The injustice of grace

Define GraceHave you ever thought about what Jesus did and thought, “eh? I’ve been having this thought lately and I just can’t shake it:

It’s a complete injustice that I experience grace.

First of all, I need to be clear what I mean by grace since there are several definitions for this word… even the Bible uses it 5-6 different ways. By grace I mean “the active communication of divine blessings by the inworking of the Holy Spirit, out of the fullness of Him who is “full of grace and truth,”” (Louis Berkhof, 1949) In other words, grace is the good stuff we are blessed with because of our relationship with Jesus.

Have you ever been comped on something? You know, you show up to a place and because you are with “him” or “her” you get free stuff. That’s a practical expression of grace… and it’s a total injustice! In my life I’ve gotten comped on some very nice things. Rounds of golf, meals, retail stuff, vacations, stuff like that. It’s always a weird feeling as you of look at the person whom you’d normally pay and then flash a glance over to the “big guy” and the need to pull out your wallet goes away. (Sometimes a half thumb pointing at the big guy helps.)

Why is that an injustice? Well, you get stuff you can’t afford for free! Other people have to pay big bucks for the round of golf I play for free… that’s really not fair to those who have to pay, is it?

It’s the same way in a lot of areas of my life right now. God is granting my family a lot of injustice lately. When I look my kids I can’t help thinking… what an injustice, I don’t deserve this awesome family. Even as a family, there is so much good stuff happening to us and all around us we’re kind of left simply shrugging our shoulders and pointing at the “big guy” and admitting… “we’re with Him.” God is comping us on little things (stuff) and big stuff (a family who choses to honor God with what they do) and the only word I can use to describe it is overwhelming injustice.


Posted

in

, ,

by

Comments

4 responses to “The injustice of grace”

  1. Kevin I Avatar

    I get to be that big guy for free Ice Cream 🙂 It helps that half the youth group works at ice cream places!

  2. Adam Avatar
    Adam

    Grace – Overwhelming Injustice – Love. All working together, yes. Grace (looking more at our Eternal Life rather than temporary earthly stuff) is a form or expression of God’s Love. Makes me think that the term “Love” is overused and misused on a regular basis from a worldly perspective. Adding one more spin to this point, you can deny that gift of Free Golf every time it is offered. We can deny and refuse that Gift of Grace from God anytime as well. Grace is an injustice. We don’t deserve it. But it is Love, God’s Love. Unbending despite ourselves.

  3. chris Avatar

    Adam you are so right. We don’t deserve half of the stuff we receive as blessings in life. Isn’t the strangest feeling though – I mean the idea that God WANTS to bless our socks off when we fully DO NOT deserve any of it.

    I never want to feel like I am deserving of something from God.

  4. Jeff Greathouse Avatar

    Adam:

    This post hit really hard. In numerous ways, we are feeling that way about Stacey and her care.

    Oh, how we are forever greatful that we have UNBELIEVABLE health insurance. How thankful we are that we live 1 hour from the # 1 hospital for her condition.

    However, at times, I hurt because I think, how unfair it is for us to be able to get her healthy and for our family to be whole where there are a lot fighting this illness that can not get healthy because they lack insurance or do not live near a great hospital system.

    rambling .. sorry

Leave a Reply