Here is some stuff I often say...but I don't have the name as these two do.
Barth wants to eliminate any sense that God's love for us is somehow conditional upon or determined by us. Though the Reformers affirmed salvation by God's grace along, many of their heirs came to speak of salvation as a result of something we did, thought, or felt: "If you repent and believe, then you will be saved. If not, you will not be saved." We like that message because we live in a culture in which our subjectivity and our actions tend to be everything.
It is once again that "if you do...then you get...." It is still, as I tell the youngest followers of Jesus in our congregation "baloney!" What I really like about Willimon's comments here is his evaluation of our culture. One in which "our subjectivity and our actions tend to be everything." It fits the cultural Jesus stuff wonderfully. We say it is all about Jesus but we really want the light to shine on me and how I have done or what I have chosen or how I have "come around." In reality, we are pulled into the this new life that is repentance. We are pulled onto the train and told to hold on for the ride of our lives only to notice that our God has put a seat belt on this train. As we settle into this reality - this ride - it becomes us. That is, we begin to look like the ride and act as though we are a part of this journey through God's Reign. When asked how we got on the train...well...kicking and screaming....but what a ride it is becoming from day to day.
Connection: We do stand and walk through this day as the saving people of God. Already on board and already filled with life that we are invited to share as we go along the way.
You remember us, O God. That is the power that opens up even those days that are most covered over with threat and sadness and doubt. You remember us and you hold us up through all things. We are forever blessed because that is you promise despite all other words or actions or events that we face. Amen.
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