I want to be a gracious person because I am blown away by God’s grace. God’s grace is love generously and unconditionally given to us. Jesus shows us how God’s love overcomes all things, even death itself.
Grace is not just a theological concept to me or just something which I study from the Bible. God’s daily grace in my life sustains me. My spiritual wrongs, aka sins, are real. I am wasteful. I could be a better steward of creation (for example). But God doesn’t withhold blessings from me because of my wrong doing. God does not withhold love. I am not what I achieve, or do or don’t do. I am loved. Period.
Have you felt that sense of just brimming with gratitude because of God’s awesome love? All I want to do when that grace takes hold of me is respond in kind. This is the transformative power of grace-it changes me and you into a conduit for the continued sharing of that grace.
Extending God’s grace to other people is still, however, not easy for most of us. Some Christians think that being nice or avoiding disagreements is the way of Jesus. This leads people to hold onto resentments or talk behind people’s backs. Grace never shrinks from the light of day. Others might think that embracing God’s grace means keeping things positive and happy. This can make our loving-kindness flimsy and superficial. Grace inspired by God is courageous.
Jesus is our model of grace. Jesus loved unconditionally. Any look at scripture reveals that Jesus spoke with others about hard things. Jesus called people out for being judgmental and unjust. Jesus showed us that being in loving relationships with people is anything but easy. Grace takes self-awareness and effort. Love is hard work. I suppose being gracious takes a lot of humility on our part as well, because grace demands we see each other as equally loved by God. As Christ followers, we don’t require a person to earn humane and kind treatment. Jesus respected the fundamental value of all people and thus, so should we.
June is a month when the LGBTQ+ community celebrates its ‘pride’. Pride in this sense is not vanity but a celebration of authentic self-love. Because I proclaim the unconditional love of God is real, I celebrate wholeheartedly that God loves lesbian women, gay men, bi-sexual persons, transgendered people, and all the folks who identify as part of the *Queer community. (*Queer is a term reclaimed in order to counter its past negative uses). Our church family includes individuals who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Not making assumptions about who people love or what pronouns they use is one way we are gracious with one another. This is God’s love in action-not just extended for a month but always.
I don’t think there has been one moment in history when being gracious has NOT been important. But right now, as we navigate a time of shifting expectations and heightened divisions coming out of a global pandemic, being gracious with each other is truly needed. Our love should be active and expansively shared.
So what might it look like if we double the dose of grace we extend to others (and to ourselves) as we move into this summer? Might we choose kinder words when we speak with each other? Might we choose to be curious rather than judgmental, compassionate rather than condescending, generous rather than defensive? Might we let our whole hearts fill with gratitude as we consider the goodness of God and the depths of God’s grace? I’ll try. Won’t you join me?
Peace,
Pastor Stefanie