The previous week’s sermon at Shepherd of the Hill had addressed the question “What must I do to be saved?” with “You already are! God is not wrathful. God is loving. Now start to live into that gift. Stop living so anxiously. Live more joyfully. Take more risks….”
“Costly Grace” is a follow-up anchored in a clear, though impossible, ethic where Jesus instructs his disciples on how to live as children of God.
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust…. You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Sermon on the Mount, Gospel of Matthew 5:44-48.)
Views from the Edge 
Gordon, I’d tell you I feel almost as if you were speaking to me directly, but preachers get tired of hearing that, I’ll bet…. To emulate divine perfection, we begin by loving imperfection–our own, that of our others, the world’s. And being reminded of the eternally vital distinction between the law and the “impossible ethics” of divine love, the letter and the spirit, is a personal relief to me. It sort of helps reframe the law as aspiration rather than placation. For some reason, it made me think of that lawyer, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, the self-described judge-penitent in The Fall. Maybe I’ll look at that again. Anyway, thank you.
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Chris, this means the world to me. Thank you! Thank you so much.
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