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Philippians 4:21-23
Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
New International Version (NIV)
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Greetings, Grief and Grace
After several months of waiting, yesterday the birth of our first grandchild, Jo Catherine Brooks, provided another milestone on our life’s journey. Imagine the grace of God revealed in the face of a newborn. We have no guarantees in this life. It is not certain that we will marry, or have children if we do. And even if we have children, we don’t know that they will have children. So one life-lesson was the unexpected joy of seeing new life emerge from the marriage of a son to whom we gave life 29 years ago. A dear friend generously encouraged me to enjoy the time with “my people.”
This led me to wonder: exactly who are our people? Paul had people. From Acts we know that he had a sister and her son, a nephew to Paul. But he had other people, too. So he chose to call the people in the churches not friends, but brothers and sisters. So his letters, even to places he has not yet visited, typically include lists of names of people who are dear to him. It turns out that Paul’s people are God’s people and God’s people are Paul’s people. They are conjoined at the heart by God’s marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who have believed. So Paul greeted them with grace.
Reflecting a little deeper, I remember saying to you all when we said goodbye to my mom a few years ago, “Grief is just love looking for somewhere to go. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest.” Without question, my grief still longs to love my people. Melanie’s mom was named Jo Catherine. She died in a bus crash on a rainy interstate en route to a concert some 16 ½ years ago. The grief took our breath away. I’ve always thought our eldest son, the father of the new baby, has his grandmother, Jo Catherine Freeman’s nose. Now his newborn daughter Jo Catherine carries her name. Looking at her today, after waiting for her these months, I realized the love in our hearts has found another new place to go. It does not end our grief, but it does help us to move one step forward on the journey. For one more generation, there is grace. Grace, grace, God’s grace. And there is love. Little Jo Catherine, like her gracious heavenly Father is so worth the wait.
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Pray with me:
Father, we bring the faces of our people before you today: the ones who gave us life, and the ones who have received life from us in all the ways you give life. How we thank you for each of them and all of them. We need people to live. So thank you for giving us people to love. Thank you that even the love in the corners of our eyes and the lump in our throat find new places to go. Lord, we have to have you to live. We would really like to have our people. For this grace, too, we thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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| This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan. Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download
the app at readscripture.org. Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully,
Duane
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