(for The Citizen
newspaper, March 24/23)
We are five
weeks into our Lenten journey, heading towards Easter on April 9. Good Friday
(April 7) marks the supreme substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus at the cross for
our sins – a “payment in full” for those who believe, God reconciling a fallen
world to Himself. Sheer grace – unmerited, undeserved, freely given. Easter
Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus showing God’s ‘stamp of approval’
on the Son’s self-giving, and victory over death and the grave.
Someone has
observed that it is grace which sets apart Christianity from every other
world religion. No other major religious leader dared to predict that they
would rise from the dead (or has managed to do so). No other religious leader
presumed to state their life was so pure that they were sinless, and that their
death would accomplish forgiveness for others.
In other religions, works play a major
role: the adherent is expected to obey the commands, perform the offerings, and
carry out certain behaviours rigorously in hopes of ever being accepted by the
deity – yet one can never be certain such acceptance is ever achieved in this
life, that one’s works have been ‘good enough’ to earn redemption. So other
religions can be characterized as “Do, do, do” – while in Christianity it is, “DONE!”
Not by our own human efforts, but by Jesus’ magnificent atonement for sinners
wrought at the cross. Thus any grounds for boasting of our own accomplishment
is undercut. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can
boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
A common greeting in New Testament letters
was, “Grace, mercy, and peace to you...” But what is the difference between ‘grace’
and ‘mercy’? Are the two terms synonymous?
Broadly speaking, it’s been noted that mercy
is “not getting what we deserve”, while on the other hand, grace is
(more positively) “getting what we don’t deserve”. Let’s check this out. One
place where both terms occur in the same verse is Hebrews 4:16 - “Let us then
approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Here the lexicon
defines mercy as “Kindness or good will towards the miserable and the
afflicted, joined with a desire to help them; ... of God towards [people]: in
general providence; the mercy and clemency of God in providing and offering to
[people] salvation by Christ.” Clemency means ‘an act of mercy by a person in
authority toward someone who has committed a crime, especially by reducing a
punishment’. So, mercy highlights the fact that we were all sinners deserving
punishment, alienated from God and bound for hell; yet God intervened such that
Jesus bore the punishment instead for those who trust in Him.
The lexicon gives the following interpretation
for ‘grace’ in this passage: “Good will, loving-kindness, favour... of the
merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns
them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith,
knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian
virtues.” Thus grace in a way is much more positive and all-encompassing than
mercy. Mercy ‘lets us off the hook’ judicially speaking, so we no longer have
to pay the penalty for our disobedience. Whereas grace reorients us to our
Saviour, softening our hearts, transforming us from the inside out to be and
behave more like Jesus. Mercy is more technical or legal, like a verdict of “Not
guilty!” pronounced in the courtroom; but grace affects the pardoned soul in
such a way as to make us appreciative of our Saviour, not wanting to disappoint
Him ever again, and empowers real change restoring us more to the likeness of
God’s original design for humans.
A preacher once exclaimed, "Because of
God's grace, I sin all I want!" Then he paused for a several seconds and
said, "In fact, because of God's grace, I sin more than I want."
In a materialistic dog-eat-dog world where
everybody’s ‘looking out for Number One’, grace can be a rare commodity. People
can be loathe to cut others slack; the knee-jerk reaction can be to lash out if
we sense someone has treated us poorly. But grace stands out and is remarkable,
if we only stop and reflect on God’s goodness to us and then respond to others
out of that overflow.
One example of a gracious response comes
from a time when a famous actor had to be cut completely out of a movie. It was
the movie 'Silverado' that launched Kevin Costner's acting career. But first he
had to weather a huge disappointment. After completing his role in 'The Big
Chill,' Costner was called to a meeting with Lawrence Kasdan, the film's
director. Kasdan explains: "I told Kevin that I felt terrible about it,
but I had to cut out the ending and his part was gone. To my amazement, Costner
was totally cheerful, sanguine, delightful. 'Larry,' he said, 'this has been
the experience of my life. It has shown me what kind of actor I want to be, and
I wouldn't trade it for anything. You have nothing to apologize for – you have
given me a great gift.' It was at that moment that our friendship started. I
was already planning 'Silverado,' and suddenly I thought, I'm going to write a
part for Kevin Costner in that."
By not reacting in rage in response to being cut, Costner demonstrated graciousness, which was especially appreciated because the director was already feeling bad about having to leave him out of the movie. By God’s grace, Good Friday and Easter can also help us become more grace-giving in our own responses to life’s inevitable disappointments. So let’s come boldly to ‘the throne of grace’.
