One Grace, One Team

A big shout-out to those who joined me for my "weekly office hour" today at noon. Even though it was hot, it's always good to be with CofCLCers!

The picture at left is the Womens National Team playing in the World Cup as I write this. Their motto is "One Nation, One Team." Despite being among the best in the world, the players are careful to root their individual contributions in the good of the team.

President Obama called us to do the same when he preached the eulogy for Clem Pinckney, Pastor of Mother Immanuel Church in Charleston. Whatever your assessment of his presidency, he was spot on.

Grace is not earned, or merited. It's not something we deserve. Rather, grace is the free and benevolent favor of God as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings...Out of the killing in South Carolina, God has visited grace upon us, for God has allowed us to see where we've been blind. God has given us the chance, where we've been lost, to find our best selves. We may not have earned it, this grace, with our rancor and complacency, and short-sightedness and fear of each other -- but we got it all the same. God has once more given us grace. But it is up to us now to make the most of it, to receive it with gratitude, and prove ourselves worthy of this gift." 

Toward the end of the eulogy, Obama lifted up the forgiveness the families of the victims extended to the alleged shooter:

It would be a refutation of this forgiveness if we merely slipped into old habits, whereby those who disagree with us are not merely wrong but bad; where we shout instead of listen; where we barricade ourselves behind preconceived notions or well-practiced cynicism."

Grace isn’t for us alone. We don't earn it. Grace connects us with each other, calling us beyond who we’ve been, calling us to contribute to the strength of the team, God’s team. As we earn our miles by walking, praying, and/or acts of service, let's open our hearts to each other. Because the more we can keep our hearts open, the more God’s Grace can enter and use us. May our motto in these coming days be One Grace, One Team.