Hastings: Longing for grace
“Grace and peace from our Loving God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 1:3 The Inclusive Bible
As I read the opening greetings in the epistles, the words “grace and peace” are often used, as if this was a standard greeting in the early church. The phrases “be yours in abundance” and “from our Creator” were also included in the greetings.
In the Gospel of John “the Word became flesh and stayed for a little while among us … filled with grace, filled with truth.” And, “Of this One’s fullness we’ve all had a share — gift on top of gift” or “grace upon grace.”
The strands of grace are woven into scripture from the beginning. After Moses had smashed the first tablets of the Law when he came down from Mt. Sinai and found the people worshiping idols, the Holy One offered grace and new beginnings. Moses was told to carve out two more tablets and bring them up the mountain for a re-write. On the mountain, the Holy One met him in a cloud and proclaimed the divine Name, “I AM! I am God, YHWH, compassionate and gracious.” Compassion and grace are the essence of divine nature.
Jesus offered grace to despised tax collectors, adulterers, outcasts, lepers and sinners. But he rebuked the pious who judged, condemned and did not extend grace to others from the abundance of grace they themselves had received.
Today one wonders if the abundance of grace has been forgotten. It seems people are often excluded from communities of faith on the basis of race, gender and orientation as well as power, control and money.
The Lenten season offers a time to ponder the way of suffering, self-sacrifice and self-giving love by which the abundance of divine grace comes to us. Quiet reflection may give birth to new ways to encircle and include those who are longing for grace.
The Rev. Celia M. Hastings has a master's degree in religious education from Western Theological Seminary in Holland. She is author of “The Wisdom Series” and “The Undertaker’s Wife.”
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Hastings: Longing for grace
