do not know it, working behind the scenes, preparing the way, calling us on. John was a typical teenager. He loved sport, was a fine footballer and athlete. Like many of his age, he could sometimes get a bit lost. He experimented with alcohol and the odd joint, and often ran a bit close to the edge when it came to the law. John had grown up in a Christian family, attended church begrudgingly with his mother, and sporadically went to youth group. At seventeen, he attended a youth camp, and something happened to him. He felt compelled to respond to Jesus. It was a very strange thing. A simple invitation from the youth leader stirred something in him. Some years later, his new girlfriend asked him how he came to that decision. He was dumbfounded. He didn t really know. There had been the kindness of his grandfather and mother, both strong believers. He remembered his coach who treated the boys fairly and with humour who also took religious education at school and whom he really liked and respected. There were those times when he was sailing close to the wind and something inside nagged at him. I guess it all kind of added up to something and I just knew that it was God. 9

4 This is something of what prevenient grace can look like. Things happen in life that are the work of God and we don t even know they are happening. Invite the group to share two or three experiences where they have looked back and discovered how other people and circumstances had led to a fresh insight or life changing discovery. Read Psalm 139:1-16 together. In what ways does this inform your thinking about prevenient grace? Are there ideas here that cause concern? What ideas give comfort? This is a Psalm ascribed to King David. What do you know about his life that might have given rise to it? notes 10

5 Psalm 139 is a poem or hymn. As such, we need to be careful not to read it in a literal sense as some people use this and other texts to imply that God has a will for each of us that is predetermined and must be obeyed. God also gives free will that grants choices. Psalm 139 does, however, point us to the idea that God is intimately acquainted with every aspect of our unique being and cares about us deeply. In fact, it suggests that every human being is encompassed in divine love and goodness. Psalm 139 suggests that there is grace that is given in life that is there even before we have any consciousness of it. Remove grace, and you have nothing whereby to be saved. Remove free will and you have nothing that could be saved. Anselm of Canterbury While some might find this contentious, that God somehow sets life up in definitive ways, it is worth noting that this is the case in many aspects of life. We do not ask to be born. We do not choose our parents or the country in which we are born. We do not choose many aspects of our looks. It is all given. This is also true in our relationship with God. Just as a person is not always aware of the atmosphere in which we live, neither are we always aware that we are fully encompassed by grace all of us. It is a precondition of the life we live. Grace is everywhere and there for every single one of us. Invite half of the group to read John 1:43-51 and half of the 11

6 notes group to read Matthew 14: How does each reading inform our thinking about prevenient grace? In the four gospels, there are many examples of Jesus acting out of grace. The story of Zacchaeus shows Jesus acting out of inclusive community. Did Zacchaeus deserve it? There are healing stories like the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-27) or the story of Jairus daughter (Luke 8: 40-56) that are challenging to modern ears but underscore the gracious way Jesus dealt with others. The point is that in the person and work of Christ we see the unconditional, undeserved love of God embodied and applied. 12 It may be that this is the greatest gift of all: that throughout the universe God is at work laying down a precondition of grace a grace we can experience, know and rely on. This idea can completely transform our whole attitude to our life. We can rely on the provision of God to meet every human need. We can find community that is kind and supportive because Christ is in the midst where two or three gather. There are no experiences that God is not a part of, whether we know it or not. In the end, we can trust this life because it is given to us by God. Even in the most traumatic experiences, when we want to rail against God out of our pain, grace will apply as a precondition of life.

7 Invite the group to share situations where they have found this to be true. Do you think this can apply to the poorest of the poor, or people going through very difficult times? How does it challenge the way we look at life? Invite the group to share situations they know of where this view of life would be helpful. Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God: for without him we can do nothing. Augustine of Hippo Close We have considered the nature of life, its given nature, and the way grace can be seen as a foundation for trust and confidence no matter what. God s grace is present before we know it. It is at work in every situation. It is a condition of life. During the week ahead, take note of situations where you see grace applying as an unexpected surprise. 13

8 Pray together: Loving and merciful God, Thank you for the many ways you enter our lives, even when we do not know it. Help us to abide in grace. Help us to trust. Help us to be your means of grace to others. Amen. 14

June 5, 2016 Good Question! Jonah 4:5-11

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