God loves each of us no matter what.
In fact, God couldn’t love us more.
So why is that so hard to accept?
Is it possible for us to strip away all the external things that define us to the world and see God there… loving us at our very core?
I was struck by a post Simone Biles made yesterday. She said: “the outpouring of love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.”
I was struck by her words because I know she is not alone in this feeling… in fact, I’m guessing we’ve all felt that way before or even right now.
We have wondered – are we more?
Isn’t what she wrote what we all want to believe? That we are more than the sum of every success or failure? That we are more than the talents we’ve been given or the talents we covet that we do not possess?
That we are loved no matter what?
A few years ago, I was asked to teach a class on Sin and Grace. I spent weeks researching all theology had to say about this topic. I learned a lot about sin and the grace God offers, but the one thing that always stuck with me was this idea that God loves each of us no matter what. We are loved sinners… and the loved part always comes first.
God showers us with grace even when we are at our most imperfect. God stands by us when we are weak. God rejoices with us in our joyful moments and cries with us at our lowest points.
God is there for all of it.
But God isn’t in it for the medals.
God is in it for us, exactly as we are.
My prayer for us this morning is that we can first believe wholeheartedly in this magnanimous love (for some reason this seems one of the hardest things to do).
Then, may we work on loving others that way too. Let us help each other see that we are, indeed, more.
