The sermon that was heard today from National Bishop Susan Johnson can be found here: elcic.ca/praiseappeal/documents/2014_PraiseAppealsermon.pdf

The sermon for Trinity Sunday that was heard today at the Urban follows:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you (2 Cor. 13:13).

    This is a blessing that was first used by Paul as he wrote to the community of believers at Corinth.  It is also a blessing that we often speak to one another when we gather together for worship.  However, I wonder if we know what it means.  What does it mean to say to somebody, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you”?

    That word, grace, is an important one, but it’s also a word that has a lot of different meanings.  What do you think of when you hear the word grace?... [prayer with a meal, to be graceful / well-coordinated, mercy] It can mean those things and more, but when it comes to the grace of God or the grace that is shown through Jesus, the best way to describe it might be as an undeserved gift.  God loves us and God forgives us and God has mercy on us – not because we’ve done enough to deserve it, but because of Jesus.  That is grace.

    There is an unwritten rule that many people believe that says that people get what they deserve.  However, God’s message to us is quite different.  God’s message to us says that we do not get what we deserve, but so much more.  When Jesus was crucified, he didn’t get what he deserved.  In fact, he even prayed for those who had crucified him – that they might be forgiven -- certainly not what they deserved, either!  I’m not sure how much you know about the apostle Paul, but he didn’t get what he deserved, either.  In fact, after having imprisoned and executed many people who believed in Jesus, Paul himself received God’s forgiveness and started to proclaim the same good news about Jesus that he had once tried to destroy.  This, too, is grace.

    For us as well, God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness are freely given to us through Jesus Christ.  There is not one of us here today who can stand before God and say that we are good enough to deserve to be with God.  However, we do have the privilege of standing there because of Jesus.  It is Jesus who has lived a sinless life.  It is Jesus who has lived in perfect love for God and for others.  It is Jesus who has become like us in order that we might become like him.  It is Jesus who has broken the power of sin and death.

    And so, the promise for us is that all those who put their trust in Jesus and come to God through him are given forgiveness and eternal life – not because we deserve it, but because of God’s unfailing love.

    God’s attitude toward us is always one of grace, and we are reminding ourselves of this when we wish that the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God would be with somebody.  We are also asking that the other person might know that they, too, are loved and forgiven through Jesus Christ.

    The blessing that we started out with today also mentions the communion of the Holy Spirit.  The words communion and community are very closely related.  It is God’s Spirit who draws us into community with one another – a community in which each person knows that God loves them and is challenged to have that same love for God and for one another.

    The blessing of grace and love and communion reminds us that we are not alone.  Jesus continues to be with us, just as he promised in today’s reading from Matthew.  He is with us in this gathering here today and in the Lord’s Supper.  He is with us as we show God’s love to one another and support one another.  He is with us as we help one another in whatever ways we can, and as we pray for one another.

    And so today, we give thanks for God’s grace and love through Jesus, and we finish with the same blessing that we started with: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”  Amen.

The Holy Trinity (A)                            2 Corinthians 13:11-13
June 15, 2014                            Matthew 28:16-20
Lutheran Urban Ministry
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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