Blessable
FROM THE RECTOR
Around the time the school year finished, a Christian school not far from my house changed its sign to offer its graduates and any passers-by an exhortation: “Be blessable!” Because I drive past that sign every day, I had lots of opportunity to think about that message and wonder what it means and what its authors hoped to convey. In writing this, I have no interest in quibbling with that school or its leaders over matters of theology. I have not asked them for clarification nor invited them to join me in further conversation. The point I want to make is that Christianity is often expressed in the moral dictum contained in those two words—be blessable—yet I can think of nothing less hopeful and less Christian than to tell someone to live a life that is worthy of God’s blessing and love.
My deepest hope for the children and youth who grow up at St. Paul’s is that they will know that God loves them no matter who they are or what they do and that they are a part of a community that celebrates that love in Jesus Christ. In a very real way, we say to our graduating seniors and to any who would pass by, “God has already blessed you; live within the confidence of that love.” Of course, that is a lot harder to fit on a sign outside a church or a school, and it is a lot harder to teach.
Who is worthy of God’s blessing—of divine favor, approval, and holiness? The answer we receive from the teachings of Jesus is simultaneously everyone and no one. When describing God’s goodness, Jesus used the presumption of human failure as a point of contrast: “If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt. 7:11). Similarly, when confronting those who would condemn a woman caught in the act of adultery, Jesus said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then, when they dropped their stones and left, Jesus said to the woman, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?…Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:7-11). All have sinned, yet God loves all.
In a cruciform way, the power of the Christian faith—the triumph of the gospel—is found at the intersection of the universality of our unworthiness and the universality of God’s love. To deny either of those is to undermine the whole thing. If any among us is distinctly worthy of God’s love—more blessable than the rest of us—we are all in big trouble. Likewise, if God’s love is not bestowed upon all people unconditionally—without qualification or exception—we are all equally damned. For our faith to be of any real consequence, sin and love must be uniformly distributed throughout the human race. And that is such a hard thing to believe.
Adolescents have a hard time believing that, despite all their struggles, God loves them just the way they are. So do the rest of us. And parents and teachers and ministers have a hard time saying to vulnerable, impressionable children that, no matter how they behave, no matter what trouble they get into, God will still love them just the same. It feels risky to love our youth like that. It feels dangerous to say to a child that their decisions, while incredibly consequential in this world, have no bearing on matters of ultimate importance. But is there anything we would rather our children know than that they are loved without condition and without limit? Is there anything we would rather know to be true in our own lives?
God loves the whole world just like that—with a love that is dangerous and risky. While God does not bless all of our actions, God blesses all of us. We need not do anything or be anything different from who we are in order to receive that blessing. Sure, we are called to live a life of holiness but not in order that we might receive God’s love and favor but because God has already bestowed them freely and fully upon us. Bumper-sticker and billboard Christianity usually misses that point. There is a part of us that needs to be reminded that, as beloved children of God, we are called to live a certain way, but the first yearning in our hearts—our first catechetical need—is to be reminded that we are already God’s beloved children. For Christians, that must always be the starting point. That must be our central proclamation. The rest, we trust, will come.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan