Again, Luther goes straight to the heart of the Apostolic Tradition: give God all the glory. Give God all the credit. It is not up to us or our Yankee ingenuity to save the world. God’s kingdom of justice and salvation will “come by itself”. No help needed on our part.

Of course we are to live good and decent lives. Of course we must stand on the side of justice. But think for a moment: trapped in the ambiguity of our historical era, honest, sincere people don’t always agree on what will truly make for justice. One thing, however, usually will never make for justice: demanding that things go “my way”!

We are left with this: Instead of criticizing the world or our neighbors for not living up to God’s high standards (and usually things means our high standards interpreted as being God’s), we pray for the Holy Spirit to come to us, personally and to our church, so that our lives are based solely on the grace of God (kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and love freely given).

Let us, therefore, resign as General Manager of the Universe.