Grace in All Its Forms
From The Pastor’s Desk—
One Sunday last month, only one person showed up for the 8:30 service. This happens every once in a while, and when it does, I abandon some of the formal parts of the liturgy (such as the Call to Worship), and alter how I deliver my sermon. Rather than simply preaching, I take the opportunity to turn it into more of a dialogue, allowing the individual to share any thoughts or questions they might have.
On this particular Sunday, the attendee asked about Grace. While “grace” is a term we often use, in a variety of senses, in the life of the church, it can be hard to pin down. The easiest definition comes from a direct translation of the Greek term charis: grace, favor, kindness, blessing. When Paul writes of the variety of gifts expressed through the community of the faithful, whether preaching or teaching or encouraging, he uses a form of charis. Relatedly, the oils used in baptism, anointing the sick, and consecrations in Catholic and Orthodox liturgies are called chrism, which services from the same root.
While blessing, kindness, and showing favor are all related, they encompass a lot of territory. So, what does “grace” truly mean? The simplest answer is that there is no one answer. Grace describes a relationship, rather than a simple event or occurrence. When we speak of grace, we speak of the presence of God impacting the life of this world.
Necessarily, that grace can look very different, depending on the circumstance. It is grace when someone struggling with addiction makes the difficult choice to get help (as well as in the instances they are able to resist temptation, or to try again after relapsing). It is grace when, in conversation with a therapist or a friend, that we are able to forgive someone who has hurt or disregarded us. It is grace when we can see a stranger as a beloved child of God, despite the social distinctions that might separate us.
Nikos Kazantzakis, author of “Zorba the Greek” and “The Last Temptation of Christ” once wrote: The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness. We will never run short of difficult or challenging or downright depressing circumstances, yet grace is what allows us not to be daunted by these things. Grace is the gift that allows us to shine the light of the gospel into all of the shadowy places of our lives and this world.
—Pastor Jon
