The good news about who God is

Hebrews 4:12-16

There’s a trope in some versions of Christianity, of a harsh, judging God and Jesus as a best friend / boyfriend / approachable pal type.  When we blow it, God is ready to come down on us with ferocity, and then in the nick of time, like a codependent mom to an intimidating dad with explosive anger issues, Jesus soothes God’s temper and helps get us off the hook.  This text doesn’t not contribute to that idea.

All are naked and laid bare- literally "neck splayed open to the sword" – to the one to whom we must render an account.
 
Nothing is hidden from God. The word of God that speaks into being all that exists, can judge thoughts and intentions of the heart, is able to slice that fine line between soul and spirit, joint and marrow, selfishness and boundaries, pity and compassion, confidence and pride.   God can see what we can’t. God can see it all clearly – before God no creature is hidden. Not any of us, not ever. 
 
But Jesus is the high priest who has been through all we have and meets us with grace.
 
The Lutherans like to call this law and gospel: the terrifying news that we can’t possibly measure up to God’s ideal, followed by the terrific news that Jesus has done this for us. The bad news before the good.  But as Presbyterians, we actually believe that it’s all good news. That grace meets us even in the judgment, grace first, grace in the middle and grace at the end; it’s all grace. 
 
So this message – that every dark, shadowy corner of our souls is exposed to God, that nothing is hidden, that we are known utterly, vulnerable completely, that nothing we can do can hide us from the ultimate judge of the universe - is already, in itself, good news.
 
I felt that this week. My knives are dull, I hack away at chicken, bend and tear the skins of tomatoes, and I can’t cleanly divide stubbornness from integrity, or clearly separate seeking support from engaging in gossip.  I’m a muddy mess inside.  When relationships get challenging or situations feel complicated, guilt and sorrow get mixed up and cloud my thoughts and emotions, and I am not sure if I can trust my own judgment.  

What a relief it is to come to this passage and hear that to God, it is all clear. That when I can’t even see what it is I need to be freed from, God already knows completely.
 
It’s also good news to me that the whole world, every creature and society is likewise laid bare before God. No amount of covering up evil, no clever spin or mass manipulation can obscure God’s view. God sees it all as it is, knows us all as we are. God’s word exposes the truth. Period.
 
There is a place to anchor our lives in something beyond us and our uncertain and bungling assessments of the world or our ourselves. A fiercely trustworthy, entirely qualified, unwaveringly just authority already sees and knows it all, and one day we will all have to own up to all of it. This is good news. 
 
We are completely exposed and vulnerable, at the mercy of this God.  
AND, we are at this God’s MERCY. God came to share this life with us - Jesus felt tension, fear, worry and sadness, Jesus had convoluted relationships, knew pain and loss, struggled to make sense of things, dealt with frustration and confusion.  Jesus lived our human struggles, but without the division from God and others that we call sin. 
 
So we are invited to approach this God with boldness.  Because what we find when we come to this God is mercy and grace.  Mercy and grace based on an accurate and true assessment of things. Mercy and grace that comes from knowing from the inside the weakness and anxiety of being human. Both are true. 
 
THIS is good news.  
God doesn’t let us off the hook because we’ve pulled the wool over God’s eyes like we do to ourselves and each other: tell half the story, paint ourselves in good light, set up others as the real problem, or pin ourselves under crushing blame.  God knows and sees all of it, missing nothing, and ALSO meets us with mercy – mercy we can’t seem to extend to each other, or to ourselves.   The all-knowing, righteous judge of the universe chooses to extend this mercy to us.  In fact, God does more – God meets us in our weakness with grace to make it through, grace that helps us forgive ourselves and each other, grace to start over when we fail, grace to begin again when we think we’re out of chances, grace to face a broken world with love and mercy too, grace to start seeing our own selves as we really are instead of as we wish we were or as we fear we might be.
 
The past two weeks we’ve dug into our question, What is a good life and how do we live it? Now we are seeing our other question play out, Who is this God and what is God up to? 
 
And we’re seeing James answer it this way: God is the One, all-knowing being in the universe who rightfully renders judgment on us all, because from God nothing is hidden. But instead of condemning us to separation from God and each other, God claims us anyway and joins us right here in Jesus Christ, suffering in all the ways we do, but without the muddy mess of division and contradictions, without all the stories we tell ourselves that keep us from our true belonging to each other and God. In our time of need, we find mercy and grace from this God to help us through. That is who God is and what God is up to.  All the time, and right now. 
 
So come boldly.  Tell it right to God; God knows it anyway.  When you shout it, or write it, or weep it, you will find relief, mercy, grace, help.  Both because Jesus has been there, and because God sees you exactly as you are and loves you completely. This is good news.
 
Amen.