My Problem With Grace
Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash
God’s Grace Helps Me Solve My Problem With Understanding
by Eric Elkin
“Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”
I struggle with grace. This is a dangerous confession for a pastor. My job is to proclaim the grace of God and try to practice the art of grace-giving in my daily life. Yet, those two aspects are not my problem. Not that I am perfect in these two aspects; most of us are not perfect. My problem is understanding it.
Pastor Bob Nervig taught me the burden of grace. It was a lesson I am forever thankful for receiving. Out of deep compassion for wounded souls, Pastor Bob knew the power of grace to transform lives. He knew most children who live on the fringes rarely received a pardon for their sins. How could lost souls understand the love of God if they never experienced grace?
As valuable as this lesson was, what do you do when grace creates a problem? How safe would our roads be if every time a drunk driver got pulled over, the police officer said, “Your punishment is the undeserved forgiveness of God?” What would happen in a classroom if the teacher did not discipline a student who hit another student? Instead, demanded the victim to turn the other cheek and let them get hit again?
This is my problem with grace. We all want to receive it, but few want to give it. People will give grace when the person deserves it. But then, earned grace is not the kind of grace God grants. How do I/we determine when grace is not the best approach to a problem? Then there is the deeper question, when do I get to receive grace? That is ultimately what my soul wants.
“The farther I run away from the place where God dwells, the less I am able to hear the voice that calls me the Beloved, and the less I hear that voice, the more entangled I become in the manipulations and power games of the world.”
The Prodigal Son is one of the most recognized stories in the world. Even people who have never attended church know it. The sons epitomize the two sides of grace — the free gift of undeserved pardon and the burden of granting grace to a manipulator.
The lives of both sons are being threatened in this story. If the younger son remains a manipulator and shyster, grace will ultimately be his undoing. If the older son cannot give up his grudge and grant grace, the stress of hatred might kill him.
There is one line I hold onto in this story. I invite you to cling it as well. These words move me beyond my performance of grace-giving and the emptiness of not receiving grace. When I read them, I welcome them as though God spoke them directly to me. “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” These words remove the struggle and help me understand I am loved.
Click to read Luke 15: 11-32
Reflection Questions:
IN the story of the Prodigal Son, which son do you most identify with?
What can you learn from the one you struggle to understand?
How do you decide when to give grace and when not to?
Where do you need to experience grace today
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