Through GRACE we are a church engaged with each other and our world.
(Mission FOCUS)
Board Devotional - Week 1
Devotional Reading: Romans 15:1-18
Grace is a word that we use many different ways in English. It can be a title (Your Grace). It can refer to elegant or refined movement. We say grace at meals and give grace periods around due dates. We have the grace to admit we are wrong one day, and pompously grace others with our presence the next.
It’s a malleable term.
In scripture there is also some flexibility around the use of the word grace in that it can be used to describe something as broad as the whole of God’s activity toward men, or something as specific as his favorable disposition toward an individual at a particular time. The most common Biblical definition of grace, though, is simply the “the unmerited love and favor of God toward men.”
Most of us have run across this or similar descriptions in sermons and other messaging often enough that the idea of grace can begin to seem routine. We’ve heard it all before and so run the risk of undervaluing grace’s impact when we don’t actually stop and think about what it means when we say it. The grace of God, His unmerited favor, means that in spite of the fact that you can hide nothing from Him, and He knows who you are at your core, God Loves You. If you really think about the implications it is paradigm shattering. In a world where nothing is free, this, the ultimate prize, is free.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
In looking at the Biblical concept of grace more carefully of late I’ve been struck by how individualistic our understanding of grace can be. Modern Christianity focuses almost solely on the salvific impact of grace within our independent stories. Now, there is nothing implicitly wrong with this. The free gift of grace does allow an unworthy person to develop a personal relationship with a holy God, and that’s magnificent. But this approach is different from what you may notice in other portions of scripture.
More often than not, Biblically recorded encounters with God’s grace are communal in nature. In the Old Testament, God’s grace redeems Israel as a people time and time again. In the New Testament, Paul repeatedly speaks about the grace of God in collective terms as well.
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
So the natural question is, if grace is something that we can encounter as a community what does that look like in practice? And, is this type of shared participation even important anymore or are individual, but somewhat parallel, experiences with grace enough for us?
The more I read, the more convinced I am that a corporate encounter with the grace of God is important, not just for our community, but also for the world around us. Individuals have life altering experiences all the time. There’s nothing particularly unique about that. But a whole group of very different people having a collective experience with God that changes them all, is nothing short of remarkable.
A grace redeemed community is marked not by a homogenous world view, similar cultural preferences and parallel ideological leanings. Rather, a community marked by God’s grace is one that experiences a spirit of unity and shared love both in spite of and through our very different backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, and even political parties. We’re not just talking about the emotional “kumbaya” moments that occasionally pop up among folk from varied walks of life. This is a more difficult path, one where we intentionally insist on the daily practice of good will toward all men.
It is a rule of life for the redeemed. And it’s not easy. In fact, it’s impossible. That’s what makes it so remarkable to the world.
“The world is not impressed by a church where everyone who is essentially the same is getting along with each other. The world needs to see the church practice what is extremely difficult to accomplish: an incredibly diverse group of people loving and advocating for one another.””
Paul acknowledges the difficulty of this work at times when he speaks of God’s gift of grace in conjunction with expectations of human responsibility. This is the case in today’s passage from Romans 15. Our acceptance of one another, just as Christ accepted us, is what glorifies God. It is not a passive acceptance. In fact, it often involves active work for the benefit of others that may be in conflict with our personal needs. But the God of grace, present in individual lives in the context of community, is capable of what we are not. Our unity is the work of the spirit and the gift of grace.
So, as grace empowers us each day as a church family, to engage with each other and our world—
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement
give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
— Romans 15:5-6