Word for Word 9/4/24

Words matter, so you need to say it, believe it, and receive it: You are enough.

YOU are enough. You ARE enough. You are ENOUGH.

If you’re at all like me, you’ve experienced moments, times – or maybe even whole seasons – when you felt as though you weren’t enough. So, just in case you woke up this morning feeling like you are not enough, just in case someone with whatever intention made you feel like you are not enough, just in case your lot in life tempts you to believe that you are not enough, please be of good courage!

No, you don’t have to have all your ducks in a row. No, you don’t have to be all things to all people. No, you don’t have to do everything, go everywhere, and be everything. No, even if you don’t accomplish or achieve any or all of your dreams during your earthly lifetime, the fact nonetheless remains true: You are enough, and so am I.

You are enough simply because God has chosen you to abide among the blessed souls who compose God’s people, chosen for the high callings of healing and reconciling the world, chosen as precious vessels for Father, Son, and Spirit – thus being, speaking, and working in their sted; thus in word and deed demonstrating for others the night-and-day difference that Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer have made for you; thus transforming you from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

You are enough. You are not just anybody. Though you live in a world where beauty, money, fame, power, and prestige are the holy grails of supposedly living your best life ever, those objects of human coveting eventually all wither and fade away in due time and season. Nevertheless, in the decrepit judgment of those rustbelt attitudes, you don’t look like you’re enough, talk like you’re enough, live in the right house or neighborhood, drive the flashiest car or most-muscular truck. And all those cross-eyed stares and sideways glances – all their gossiping, and bullying, and name-calling – are part and parcel of cruel ignorance.

They thought that because you are an alcoholic or used to sell or use drugs; because you didn’t graduate from high school or go to college; because you were or are homeless, jobless, or deep in debt –

They thought that because you are disabled or differently abled; because you were molester or molested; because you went to jail or did time in prison; because you were a teenage mother, or are a single parent, or had an abortion; because your sexuality or gender don’t fit neatly in the preferred categories –

They thought that because you’re too young or too old, because your wit and wisdom aren’t as sharp as they once were, because your body doesn’t look as fit as it once was or perform with the athleticism it once did –

They thought and continue to think – because of whoever or whatever you are or aren’t – that you are not enough.

Well, they thought wrong. You are enough.

With grace on your lips, and love in your heart, forbearance upon your soul, you need to look them square in the eye and set the record straight: None of those things defines the totality of who and whose you are; none of those things disqualifies you as beneficiary of basic respect and human dignity.

You are enough. A beautiful creation. Fearfully and wonderfully made. You’ve always been enough! Ever since the very beginning!! The Lord God saw everything that he had made, and shazam, it was good – very good! Completely validated, and totally legit!! (Psalm 139:14, Genesis 1:31)

So, look up and down the streets and gravel roads of your neighborhood – and strike a verbal blow for liberty: I am enough; you are enough, and that’s that!

All that said, enough already! Enough talk about being enough!

Indeed I really do want to say, believe, and receive that I am enough. Without question I appreciate those many well-meaning attempts to correct a culture that overvalues performance and perfection and undervalues empathy and compassion. When people say, “You are enough,” one is just trying to help another walk in peaceful joy. That surely seems quite Jesus-y.

But the encouragement falls short – on a couple fronts, actually.

As for me, as suggested by another, “you are enough” neither does justice to the rich beauty of lavish potential and new possibility that dwells within you and me because of Christ, nor does “you are enough” shed healing light into the scary caverns of our broken and fearful selves. “You are enough” nowhere-near armors against the razor-sharp swipe of the double-edge sword of human existence: Being created good and perfect by God, while nonetheless remaining deeply flawed and fallen by sin and evil.

Even so, though at once buoyed and battered, one perseveres as a cherished, forgiven, and redeemed child of God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. One lives, moves, and has one’s eternal being thanks to empty Cross and Tomb. One cannot and should not boast of “enoughness” in self alone, because the Spirit of Christ was poured upon and within by baptism. And the grace of God that baptism assures – grace and grace alone – is truly what’s enough.

So enough, already: You are not enough in yourself alone. Nor am I!

God formed us flawless, sparkling gems in the crown of creation, portrayed us as masterpieces of the Master Artist whose creative talent flung sweeping galaxies into the skies and microscopic flecks into the tiniest of particles. God continues to create such breathtaking splendor, and heaven’s ongoing work of creation and re-creation means that all humanity is destined for things far higher and more majestic than “enough.”

The magnificence of our humanity coexists with human ugliness that abounds. When wounds fester, when patience runs short, when I lose hope after another long day of frustration and confusion, my insufficiency once again becomes painfully obvious. I alone am not enough, no matter how hard I try.

Even on my best days, I will fail my family and falter in my ministry.

And along that long, hard slog I rediscover the impotence of “you are enough.” Because whenever I admit that I’m not enough, I’m then loosed of my pride and freed to run to the God who is enough, and to cling to God’s grace that alone is enough.

The Good News of the Gospel proclaims two truths, and in seeming contradiction, those ancient words hold fast to both with equal strength: In yourself alone, you are not enough. But in Christ alone, you most surely are. Thus writes the apostle Paul to the Corinthians:

[T]o keep me from thinking more highly of myself than I ought, a thorn in the flesh was given me by a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Words matter. So, listen to the Word that God has spoken. Say it, believe it, receive it – and live it: In Christ you are enough, and by the Spirit, you’ll be even more. As grace abounds. As God’s Spirit continues moving across Creation’s still-chaotic waters. As God in Christ continues making all things new in and for both you and me.

Rev. Dr. Grant M. VanderVelden
First Presbyterian Church Waukon