Today we move on to look at the word two has found in the bible.
The English word “two" can convey opposite meanings of union on the one hand and division on the other. In 1 Corinthians 12 such a union of 2 is expressed as that which holds Christ and his church in a relationship of love and hope. Essentially, Love is the expansion of two natures in such fashion that each include the other, each is enriched by the other. Perhaps this is most keenly seen in the prayer Jesus prayed when he said “I and the Father are One” and it is that Oneness he comes to share and that sharing is Grace.
Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.
A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?
A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do.
The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever sep
arate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.”
There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.
Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.
Jesus, also prayer “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” John 17:21
God of all creation,
in Christ we are reconciled,
and so we ask for your uniting Spirit
to help us to overcome all our divisions
that we may live in peace. Amen
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