There are moments when all of us feel undervalued, unnoticed, jealous of God’s generosity to others, wistful when it comes to others’ talents and gifts. There are times, for all of us, when it seems like we’re not getting what we deserve.
But what I have received in this life has been so much more than I deserve. I do not deserve the crazy quilt of friends and family that cloak my days. I did not deserve my education, my home, my vocation. I don’t deserve the music of the autumn sun or the silky night sky. I never earned grace. If God were merely fair, I would have none of these blessings that seem to pile up around me when I am not even looking.
But God is not merely fair. Grace cannot be planned, presumed, earned, or tamed. We cannot grab it, but it may be placed in our hands. Grace is always capricious, always generous, always astonishing. It is always what we don’t deserve and cannot begin to expect. God is not fair. It’s not fair. It’s grace.
This message is excerpted from “What we deserve” by Susan K. Olson in the October 2016 Gather magazine. Today is the 18th Sunday after Pentecost.
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