Me? A Spy?

I wanted to be a spy. As life would have it, I had to give up that dream…but isn’t that what a spy would say?

Growing up, one of my favorite book series was “Harriet the Spy.” I don’t remember much about the series. I only remember wanting to be just like Harriet.

Occasionally, I would take my tape recorder and place it inconspicuously where I knew no one would find it. I would turn it on, push play and record simultaneously, and walk away, excited about what I would find when I returned.

Much to my disappointment, I never found anything “juicy” or even interesting that I could use to blackmail my parents. What I discovered was how boring it was to be an adult. Even when my parents had friends over, the conversations were pretty boring.

The real thrill for me wasn’t discovering some deep, dark secret my parents were hiding. The real thrill was not being detected. I didn’t want to be found out; I wanted to stay hidden so I could do sneaky things, like a spy.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only kid who wanted to be sneaky. Some of you may have snuck out of the house when your parents didn’t know. Or maybe you, like me, liked to play the spy, always behind the scenes.

A Sneaky God

John Wesley said that God was sneaky. Since he lived in the 18th century, he never used those terms. Instead, he preached about God’s prevenient grace.

One way to describe prevenient grace is as the grace that goes before. He said that before we could make any move toward God, God first moved toward us. After all, we are dead because of our sins so we are unable to make the first move.

God loved us so much that he didn’t wait for us to love him. (1 John 4:19)

In his sermon “On Love”, he writes,

“The love of God to mankind is the source of love in the soul, without which it is utterly impossible we should love him at all. If we love God, it is because he first loved us, and this our love is only a reflection of his paternal love.”

He also writes in “Witness of the Spirit Discourse II,”

“It is certain we love God, but only because he first loved us. It is impossible we should love him till we know he loves us. We cannot know his love for us, till his Spirit witnesses it to our spirit.”

Isn’t that sneaky? We had no idea what God was doing! God loved us long before we were able to love him! This is God’s grace the “Goes Before.”

Whether we know it or not, we are surrounded by God’s prevenient grace. Many don’t.

Behind the Scenes

Nevertheless, God is always behind the scenes, even when we don’t see or know Him. This is true for everyone: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

If you’re reading this, and I guess you are, God’s sneaky love, His amazing, prevenient grace, is all around you. If you don’t believe me, well, didn’t I say it was sneaky?

Unlike me, the spy, God doesn’t want to hide forever. Actually, He doesn’t seem to want to hide at all. He wants you to know He’s there. He wants everyone to know!

All we have to do is open our eyes to the mystery and beauty all around us, and we will see Him.

Maybe God isn’t so sneaky after all. Because really, it isn’t him who is hiding—it is us.

This is part of “The Formative Path” a 2024 Fall Sermon Series at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information and the Weekly Reflection Sheets, go to https://ponderingpassages.com/category/path/