Eggs, not Scorpions; Fish, not Snakes; Bread, not stones

 

Fr. Tony’s Mid-week Message

Eggs, not Scorpions; Fish, not Snakes; Bread, not Stones

September 14, 2016

I heard recently a witticism that caricatures Calvinism, with its double predestination by God (one for a few to salvation and one for the many to damnation), in this way:  Calvinism is the doctrine that Satan wants everyone, God, not so much.”   This coming Sunday has a reading that puts to the lie the idea that God wants to damn most of humanity:  “God our Savior … who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:2). 

People have wanted for a long time for God to be picky and choosy.  Most of the people around Jesus taught that God was very stingy with grace and salvation.  But Jesus replies to such a stingy image of God with parables. He points to the weather and says that God gives his rain and sunshine to both good and bad people alike (Matt. 5:45).   He points to families and notes that when children ask for bread to eat, parents do not give them stones, or when they ask for an egg to eat, do not give them a scorpion. “If even average parents try to give their children good things, how much more generous will God be?” (Matt. 7:9-10; Luke 11:11-13). 

We Episcopalians/Anglicans have been accused over the centuries by Calvinists of being “semi-Pelagians” because we teach that it matters whether we accept God’s grace or reject it by turning aside.  Others accuse us of being too works-oriented.  But the heart of the matter is this: we believe that God does not willingly afflict any of the children of men and women, and that God hopes and wishes for salvation and good for all his creatures.  We believe that God is a loving parent, who sends us: bread, not stones; eggs, not scorpions; fish, not snakes.  We believe that our choices matter.  As Saint Augustine taught, God cannot give a gift to someone whose hands are closed or already full. 

Grace and Peace,

Fr. Tony+