Sermon: "Abundant Grace"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

The Old Testament figure Gideon presents an image of one who receives God's abundant grace. Gideon stands prominently in the line of judges, who were significant figures in the salvation history of the people of God. The judges of Israel had authority to administer justice in the community, and they did so in the name of God who was understood as the final Judge. Often, also, the judges were military leaders of the people, and they fulfilled other roles as well.

When Gideon appears on the scene, God's people find themselves ruled and oppressed by the Midianites, an especially fierce and war-like tribe. The Midianites had invaded and conquered the Israelites to their north. Thus, even though the people of God had settled in the Promised Land, nevertheless, they now lived in slavery there, as they had previously in the land of Egypt.

Circumstances in the life of God's people, therefore, were bad. Indeed, they were desperate. The spirit of the people was broken. They felt forsaken. They experienced hopelessness.

Such a situation provides fertile ground for God's grace. Grace effectively invades circumstances of despair. Grace thrives where self-sufficiency fails. Saving grace may be accepted best where recognition of the need for being saved exists.

Such grace provides an essential ingredient of what the collect today calls "abundant life." We prayed, "Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ."

God chose Gideon to be an instrument of His grace and deliverance. The Old Testament reading chronicles that selection of Gideon, as well as the sign God offers to authenticate His choice. After our reading, many indications of God's favor toward Gideon and His people become clear. And eventually - outnumbered and overwhelmed in terms of force - the people of God under Gideon's leadership drive out the oppressive Midianites. Seen through eyes of faith, the explanation for Gideon's victory may only come from an appreciation of the work of the grace of God. That grace appears at unlikely times, often in oppressive circumstances, sometimes through questionable channels.

The Gospel takes up the same theme - the theme of God's grace enabling abundant life. Once again, grace arrives at the point of gloomy circumstances and by means of an unlikely source.

Remember that Peter and his experienced fishermen friends toiled all night at the task of catching fish - but without success. They were tired. They were discouraged and frustrated. They likely were concerned about the financial implications of their failure.

And then appeared a land-locked carpenter who dared to give them advice about fishing. What an unlikely source for suggestion and counsel. But Peter and his friends were desperate enough to try almost anything. They followed Jesus' guidance. The resulting catch indicated abundance beyond belief.

Thus, the theme recurs. A situation of desperation, of failure, of discouragement exists. As another collect in the Prayer Book puts it, "We have no power of ourselves to help ourselves." There is nothing left to do. The fishermen had come to the end of their rope. . . and no fish were in the net. Into that setting, God's grace breaks in - and the means of grace seems unlikely indeed. The result of such grace involves abundance - life which is filled to overflowing.

Today we are blessed to deal in a direct way with God's grace. Our circumstances are not so desperate or hopeless, I trust, but grace is available, nevertheless. In a few minutes, people will come forward as candidates for Confirmation. They will make promises that reaffirm and renew the experience of Baptism. It is Baptism that is the sacrament which celebrates the initiation of God's grace. By Baptism, we are born again into the household - the family - of God. Through Baptism, we claim the inheritance of Christ's brothers and sisters & children of God. Thus, today - at Confirmation - the candidates confirm their Baptismal promises & and in this service also, all the rest of us have the opportunity to reclaim the grace which is ours through Baptism.

The calling of every Christian person involves an intimate association with the grace of God. After all, salvation comes only by means of that grace. Our involvement with God's grace appropriately comes at two points in the process that interacts with such grace.

First, we are recipients of grace from God. We must understand ourselves to be unworthy of God's graciousness. We do not - and cannot - deserve anything from God. We are unable to earn any of God's gifts. Our eternal plight is desperate without grace. Nevertheless, we do receive God's grace - not because we earn it but because God wills to give it. In and through the grace of God, we are who we are, and we will become that which we hope for.

Secondly, in the process of receiving grace, we may then act as channels for God. Grace seeks out the desperate, the lonely, the hopeless of this world. To the extent that we place ourselves in a position of reaching out to people in need, then we become God's allies, God's channels of grace. Unlikely as it may seem, we ourselves may be instruments of God's will, which is to shower His grace over all His creation. And that grace, spread far and wide, makes possible the life which is abundant indeed. Amen.

Copyright © 2007 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee