Grace

A woman and her grandmother were sitting on their porch discussing a member of the family. “He’s just no good,” the young woman said. “He’s completely untrustworthy, not to mention lazy.” “Yes, he’s bad,” said the grandmother as she rocked back and forth in her rocker, “but Jesus loves him.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” the younger woman persisted. “Oh, yes,” assured the elderly lady. “Jesus loves him.” She rocked and thought for a few more minutes and then added, “Of course, Jesus doesn’t know him like we do.”

Of course, Jesus would know him better than anybody – and love him anyway. In the same way that Jesus knows you better than anyone – and loves you anyway. This is called grace. And understanding that grace is essential to understanding God.

Throughout the scriptures, we are reminded that at the foot of the cross, we all stand on equal ground. God shows no partiality: rich/poor, black/white, Mexican, Asian, American… The truth is we all stand in need of God’s grace. And there is not one of us who is not seen in God’s eyes as a beloved child.

This is at the very heart of our faith. And yet, there is a human tendency to make judgments. Who’s in, who’s out. Who’s acceptable… who’s worthy…who’s worthy of our company, of our compassion, of our love, of our help…

The Irish poet and peacemaker, Padraig O Tunama brings this home for me. He said, “Yeah. I do love praying. Like ‘prier’ from French, ‘to ask.’ What I love about that word is it doesn’t require belief. It just requires recognition of need. And I think the recognition of need is something that brings us to a deep, common language about what it means to be human. And if you’re not in the situation where you know need, well, then you’re lucky. But you will be.”

We all know what it is like to be in need, in need of healing, in need of forgiveness, in need of love. Every one of us…

It is in our shared humanity, and in our common recognition of our need, that we begin to understand God’s grace.

Let us pray, “Holy God, we acknowledge that it is sometimes hard to love people who are different than us. But we trust that your love is extended to all. We thank you for this grace and ask you simply to soften hearts that all may accept and respond to this love. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.