I Found: A Gracious God
Philip Yancy, in his book ‘What’s so amazing about Grace’ tells this story:
A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter—two years old!—to men interested in kinky sex. She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing, it made me legally liable—I’m required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this woman.
At last, I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naive shock that crossed her face. “Church!” she cried. “Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.”
How is it that religion has managed to take the most wonderful story of grace, that God would love us, and turn it into a message of judgement?
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:14-17 ESV
In describing the nature of God within these few verses, God's grace is emphasised three times. Verse 14, says He's full of grace, in verse 16, we receive from Him, grace upon grace and in verse 17, in contrast to Law, grace comes into existence, grace began to be explained and understood.
Of all the attributes of God, grace is not only the most life-changing, but also the hardest one for our fallen human nature to come to terms with. So much so, that the major part of two whole New Testament books, Galatians and Romans are dedicated to explaining it.
The New Testament word for grace is 'charis'. Its basic meaning is a sense of beauty or attractiveness or the friendly disposition that is directed toward a person who is the object of grace. To show grace refers to the affection one has to someone else, when you find them attractive.
To illustrate this, and to give it some context, the Greeks had three goddesses who were collectively known as 'Graces'. They didn't have any outstanding supernatural powers and abilities. All they did was dance around and make themselves look beautiful. The ‘Grace’ goddesses came to represent all the things people find attractive in others.
In English, we've adopted the word to describe beauty and elegance. We might say that a princess looks gracious, or she carries herself with grace. By that we would mean, she stays beautiful in the midst of the mundane affairs of life. We also use the word when somebody of beauty, or high rank, bestows their attention and time on others- we say "they 'graced us' with their presence".
If we give a gift as a token of appreciation, that isn't a wage, we call it a gratuity. In a music score, if there are extra little notes, that are not required as part of the melody or harmony, but are an optional extra- purely to make to performance more pleasing- these are called 'grace notes’. Every one of these meanings implies a beauty or attraction that exists apart from, and often despite their practical value.
However, the self-righteous part of our fallen human nature seeks approval from God by how we have performed. We judge by performance or moral standards rather than grace and mercy. We are hurt by what is not fair, condemned by past failings and strive to impress God and others through our works. As Paul wrote to the church in Galatia- "having begun in the Spirit, are you now seeking to be perfected in the flesh". (Galatians 3:3)
Grace is at the very core of God's nature and it is the basis on which He chooses to form a relationship with us. God is not interested in a legalist 'holier than thou' faith. God wants us to intimately know His unconditional love and favour. The startling truth of the Gospel is that God didn't rescue us because we deserved rescuing, or even because we needed rescuing, God poured his love and mercy upon us- because he thinks we are beautiful. He is attracted to us.
One of the most powerful illustrations of God’s grace is found in the Old Testament book of Hosea. Hosea had married a prostitute named Gomer. For a while, the marriage went well, but as the romance faded, Gomer left and returned to her sinful past of adultery and eventually became destitute. Hosea sought her out and mercifully provided for her needs.
In a final act of desperation, Hosea found her being sold in a slave market. He paid an unduly high amount for her. Then Hosea took her far away. Away from anywhere that she could be shamed. He protected her, provided for her and restored her sense of worth, ‘till she could again know her husband's love.
Many people read the story of Hosea and Gomer and think, “how could Hosea still love Gomer, I don’t know if I could do that”. However, in Hosea and Gomer’s story, we aren’t Hosea- we’re Gomer. It’s us who have fallen, it’s us who are loved beyond all human love, it’s us who are the attention of God’s grace.
Discovering the grace of God takes us from the iron lung of Law, works and condemnation to the free ocean breeze, the spring rain- the 'I can't help but smile' joy of salvation. It’s when we discover the God of Grace, that we find our true value and a right relationship with God.
