Move from “never enough” to “it is sufficient”
I am not thin enough, fit enough, handsome enough, smart enough, rich enough. Everything around me tells me I am not enough. And anyone who lived through middle school has been told this in many ways by others. Worse, this can be something we tell ourselves. I was reminded of this while reading Brené Brown’s book Daring Greatly as I serve on the team planning the next Clergy Spouse Conference which will reflect on that book.
This reminded me of the summer when I served as an intern in the Anglican Church in Tanzania. While there, I did not have the problem of having enough food to eat, but the opposite. I was always the guest, relying on the hospitality of others in a very hospitable society. Many times I would sit down to a meal to be told that the family did not always eat like this but it was a special meal as they had a guest. I found out soon enough that the guest had to have seconds or the hosts would be offended. This was not an option. I did adjust to get little on the first pass, so that I could get seconds or even thirds without having eaten too much. I could come away having eaten less food, but my hosts would feel better about it. I also learned the secret word to get me out of being begged to take more food. After having seconds, and when being pressed to take more, I would say in Swahili, “inatosha” which means, “it is sufficient.” The hosts would beam. They had given me enough. All was right in the world.
It dawned on me that “it is sufficient” is theological as well. God tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). We try our best, but we still fall short of the glory of God, which is a fancy way of saying, we sin. We hurt others. We hurt ourselves. We mess up, sometimes quite badly, tragically. And yet, God offers the opportunity to turn around, to walk back to God and ask for forgiveness. And that prayer uttered out of a real desire to change, that prayer is enough, because God’s grace is sufficient.
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In worship, we enter sacred space in which we are fully known and fully loved, as we are now, in the tender compassion of a creator who wants better for us, but for whom we are enough. When we invite someone we know to join us in worship, we are offering the gift of a sacred time and space in which they are fully known and fully loved. It may seem we are offering them little, but God can use that worship to let those you love know that his grace is more than enough to make them whole.
Peace,
Frank
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