The four five ‘Gs’ of gospel life

Gift. Grace. Gathered. Good (works). These four simple ‘G’ words are ‘the four “Gs” of our gospel life as the church of Jesus Christ’, says LCANZ Bishop Paul Smith.

Bishop Paul led the congregation at today’s combined General Synod and St John’s Unley worship service through an explanation of the four ‘Gs’ – and then added a fifth which taps into the call to action of the Great Commission – Go.

‘For this Sunday message on this weekend of the Convention, let me unfold four words that begin with the letter G. Four words that are behind this text [Ephesians 2:8–10] and behind the theme of the Convention’, he said referencing the triennial gathering’s theme, ‘The gift of God – it’s grace that unites us’.

‘Four words that describe our common purpose as people of grace. These are the four “Gs” of our gospel life as the church of Jesus Christ: Gift – Grace – Gathered – for Good works.’

‘Gift’ comes directly from the text, in which St Paul highlights the ‘generous, giving heart of God’ to his congregation at Ephesus. ‘The wonderful thing about gifts is that they are not earned’, Bishop Paul said. ‘A gift is something that someone hands to you, with their heart and mind directed to you … It is not an award. It is not an acknowledgement of service.

‘So, our Synod theme begins with our beggarly hands opened to receive from God – as we do every time we receive the sacrament of the altar. And this focus on the giving heart of God takes us directly to the second “G” word – a word at the heart of our Scripture passage from Ephesians and central to our Synod theme: grace. It’s grace that unites us.

‘Grace is not just a theological concept – but it is the call to make central to our witness as a church the grace of God at work in our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection.’

In our baptism into Christ, Bishop Paul explained, we are given ‘all the blessings of Christ and his cross: the full and free abundant forgiveness of all sin, new life and salvation’.

‘We get it all because we are people of grace! We are people of what Luther referred to as “the happy exchange”. Christ goes to the cross as the sinless one – who takes upon himself the sin of the world – our sin. He dies and exchanges his righteousness for our sin. This is the grace of God in Christ. This grace is what unites us in our common baptism into Christ.’

The third ‘G’ word is not noticeable at first look in Ephesians 2 – ‘unless you pay attention to the plural language’, Bishop Paul continued.

‘There are plural verbs everywhere: “For by grace you ALL have been saved through faith, and this is not ALL your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we ALL are what he has made us ALL, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be ALL of our way of life”. Our third “G” word is “gathered”. We are gathered together in one body.’

The fourth ‘G’ word in the text reminds us that ‘being gathered together in the gift of God’s grace is not just a “fact” but faith that is active in love’, Bishop Paul said.

‘So, the apostle gives his explanation of where this all leads to: “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life”.

‘We serve as little Christs to those around us and to each other. His grace has equipped us for this service. This is what we do when we gather as delegates in the Convention of General Synod, we seek to serve, to do good work in the cause of the gospel. We serve our Lord Jesus Christ in serving each other.’

Bishop Paul also spoke of the need to serve and care for one another in the context of Synod’s decision yesterday to alter the teaching of the LCANZ, to enable both women and men to serve as pastors in the church.

‘Knowing that some are burdened by this decision; some are unsure what it means for the future, we have a word from the apostle Paul about how we must move forward as Christians when he writes to the Galatians: “Bear one another’s burdens – and so fulfil the law of Christ”.

‘This is also a good work we do with the help of God in the name of the Lord. The Lord holds us firm like he did to Peter when Peter was sinking in the waves. And if he is holding one hand, what do we do with this other hand? In the name of the Lord, we extend it to our sister or brother – to hold fast to them.’

Bishop Paul said while he had highlighted four ‘G’ words as part of the church’s gospel life, there was ‘actually a little hidden fifth one at the end of our Scripture’.

‘It is a sending word – go’, he said. ‘We are sent to go out into the world to live as people of this gift of grace. Sisters and brothers in Christ, gathered by the one Lord in the one faith of the one baptism, remember the gift of God – it’s grace that unites us. So go and make disciples of all nations. And remember, the risen Lord – the giver of grace – is with you always, to the end of the age.’

Read Bishop Paul’s full sermon.