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Episode 17
A key characteristic of dispensers of grace is humility which is commended highly in a parable in Luke 18:9-14. Two people went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed, “I thank you God that I am not like the rest of mankind - greedy, dishonest, adulterous or for that matter, like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all that I get.” But he kept his distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven, but beat upon his breast, saying, “God, have mercy on me, sinner that I am.” It was this man I tell you, and not the other who went home acquitted of his sins. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’ Was it not Peter who also says, ‘…God sets his face against the arrogant but shows favour to the humble’ (1Pet 5:5).
You, who have experienced grace, should in turn give grace to others. Learn to forgive people. Forgive those who hurt you or did you wrong. In the words of Paul, ‘Be generous to one another, tender hearted forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you’ (Eph 4:32).
Practise the ‘one anothering’ principle. Love people. Be less judgmental, more understanding and loving. Sympathize with people’s faults and foibles. Apply the golden rule: ‘Always treat others as you would like them to treat you: this is the law and prophets’ (Matt 7:12).
What intrigues me about Jesus Christ is that he is a ‘friend of sinners’ rather than a ‘friend of the righteous’. The most righteous people were the Pharisees. Jesus was always gracious to the sinners but hostile to sin. He accepted them, loved them and was not afraid to be associated with them. He went out of his way to meet sinners, ate with them and befriended them.
Take a few examples: Jesus chose Matthew the tax-collector hated by the public. He talked with the woman with five marriages and a live-in lover. He accepted the anointing of the prostitute. He did not despise the unclean woman who touched him. He did not despise any man or woman regardless of their background or credentials. He accepted and respected the women so much that that they followed him from the cradle to the cross. The Gospel of God is the gospel of grace. Grace becomes a new equation when Jesus came. Everyone, and not only a selected few, can receive his grace.
A great illustration of a dispenser of grace is none other than Dorcas whose name means ‘gazelle’ (or Tabitha in Aramaic) in Acts 9:36-42. Dorcas was an ordinary woman with little education. She would fill her days with ‘acts of kindness and charity’ (9:36), going around helping needy people, caring for the outcast, clothing the poor and feeding the hungry.
One day she fell ill and died. So the mourners washed her body and laid it in a room upstairs. The disciples sent for Peter to come to the city Joppa where Dorcas’ body rested. When Peter arrived at the house, he sent the people out, knelt towards the body and prayed, ‘Tabitha (or Dorcas) get up’. She opened her eyes, saw Peter and sat up. Then Peter showed her to the widows and church members. News spread around Joppa of Dorcas’ rising from the dead and many people came to know the Lord.
Dorcas was just an ordinary woman. She was not a famous preacher, teacher or VIP (very important person). Yet she was so important to God and to the people in that city that Peter had to come to the Joppa to raise her. All because she practised grace - acts of kindness and charity.
When Peter the great apostle who preached to thousands of people died, God did not raise him. When Paul the great theologian who has given us some of the greatest theological treatises in the Scripture, passed away, God also did not raise him. Neither did he raise the rest of the apostles, prophets or teachers. Yet when Dorcas, an ordinary woman, died she was raised because she practised grace. This tells us something about God, doesn’t it?
An excellent definition for grace comes from the pen of S. M. Lindsay, ‘Grace is something you need but do not deserve’. That in a nutshell is what grace is all about. God gives us not what we deserve but what we need. Imagine if God were to give us what we deserve, where would we be today? Why should we be ministers and models of grace? Why should we practise grace? Let me suggest three compelling reasons:
Scripture Teaches Grace
Better still, the Scripture demonstrates it. It begins with God in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Look at the life of Christ. His life, teachings and actions embodied the concept of grace. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, ‘Love your enemies’, ‘turn the other cheek’ and ‘walk the second mile’. That is essentially a message of grace. Jesus taught us to give people what they need, not what they deserve.
Let’s look at the story of the prodigal son. When he returned home, he was given a warm and rousing welcome instead of being punished. He was called ‘son’ despite what he had done. He was embraced and kissed by the father. The father ran towards the son and embraced him although the son did not say a word. He was given a robe, sandals and a ring to wear. That was grace practised by the father. His father gave him what he needed and not what he deserved. The story of the prodigal son is a ‘theology of embrace’ (to use Miroslav Volf’s phrase). The will to embrace others is absolutely indiscriminate and unconditional.
How about the story of the Good Samaritan? He helped someone he did not need to help because that man was not his own kind. Neither was it safe for him to do so in light of the situation. The irony was that the injured man’s own people refused to help him. The Samaritan by helping that wounded Jewish man was practising grace. How about Jesus’ teaching to Peter to forgive seventy times seven? Was that not grace in action?
It is one thing to teach about grace. It is another to practise grace. The question is, did Jesus himself practise grace? Yes many times. They can be seen in the stories of the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11), the immoral woman (Luke 7:36-50), the outcast Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and others.
When Jesus met the adulterous woman, he told a murderous crowd, ‘let he that is without sin cast the first stone’ and then to the woman, ‘neither do I condemn you’ (John 8: 7,11), Jesus gave her what she needed, not what she deserved. I believe that grace in action changed her.
Think about Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). The people despised him because he was a tax-collector but Christ didn’t despise him. Instead, he wanted to go to his home. Jesus gave Zacchaeus what he needed not what he deserved.
But the climax of Jesus as a model and minister of grace was when he said, ‘Father forgive them because they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34). Think for a moment. Did they not know what they were doing? They knew they were crucifying a man who did no wrong although they might not have known its full implications. Jesus practised grace on them.
On the cross, when Jesus told one of the two criminals to be crucified beside him, ‘Truly I tell you: today you will be with me in Paradise’ (Luke 23:43), Jesus was practising grace on the undeserving criminal.
When we look at the cross, it has two dimensions: spiritual and social. It is a statement of what God has done for us but it is also a statement of what we should do for others. Divine grace obliges us to practise grace on others.
Similarly, we find the practise of grace in the teachings of Paul when he said, ‘Repay evil not for evil’, ‘forgive one another’, ‘love covers a multitude of sin’, ‘do not take revenge because vengeance is mine’ and ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; by doing this you will heap live coals on his head’ (Rom 12:20).
Those who have been hurt by words or deeds and scandalized by people may take comfort from Paul’s words, ‘Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will deal with him as he deserves…’ (2 Tim 4:14). We must remember God always has the final say. God being God can change adverse situations. ‘You meant to do me harm; but God meant to bring good out of it…’ (Gen 50:19) as Joseph said. Learn to see things from God’s perspective, it will help you to exercise grace on others. (1507 Words)
Discussion Questions