Grace: Sustaining and sufficient

BY REV. DR. MARTIN LUCIN - GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF SPIRIT LAKE

God's grace has something drenching about it — a wildness about it, an on the streets and at the shores, turn-you-upside-downiness about it. God's grace comes after you (See Psalm 23:6). To be saved by grace is to be saved by Him – not by an idea, a doctrine, a creed or church membership but by Jesus himself!
That happens by the grace God gives to us as a result of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. Once we are confident in that grace, we are encouraged to pass it along to others. It is at that point that we begin to discover another kind of grace: a sustaining and sufficient grace.
I can still remember several Christmases ago when I sat up to the festively set holiday table only to have my niece wonder out loud, so, exactly what do you do in your job as a pastor? Well, I said, I spend most of my time trying to say "yes" to people you know, yes, we would love to help you with your wedding, yes, we would love to baptize your baby, etc. Grace means saying yes to others in the same way God said yes to us in Jesus.
Once we are members of God's family, God is always with us. God didn't offer adoption to the world without providing enough grace to cover everyone. And God didn't sacrifice God's only Son for only a few people to experience grace, it was for everyone.
So, rely on God for your daily bread, rather than yourself, and share it generously with your neighbor. If God is willing to grace your life with the big things, God surely can sustain your life here on this earth.
God's grace may not always appear in a form that we may like or prefer, but it is always there when we need it. It is truly the gift the keeps on giving.
GRACE: it's for me, it's for you, it's for everyone.