Praise the Lord for this Lenten
Season, we can pause and ponder about life and the Lord, the giver of life. We
ponder anew about mysteries of divine purposes and the grace of the Lord that
permeates all of life. In one of our Wednesday evening gatherings a woman who
is new to the group said she has been praising the Lord for His grace that she
has experienced. A young mom brought her 5 year old daughter to church last
Sunday. I asked young girl what her name was and she answered with a winsome
smile, "Grace". John Wesley preached on grace. John Newton sang about grace.
The Bible embodies grace upon grace in all its pages. Let's face the fact that there are times when we
have trouble with “grace,” especially when it is extended to those whom we
consider undeserving. How easy it is to be envious when someone else gets
recognition, or some provision, or a raise, or the limelight, or receives
something we thought only we should get or had a right to. Are we sometimes
envious when God is generous to others?
The Bible is
full of examples of seemingly unfair situations. Let me cite a few examples.
For instance, God chose Jacob - the manipulator, liar, and cheat - over his
dutiful brother Esau. God chose a runty shepherd boy instead of his strong and
handsome brothers. Job, a pious and good living man, suffered the loss of
everything he owned – his property, his stock and his children. Jesus chose to
have dinner with a thief and cheat named Zaccheus instead of the religious
people like the Pharisees and temple officials. After watching a widow drop two
puny coins into the temple collection buckets, Jesus said that the widow's
pennies were worth more than a rich person's millions.
What about Jesus‟ story of the prodigal son? A feast was prepared for a disgraceful, runaway son when he returned home after wasting all his inheritance? Nothing was given to the older son who had worked hard and faithfully while his brother had gallivanted around having a good time. We don't always like grace because it seems unfair and we seem to be overly preoccupied with the idea of fairness. We have an innate sense of justice, fairness, and egalitarianism; and so when things don't seem fair to us, we are quick to get a strong sense of righteous indignation and want to do something about the offensive unfairness. If the truth be told, we don't really want fairness and justice where God is concerned. What we so easily forget is that if God treated us how we deserve to be treated, for many of us there would be a very scary outcome. As it stands, however, we receive God's grace through Jesus Christ, and all of our sins are not counted against us because Jesus already paid the price on our behalf.
What about Jesus‟ story of the prodigal son? A feast was prepared for a disgraceful, runaway son when he returned home after wasting all his inheritance? Nothing was given to the older son who had worked hard and faithfully while his brother had gallivanted around having a good time. We don't always like grace because it seems unfair and we seem to be overly preoccupied with the idea of fairness. We have an innate sense of justice, fairness, and egalitarianism; and so when things don't seem fair to us, we are quick to get a strong sense of righteous indignation and want to do something about the offensive unfairness. If the truth be told, we don't really want fairness and justice where God is concerned. What we so easily forget is that if God treated us how we deserve to be treated, for many of us there would be a very scary outcome. As it stands, however, we receive God's grace through Jesus Christ, and all of our sins are not counted against us because Jesus already paid the price on our behalf.
It is true that
grace isn't fair, but, if we are truly honest with ourselves, we don't really
want what is “fair,”. After all, we're getting a much better deal than
just “fair.” It is easy for us to forget this and be un-gracious to those
around us and fail to be agents of God's grace. All too quickly we fail to
understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness. We
fail to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other
people.
Rob Bell does an
effective job of communicating what is expected of the followers of Jesus
Christ. “When we empower others,” Bell says, “when we extend grace to others,
in their oppression – whatever that may look like – we find out about the grace
that God has extended to us.” Our God is generous, full of grace, and
forgiving. He gives gifts, not according to what we deserve. God gives
generously because of who He is and not because of who we are. We are sinners,
rebels against God. Much of the behavior of humankind was and still is
displeasing to God, but God did not give up on us. God gave us His only
begotten Son rather than give up on humanity. Jesus died for the whole world.
The death of Jesus was unfair but that was God's grace at work.
Philip Yancey
calls this the new math of grace. When we go shopping, all our purchases are
added up and we have to pay. If God did that, we couldn't afford all that we
owe. God doesn't calculate what we deserve but is generous and forgiving. In
the words of Rob Bell, “So may we come to see that grace isn't fair. Redemption
isn't fair. Liberation isn't fair. May we extend this unfairness to others
…May we find somebody who needs what we have, only to discover that they have
what we needed all along.”
In His
Grace,
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