Church Is Weird. So Is Grace.

Church is weird. Like seriously weird. A guy in a robe. Singing really old songs together in public. Sermons. A meal that feels more like a tiny, insignificant snack. It’s so weird. 

So what’s the point? Why do we do the things that we do and why do we do them every week? Mark 10:2-16 suggests a few options.

Is it, like the Pharisees, to instill in ourselves a system of morals and ethics so we can be good people?

Is it, like the disciples, to distinguish ourselves from the rest of society who get to play golf and go out to breakfast on Sunday mornings?

Or, is it so we, like the little children, can receive the gifts and blessings which Jesus has promised to deliver in these very unique ways? 

In Mark 10:14-16 Jesus holds up this latter group, the little children, as exemplars of those to whom the Kingdom of God is given. God’s grace and forgiveness, it turns out, doesn’t come through our moral efforts nor by setting ourselves apart and above others. God’s grace and forgiveness is given to us as we, like the little children, come to Jesus with empty hands. It’s given as a gift. Think about it:

In Baptism, we come to the font marked only by sin - yet we leave marked as children of God.

In Confession and Absolution we come to God with a week's worth of sins and failures yet, when we lay them at Jesus’ feet, we leave forgiven and cleansed from all our sins and unrighteousness.

In Holy Communion, we come to Jesus’ table hungry yet completely unworthy to share even the tiniest meal with him. Jesus welcomes us anyhow and sends us away stuffed to the brim with his blessings - strengthened and preserved in body and soul until life everlasting.

Church is so weird. But that’s kind of the point. It’s supposed to be weird because grace is weird, contrary to everything we have been taught about doing more and being more. And the essence of grace is this: we come to Jesus on a Sunday morning as little children, empty handed with nothing to offer him but our sin. Yet we leave together with everything - all the blessings Christ has won for us by his death and resurrection: forgiveness, life, and salvation.