Count your blessings..............

Promise or Demand?  Law or Gospel?

We all have experience with the Lutheran concept of Law/Gospel even if we have never called it that.  Even if we can't put it into words, we know in our gut when someone is setting up requirements even when they are trying to make it sound like a gift.

 Gifts are grace; they are good news; in theological terms they are gospel.  Jesus comes to us as a gift of love and through Jesus we know forgiveness and new life and all those are given to us as gifts. We see Jesus interact with others.  We hear Jesus speak a promise of love to us.  All good news.  All gospel.

The idea that "Jesus' forgiveness comes to those who truly turn away from their sin and live lives for God" doesn't feel quite the same does it? Leaving aside the fact that I believe this is an inaccurate statement about the love of God through Jesus, it causes a person to re-examine themselves, wonder whether they have been repentent enough, and be convicted of the fact that they do not live their lives perfectly for God. It demands something from us and highlights our shortcomings.  That, my friends, is law.

In theological terms, law drives you to repentence.  It causes you to seek God's mercy, knowing you are in need of God's mercy and wanting to start anew.  Law isn't a bad thing; it is quite useful and keeps us reassessing our lives.  But it isn't Gospel.

So all that is a prelude to this:  Count Your Blessings. Not an unusual theme for church gatherings, even worship.  But is it Law or Gospel?  Promise or demand?  Thanksgiving for all that has been received in your life or scolding for your lack of appreciation?

Counting my blessings helps me re-align with the gracious abundance of God, to acknowledge it and hopefully to live more graciously and generously myself.  It is a spiritual aid and discipline as well.  But even in its most gentle form, it is calling us to return to the face of this generous loving God - because we have strayed into foreign territory.

The blessings are grace - gifts that come to us because that is who God is and how God operates in this world.  Blessings are life and wholeness, promise and thanksgiving.

Counting them is something quite different.  It is a good discipline but in the end, no matter how pretty the crossstitch pillow is, this is intended to remind you of your lack of proper thanksgiving.

Let's end with this

"Remind me O Lord of all the places in my life where your generosity has been made manifest and your gracious love has sustained me and allowed me to be generous to others.  For the abundance of your gifts to me, and all the opportunities you give me to share those gifts with others I give you thanks."