Dear Friends,

This Sunday, all three of our assigned scripture readings have to do with God’s call on the lives of the most unlikely people.  The prophet Isaiah, “a man of unclean lips.”  Paul, a persecutor of Christians.  Peter, a simple fisherman. 

What strikes me the most about all three of these call stories is that in each case, the unlikely person being called is not being asked to be anything else or be like anyone else other than who they already are.  All they are asked is to say “yes” and trust that they will be given what they need in order to do what they are to do for the purposes God has intended.

As Paul puts it in his letter to the Corinthians, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.”

As I’ve thought about these words of Paul in light of the call that God has placed on my own life, I’ve wondered, what is it about these words that gives me such a sense of relief? Is it that I’m not the only one in charge of the ‘me’ I carry around every day?” (The good parts and the not so good?) And then, what about all this grace I have been given to be the person I am …can I just trust that it hasn’t been useless, wasted, or ignored…“in vain”?  How about you?

By the grace of God I am what I am. What gifts or graces have brought you and me to this day? Made us who we are? Was it a wise or loving parent? A teacher who saw the best in us? Maybe it was a passion or a talent that beckoned to us and taught us not only what it means to find joy in the creative process but also the hard lessons of self-discipline, endurance, and resiliency. Perhaps it was a failure, or a bump in the road or a difficult relationship, something that made us realize that we can live through almost anything, and not only that, come out a wiser, stronger, and more faithful person in the end.

But to what end? And this is where the second part of the verse from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians enters the picture, at least for me.

And his grace toward me has not been in vain. How is it that the grace I have been given has “not been in vain?” Perhaps this means that what I have been given has not been without purpose, without cause, without bearing some kind of fruit – not only in my small story but in the big story. Maybe it means that our God-given graces overflow in ways we could never have imagined and rarely perceive – not only into the lives that are closely linked with ours but in the lives of people we only have encountered once or twice. Can we even fathom how many kind words, helping hands, listening ears, open hearts, or understanding glances have made a real difference in someone’s life?

By the grace of God we are who we are, and God’s grace toward us has not been in vain. 

 Let it be so,

 Amelie+