he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Titus 3:5 (NIV)
Mercy Did the Work
The course lets the neighborhood walk the cart paths until the first tee time, no membership and no charge. At six-thirty a woman comes through with her grandson, who’s seven and up for reasons of his own. The sprinklers have shut off and the greens are still dark with water. He names the flags as they pass them, and she lets him.
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. The people this was written for had nothing of their own to point to. God rescued them because he’s merciful. His kindness showed up, and he acted on it.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. The rescue arrives as a wash and a remaking. God takes people with nothing to recommend them and goes to work on them, and the Spirit does the renewing.
A person can cooperate with what the Spirit is doing, and plenty of people do. They still can’t perform it on themselves, and they were never asked to. The washing and the renewing are God’s work from end to end, and the mercy that set it going is his too. The person receives it, and receiving is harder than it sounds after years of being the useful one.
Some people believe this and still get up every morning expecting to be asked for their credentials at the door. They’d tell you salvation is a gift, and they’d still like to bring something along with them, some small proof that they were worth the trouble.
The mercy that did the saving is the same mercy they’re living on this morning.
A cart comes up the hill with two bags strapped on the back, and the boy steps off the path into the wet grass to let it by. He says he’s going to name them all again on the way back.
A Prayer to Remember
A man I love is still trying to earn this from you, Father, and I’ve argued him out of nothing so far. Be merciful with him in a way he can’t mistake for something he arranged. Get me out of the way long enough for him to hear it from you.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
