Friday, November 25, 2011

Grace Redeems Disgrace!

Elizabeth's story tends to be eclipsed by Mary's, since it's hard not to focus on the virgin birth. But Elizabeth has a miraculous birth as well, finding herself pregnant well beyond the time to have children.

Elizabeth, after all, was barren.

Barren means more than just infertile; it can mean unproductive, unattractive, unfruitful, dull, empty, devoid, lacking, bereft.

Originally, I was going to conclude my message today with the thought that we should take heart from Elizabeth’s story because, at one time or another – maybe even many times! – like Elizabeth, we have felt barren … unproductive … empty … lacking … or bereft. 

Sometimes, God has reasons for not answering our prayers—or not answering them when or how we want them to be answered. Being human, it’s hard to wait … and wait … and wait … for our prayers to be answered. 

So, I was going to advise you to do like Elizabeth: Go about your daily life and business, loving the people God has placed in your life while never giving up your faith or hope.

That would have been a fine and fitting ending to this story.

But the more I read about Elizabeth, the more I found myself riveted on her words of redemption, in Luke 1:25:

“The Lord has done this for me … he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Think about these words, will you?  Not only did Elizabeth do nothing wrong ... instead, we’re informed, she did everything right.  Right from the beginning, we’re told that she was “blameless” in front of the Lord.

Yet society judged her to be shameful, disgraceful, lacking in God’s grace … as if it were her fault that she hadn’t conceived and given birth to children as expected.

Don’t we feel that way, too, sometimes because we don’t exactly conform to society’s norms and expectations? 

“What did I do to deserve this?” we ask ourselves.  “Why was I created this way?  What should I do now to feel better about myself … and not so barren or empty?”

When I began to come to grips with my own gender identity and sexuality, I already knew that I didn’t make myself this way … nor did I believe that environment or other people caused me to become the person I am.  I regretted that I wasn’t like everyone else.   It certainly wasn’t easy to make believe, hide in the closet, and try to deny the person I was meant to be.

Yet because society deemed it wrong, shameful, disgraceful, with an ugly stigma attached to it, like Elizabeth I felt barren … empty … unfaithful … and void.

I remember going to a “Coming Out Group” led by a Christian man named Paul.  “BUT … how can you reconcile being gay with all those clobber verses in the Bible?” I asked him.

He just smiled oh-so-sweetly and told me that the God he worshipped loved him … just as he is … and that – no matter what other people might tell me or what could be taken out of context from the Scriptures – that it really is all about grace.

Amazing grace!

It’s got nothing to do with what we do or don’t do that earns us God’s love and our salvation. 

It’s not about rules, regulations, and restrictions that lead to heavenly rewards or rejection.

Nope, it’s all about grace.  Even now, I’m just coming to understand and accept this astounding truth.

Being loved by someone who I deeply love in return certainly helped me to feel somewhat better about myself … but I still was alone, if not so lonely anymore.

It wasn’t until I met God more intimately – not someone else’s idea of God – and spent time in God’s company that I truly began to feel better about being myself and not quite so empty.  God’s grace and my belief that God purposefully created me to be exactly the person I am has turned my life around—blessing me and making me barren no more.

Listen carefully, again, my friends, to the redeeming words of Elizabeth as found in Luke 1:25:  “The Lord has done this for me … he has shown his favor … and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Now, here's where all God’s people should say a mighty, “Amen!” as we give thanks for our many blessings and gifts.

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