When Grace Breaks All the Boundaries
What if the same Spirit that meets us in our most honest, broken moments is the same Spirit calling us to transform society?
In Joel’s ancient prophecy, we find a vision so radical that 2,000 years later, we’re still catching up. God promises restoration in the midst of devastation—not just a return to “the way things were,” but something entirely new. A community where sons and daughters, old and young, slave and free all prophesy together; where everyone belongs; where everyone’s voice matters.
This isn’t just beautiful poetry. It’s a direct challenge to every hierarchy we’ve constructed to sort people into “deserving” and “undeserving.”
Consider the tax collector in Jesus’ parable, beating his breast and crying out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He goes home justified, knowing he is accepted and right with God, before he’s changed a single thing about his life. He’s still a tax collector. He is still collaborating with the occupying force. He hasn’t quit his job or paid anyone back. But in that moment of honest self-realization, grace meets him exactly where he is.
Here’s what’s world-shattering: grace doesn’t stop there. That justified tax collector, now knowing he’s unconditionally loved, will return to his tax booth the next day transformed. He’ll start really seeing the people he has been exploiting, feeling their struggles and transforming his ways. Real transformation begins after justification, not before.
This is where personal holiness meets social holiness. You can’t experience God’s justifying grace and then walk past food banks thinking “not my problem.” You can’t be perfected in love while remaining comfortable with systems that oppress the vulnerable.
In a world of hunger, homelessness, vulnerability and abuse, of resurgent nationalism and economic inequality, we desperately need to hear Joel’s Pentecost vision. We need a church that looks diverse, sounds humble, and embodies radical inclusivity. We need to join in the work that is already happening. The Spirit is already breaking boundaries. Grace is already flowing freely. Systems of oppression are already being challenged.
We simply have to join in with what God is already doing.
Because the one who goes home justified isn’t the one who’s got it all figured out. It’s the one who knows they need grace: grace sufficient to begin the journey, grace sufficient to make the journey.
#RCLProper25(30)
#Luke18
