The Currency of Grace

Reflections
July 12, 2009

What are we willing to spend to have some sense of holiness in our lives? The question, of course, deals not with monetary values, but with theologic investment. Frederick Buechner, author and theologian, puts this in his writing about the concepts we find in faith. For the act of believing he writes, “Eternal life is not the result of believing in. It is the experience of believing.” He says of the term grace. “A good laugh is grace, so is a good cry. To witness a sunrise or a sunset is to experience grace. However, in the end what is remarkable with regard to grace is, there is nothing we can do to earn it. There is, nothing, we can do to earn it. There is nothing, we can do to earn it.”

Grace is the unmerited gift of God’s love we experience in relationship with Jesus. We cannot earn it. We cannot buy it. We cannot claim it. It comes because God’s love for us is greater than our ability to comprehend. It is a dividend we receive with our own investment. Something we earn without working for. At some basic level the best way we can hope for, in terms of understanding, is to seek to know the natural relationship God has with creation, especially human creation. God creates in the name of love. God loves in spite of disobedience, not because of obedience. Finally, God loves us because it is God’s nature, rather than our ability to will God’s love.

Throughout the letter to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul writes about the claim and cost of discipleship. In chapter three, he offers a prayer that the people will be blessed by grace to receive the wisdom of Christ which will lead them into an effective life of faith.

Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer knew something of this experience. He escaped Germany as Adolph Hitler came into power in the late 1930's. He came to the United States with the offer of a teaching post. However, in the safety of academia he felt God leading him home to confront the threat of hatred and totalitarianism. He returned to Germany and was among the last executed by the Third Reich before their defeat. His actions illustrate one of his most famous statements about faith. “Grace is free, but it is never cheap”. What makes it valuable is the courage to act in the name of love.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald
First United Methodist Church
4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood , CA 91601