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“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa
As we approach St. Valentine’s Day, it’s natural to think of love and courtship. There’s an interesting courtship tradition in the country of Turkey. A young woman will make coffee for a young man, then put salt in it and serve it to him. If he drinks the coffee without making a face or complaining, it means he’s willing to accept the young woman without paying attention to her faults. In other words, it symbolizes “true love.” I don’t know how well I’d fare in the same test. I love my wife, Charlotte, but I also love a good cup of coffee and I don’t like the idea of coffee with salt in it. I’d like to think I’d pass the “test” but I have to be honest with her and with my readers, and say I’m not sure I could drink salty coffee without grimacing. From a spiritual point of view, we’re the coffee with salt in it and God is the one who has to drink us. Our “salt” is what the Bible calls “sin.” Paul quoted from the Psalms when he wrote, “None is righteous, no, not one; / no one understands; / no one seeks for God. / All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; / no one does good, / not even one.” (Rom. 3:10b-12 ESV). If no one is righteous, if no one does good, if we’re all spiritually “worthless,” full of “salt,” what hope is there? What hope can there be? We aren’t the first with these questions. After a particularly rich man had walked sadly away, Jesus’ would-be followers asked him, “‘Then who can be saved?’” (Luke 18:26b ESV). And he replied, “‘What is impossible with man is possible with God.’” (vs. 27b ESV). God makes our salvation possible because of grace. I wouldn’t be a good Methodist if I didn’t mention “prevenient grace,” the way the Holy Spirit works within us even before we know God. “Wesley understood grace as God’s active presence in our lives. This presence is not dependent on human actions or human response. It is a gift — a gift that is always available, but that can be Imagine that. God comes to us. Even when we’re not seeking God, God comes to us, which is good because we can’t get to God on our own. Paul wrote, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom. 3:22b-23 ESV). Nobody is “good enough.” But God is, and God made a way for us. God doesn’t ignore our sin; that wouldn’t solve the problem. Instead, God forgives our sin. Young men in Turkey don’t drink coffee with salt in it because they can’t taste the salt; they do it because of love. God invites us — all of us — because God is love (1 John 4:8). Peter declared, “‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’” (Acts 10:34b-35 ESV). God takes everyone who comes, and everyone who comes is loved and invited. When God invites us, God’s invitation is real and God’s promise is true. God is truth and can’t lie. Jesus told the disciples, “‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6b ESV). Later, he told the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, “‘For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’” (John 18:37b ESV). But Pilate didn’t listen to Jesus’ voice. Instead, he sent Jesus to be crucified (19:16). When the truth itself makes a promise, you can believe it. Pilate didn’t listen to Jesus but we can listen and believe. If we will listen to God’s voice, we can know the truth. God’s truth can’t be overcome, it can’t be contradicted, and it can’t be denied. God’s guarantee is sure, God’s promise is unbreakable, and God’s love is eternal. That’s good news worth sharing. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been |
