The title for today's message came to me in a dream one night last week, and even though I was sure when I woke up that it was meant to be the topic for today, I had no idea what it meant. Those of you who are teachers are likely familiar with the concept and usefulness of a rubric, but the phrase left me mostly confused and cold. I didn't see how it applied to life, much less to a concept as nebulous and free-flowing as grace. And yet, as they say, I persisted. And trusted Spirit's inspiration. And I thought, maybe it would be a bit of a fun challenge.
So in my learning this week, I researched rubrics—what makes a good one, how they can be used, what we're trying to measure along the way. In case you don't know, a rubric is a kind of assessment tool, typically arranged as a table, that helps teachers assess where students are in their learning about a particular subject. The rubric can also be helpful for students because it helps them know what they are expected to learn, see where they're headed, and gauge their progress along the way.
In fact, that piece of it—gauging our progress—is what I think is the most helpful aspect of a rubric, because it helps us see where we are in our growing process. For our purpose here today, the growing process we're talking about is how well we're doing living with grace. Part of spirit's ongoing work in our daily lives is in helping us discern where we're making progress and where we still have work to do. That knowledge can be both an encouragement and a challenge, but ultimately seeing the truth of our condition is for our good, deepening our spiritual lives and helping us bring more light to the world.
In our Old Testament reading today, the psalmist enthusiastically praises God for the grace of God's continuing, ever-faithful presence in all the circumstances of his life, good and bad:
With all my heart
I will praise the LORD,
and with all that I am
I praise his holy name!
With all my heart
I praise the LORD!
I will never forget
how kind he has been.
The LORD forgives our sins,
heals us when we are sick,
and protects us from death.
His kindness and love
are a crown on our heads.
Each day that we live
he provides for our needs
and gives us the strength
of a young eagle.
For all who are mistreated,
the LORD brings justice.
He taught his Law to Moses
and showed all Israel
what he could do.
The LORD is merciful!
He is kind and patient,
and his love never fails.
We get a picture of this living, loving system surrounding and upholding us that balances the needs of all life and supports flourishing on a grand scale without interruption. God forgives us when we miss the mark; God brings us back to health when we are sick, safeguarding our lives. God's kindness and care provides for our needs "each day that we live" and brings strength for the weak and justice for those who've been mistreated. Whatever seems to be wrong, God's infinite grace makes right. It is a system we can trust, always working within, around, and among us, available equally to all open and receptive hearts.
Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians picks up on that same idea of God's answering grace, fulfilling and completing every need. If we need wisdom, God supplies it. If we need patience, Spirit helps us learn to wait. Completion in God is a theme here, and it's an important one, because it is not our own doing—our own goodness, our own honesty, our own love, our own forgiveness—that makes things work in this world but because of the ever-present graciousness of an always-loving, always present God. We live and move and have our being in the midst of a system that works, gently, harmoniously, and faithfully, if we have the eyes and heart to see it.
In this second letter Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, his leadership is beginning to show signs of weariness and frustration. His relationship with this young church has had some unique stressors—there are strong personalities involved (of which Paul is one); there are many outside influences due to the surrounding Greco-Roman culture; there is a young church in early stages of learning how to live a completely new, inwardly driven faith. Interestingly, in this letter Paul is more revealing about his own struggles and shortcomings, perhaps in an effort to make his own life an example, demonstrating that God's grace is truly sufficient for each of our journeys through life.
Just prior to the passage we heard this morning, Paul tells a story about a man who was taken to the "third heaven" (a curious phrase and perhaps connected to George Fox's description of being taken up into "the paradise of God"). Scholars agree that Paul is speaking about himself here, saying that he has tasted that pure, revealed sense of God's presence—he might be referring to his experience of Christ on the road to Damascus—which makes his comments about his struggles and realities even more powerful. See? I have been up to the mountaintop, Paul tells them. And yet I am a fool, with prejudices and blind spots and a thorn in the flesh that never leaves me. Paul writes,
"Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away. But he replied, "My gift of undeserved grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak." So if Christ keep giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am. Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong."
We may at first wonder how to make sense of this. Is Paul celebrating his suffering here? Is he glad he is hurting, thankful he puts his foot in his mouth, appreciating all the times he does something wrong? I think the answer here is both yes and no. Yes, because Paul is glad to do whatever he can do, even if it is imperfect and uneven, because his incomplete efforts point to the One who surely completes all things. The answer is also no because Paul realizes his singular struggles aren't the end of the story. There is more going on here. Paul knows that where he falls short, Christ picks up the effort, bridging the gap between our limited understanding and God's unending wisdom and love. With that connection made, grace flows. When we begin to glimpse that, we become part of God's ocean of light by extending that grace to others.
I think here of something Brother Lawrence, the monk who was the subject of the famous contemplative book, The Practice of the Presence of God, said about how he would react when he failed at something he'd been assigned to do:
That he expected after the pleasant days GOD had given him, he should have his turn of pain and suffering; but that he was not uneasy about it, knowing very well, that as he could do nothing of himself, GOD would not fail to give him the strength to bear it.
That when an occasion of practicing some virtue offered, he addressed himself to GOD, saying, LORD, I cannot do this unless Thou enablest me: and that then he received strength more than sufficient.
That when he had failed in his duty, he only confessed his fault, saying to GOD, I shall never do otherwise, if You leave me to myself; it is You who must hinder my falling, and mend what is amiss. That after this, he gave himself no further uneasiness about it.
That we ought to act with GOD in the greatest simplicity, speaking to Him frankly and plainly, and imploring His assistance in our affairs, just as they happen. That GOD never failed to grant it, as he had often experienced.
Brother Lawrence had such a strong sense of the grace of God that surrounded him that he knew his efforts were never separated, isolated, weak. Everything he did he did in accord with grace. Every question had an answer; every need of the day, fully met.
Paul is also echoing what the psalmist said about God's justice responding to those who are mistreated, and God's kindness providing for our needs: For every call, there is a response. Every problem has a solution. For every attempt toward goodness—a little forgiveness, some small openness, a letting go of judgment, an effort at telling the truth—we have an endless amount of help and support. None of our efforts at goodness, however small, rise or fall on their own merits—they are all a part of the ocean of love inspiring and lifting us all.
So many problems in our world today seem to emerge because grace is lacking. Division, divisiveness, distrust, and lack of respect and civility all come from an inability to see the intrinsic value of others. The exploitation and abuse of our planet comes from our inability to see the sacred in our natural world. Our distrust of one another gathers us into "in groups" and "out groups," and then hardens into deep suspicion and dislike and even hatred of others: At its deepest point it is a misunderstanding (and in some cases, a misappropriation) of the provenance of grace.
As we open our hearts to the workings of grace in our own lives, we begin to understand what the soft and leading presence of Spirit so consistently teaches us: We are the hands Christ uses to reach out to those who are hurting and afraid. Ours are the hearts that are stirred to care for people's needs, to provide what's lacking, to comfort the lonely, to work for justice. God's grace through us releases the prisoner, extends kindness, embodies truth, plants and nurtures seeds of hope. It's all a work of grace—for us, within us, and through us. Day by day the light keeps shining, until we can clearly see how grace is guiding all we do.
And that's where we come back to this idea of the rubric of grace, as a means of recognizing where we are on this journey of love and light. If we take a look at the assessment and we find we're doing pretty well, Paul would remind us not to boast, because it is only by God's grace that we've come as far as we have. And if we're struggling or stuck at some point and not happy about what we see, we can be encouraged because God's grace continues to guide and love and nurture our deep listening and faithful following.
So with that being said, let's take a look at this rubric together. First a caveat: This is not a professional assessment tool. Rather it is something I came up with to think more clearly about the different aspects of grace we might see at work in our lives. Your own columns and rows might look different from mine. So feel free to create your own! (And if you do, take a picture and post it in the comments—I'd love to see it.)
On this example rubric, the left column lists things we could ask ourselves about our understanding of grace:
- Do we see grace as the gift of God?
- How well do we understand the concept of grace?
- Can we see the problems in our lives and in our world that are caused by a lack of grace?
- Do we understand what scripture says about grace?
- Do we try to live gracefully with others?
- Do we notice opportunities to act with grace…and then act on them?
The columns with the numbers 4, 3, 2, and 1 at the top each list ideas that might reflect our thinking in each of these areas. For example, in the top row, when I ask myself whether I think of grace is a gift of God, my answer might be that
- I recognize, accept, and share grace with others because I see it as a gift of God, or
- I understand the love and greatness of God but I feel I have a long way to go to be worthy of it, or
- I struggle with the idea of feeling loved and accepted by God, or
- I really don't yet have a sense of God's grace in my life
All of those positions are valid and you may have more of your own besides. The idea here isn't to judge ourselves but to simply let the light of awareness point out where we are as we're learning. You'll notice if you read down each individual column that there is a consistent theme throughout. The items in column 4 are the "highest marks" we can get—we've learned the lesson, we're living with grace, hallelujah. Most of us probably aren't quite there yet!
The third and second columns show we are works in progress; some ideas are easier for us to understand and incorporate than others. If many of our responses are in the third column, we're doing well and we may be learning how to accept more grace for ourselves. If our answers are in the second column, we may be learning how to open our hearts and minds to offer grace to others.
A rubric can help us see where we are on a learning journey and feel encouraged and perhaps challenged to stay the course and do our best. But the best news of all is simply grace itself—the unearned, undeserved, unworked-for merit of God's loving presence, with us, leading us, loving us faithfully, always.
In closing I'd like to share a beautiful new poem by the poet Danna Faulds on the ever-present miracle of grace. It's called, "Loving the Infinite."
For the briefest of instants,
love is my only reality--
love of a soul for
the whole; love flowing out
and streaming in unimpeded;
love of a drop for its ocean,
love eclipsing everything
but its own sweet truth.
It doesn't matter that the
moment passes and thoughts
intrude again or that anxiety
rises like smoke from a
smoldering wildfire. All that
really counts is the certainty
that divine love is my foundation.
There's nothing for me to do
or prove. The intimacy of being
loved by the Mystery and loving
the Infinite in return is a
priceless gift I have not earned.
RESOURCES
2024 Copyright Katherine Murray
No comments:
Post a Comment