A Little Grace

One of the most powerful gifts and integral parts of Christianity, centered right at the root of the faith is grace. We read of it in the bible, hear sermons on it and are encouraged to practice giving it to others just as the Lord gave and continually gives it to us. The sad thing is that a few of us actually practice it .God saves us regardless of our past sins; regardless of anything that we were before we met Him; and regardless of anything that we might become while in His kingdom. His grace is always offered to us. When I thought of this I was challenged to write this note and to explore how little we practice grace in our Christian community.

We hold on so much to self-growth and our individual relationships with God, never truly getting over the stage where the grace of God stops being only about us as individuals but also becomes about other people, both in the kingdom and out of the kingdom. It is so sad to think that after being set free by God and after such a high debt has been paid on our behalf we in turn cannot find it in us to do the same for our fellow brothers and sisters. We call ourselves Christian and proclaim God’s love and forgiveness through Christ yet we are the first people to speak soul destructing words when a sister falls pregnant, or when a brother starts drinking. We are the first ones to judge when we see a brother going into a club or anything that is a physically visible sin or ‘immoral in society’ so to say. Where is our grace?

The bible teaches, “So watch yourselves, If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” Luke 17:3. We have to ask these questions: are we really living up to this mandate? Do we encourage each other to rise up and stand firm in the Gospel after our failures or do we judge one another and condemn each other without grace? How many people actually reach out to a fellow brother or sister once they have fallen to sin? Better yet, when seeing that your fellow brother or sister struggles with a certain sin? Instead we sit alone behind our walls saying that we are praising God. Only concerned about our faith and nothing else. The situation is so bad that people hide themselves, struggling with sin due to fear of being judged, fear of what people at church might say and yet we are given this wonderful gift called grace.

But then Law came in, to expand and increase the trespass. But where sin increased and abounded, grace has surpassed it and increased the more and super abounded Romans 5: 20.

Why is it so hard to find a church or Christian environment where people are free to reveal their struggles, free to express and testify to the power and mercy of God through the struggles they have faced in life and/or free to receive God’s forgiveness in what they are still struggling with in their lives without the ooohs! and the aahs! of judgment, awe and pity? When will we finally embrace one another as the true community of God in understanding each other’s transgressions and helping each other to stay strong in the Lord?

Let us always remember that God gave us grace and continues to give us grace. We are not better than anyone but all sinners who have been cleansed by God through Christ. Let us embrace our identity both inside and outside our communities. This is the only way to help each other from falling: practicing grace. It may not be easy to admit that we lack this discipline, but the Lord is faithful and in prayer and in fully admitting our shortfalls he can help us to do what is right. So begin a new walk today, a walk that embraces the grace we are given in the kingdom. Let us start being a shoulder to lean on, someone to talk to, a praying partner, for both our Christian and non- Christian brothers and /or sisters. Think about the good that it could to, after all what do we have to lose? But believe me we have a lot to gain, freedom and unity in the kingdom and all because of practicing just a little grace.

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

Peggy S

Senseless Trust

Once upon a time, an over achieving man wanted to conquer the highest summit in the land. He decided in is heart that he would climb this mountain in record time and that he would push himself to the limit to achieve his goal. For days he climbed until, one day, his ambition pushed him to climb for a longer time than usual and he passed a planned pit stop. Before he knew it, it was dark and he was getting real cold and hanging uncomfortably on a cliff. His concentration slipped for a second and he fell a few metres but managed to use his climbing hammer to hit a rock and hung on. Now scared, he clung to his equipment and sent out a prayer. Out of nowhere, he heard the voice of God calmly saying, ‘Let go.’

‘For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.’ (1 Cor1:22-23) 

This week, I’ve learned it is not always easy to trust God. Being in control or wanting to know how things work is human nature. I have often tried to understand and make sense of the things of God and came short. I have done things and came to conclusions which I often assume are what God wants; not because God has spoken but because it made sense at the time that that is what God would want. Often, what God is really saying, sounded foolish. It did not make a lot of sense. I know another man who thought as I did. The patriarch of the Jewish faith and our great faith ancestor: Abraham.

God’s promise to Abraham did not make sense. Think about it. At age 75 (his wife being about 65), God calls Abraham and tells him he will have innumerable descendants. He was told to leave all that he knew and go to a place he has not seen. His father must have been like, “Really? You are going to some unknown land that some unseen God will show you and have many kids?Bakuloyilewena!”(Okay, so maybe he did not speak Xhosa but it wasn’t English either so there.) It did not make sense. Abraham did not always trust God either. In Gen 16, he makes a plan with his wife to make his promise happen. He was aging, and what God said to him sounded foolish. This resulted in the birth of Ismael and also animosity not only between Sarah and Hagar, but also, millennia later and even today, the descendants of Ismael and Isaac, all because he did not trust God. 

As our theme scripture shows, God uses what seems foolish in order to shame the thinkers and the religious. The fact that Messiah came as a normal, poor man and not a political king did not make sense to the religious people of those times. Jesus saving those who believed from the wrath of God by dying on the cross and then coming back to life did not make sense to the intellectual Greeks of Paul’s day. This is true even today because many say they will believe when they see a sign or don’t believe because it all sounds stupid. “But to those who called, both religious and intellectual, it is Christ the power and wisdom of God.” (1 Cor 1:24 paraphrased)

The man in our opening story froze overnight. He was later found, hanging just a metre away from the ground. It did not make sense to let go, but God knows what He is doing. He knows what He is doing even in your life. He has been doing for ages and has a perfect track record. Trust Him, even when it does not make sense. Indeed, trust Him especially when it does not make sense.

You know the drill. If you like, share it and follow!

Yours in Christ

Yunam