Grace in Relationships

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  2 Corinthians 12:9

In the Old Testament, the way to God was through a list of over 600 rules and regulations referred to as ‘The Law.’ A problem that came with the law is that it was performance based and we, as humans, could never fully reach the potential needed to be perfect. We simply were too weak.

God, in His great love saw that the only way we could be rescued from our sinful lives was for His one and only Son to live among us and show us the way to the Father. The sin question would once and for all be settled through Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross and His resurrection three days later. This would be the only way we could have relationship with the Father God, creator of heaven and earth.

In a nutshell, that is what grace is about; Relationship with God. The apostle Paul knew about this relationship. He’d been steeped in the law and knew its harshness. One day, on a dusty country road he found new life when the light of the world literally blinded him and then healed both his physical and spiritual blindness. From that point on, Paul lived in relationship with God through Jesus.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul’s wisdom and vision was instrumental in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the Mediterranean world. His letters and teachings became the foundation on which many of our church doctrines are founded.

All of this to say that it is intriguing to find, tucked away in his second letter to the church in Corinth, a struggle Paul had with some unidentified ‘thorn in the flesh’. We aren’t told what this thorn was. It may be that we are not told what the thorn was because it doesn’t matter. We all have thorns. What we told is that even the mighty Paul was not able to overcome whatever it was that hindered him. 

After three times of fervent prayer and petition, Paul gets the answer none of us really want to hear from God. Paul writes it very eloquently, with a touch of political correctness, but what God really said to him was: “NO”. No is never easy to take, especially from one that has promised to meet all of our needs and protect us. But that was the answer.

Rather than granting his request, God gave him a truth that each of us needs to grasp during those time when all of life seems to be going into the trash. HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT. Sufficient means enough. It means it’s adequate to meet whatever struggles we have in our lives.

The strength of our relationships is measured by the amount of trust we have in that person. If I trust you, then your ‘no’s’ are easier to take because I know that what you say is true. Grace is a trusting relationship with God the Father which says that when things don’t go as I hope, He will give me all I need to conquer or endure whatever cards I am dealt in life.

Father God, during those times when I can’t understand the ‘no answers’ of life, and during those times when my weakness overwhelms my will to go on, help me to grow in Grace. Amen.

The strength in weakness

During this current political process there has been a lot of discussion over the negative tone of advertisements by candidates. It seems like virtually every political commercial attempts to defame someone for this action or that activity.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if a candidate went on TV to say, “I’m really weak in foreign policy and economics has always been hard for me. But please vote for me. I’ll do my best and I have good friends to help me.”

I’m thinking that wouldn’t get anyone very far. It’s not cool to boast about being weak. Yet, that is exactly what Paul is doing in 2 Corinthians 12:10 where he says “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

While weakness is looked down upon in society, within the life of the Jesus follower it is a benefit. When we realize our inability to live the way God wants us to, we can more easily rely on Him to help us through the difficulties of life.

The Carol speaks of a man named Scrooge who built his entire life and fortune on being strong. The weak were those who were poor in wealth and power. Those who had failed in life were destined to the treadmill and the poor law.

Yet, when Scrooge became weak. When he realized his own inadequacy. Then the Grace of God could reach out to him and show him the true meaning of Christmas. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says “My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

This Grace we speak of is completely undeserved and makes us strong even in our weakness. That is why we can say, “thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.”

Free to live again!

She was guilty. She was afraid. She was alone. There was no denying these facts. She stood before the Holy Man and listened as the charges were read against her. She looked around the circle for one, just one friendly face. There was none. She couldn’t bear to look at the Holy Man. Then, he knelt down and began to write in the sand. The accusations and questions continued. These men were determined that she be condemned.

The Holy Man stood and faced the men in the circle. She heard him say, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Her heart sank. The men in the circle around her were surely innocent. THEY were the religious elite. They were the ones that held her life, her future in their hands. Again he knelt and wrote in the sand.

How could she have allowed herself to be in this position? She knew better. She’d seen many people stoned to death for adultery. Why didn’t she learn from all that? Why didn’t the pain of shattered or shallow relationships teach her a lesson?

She closed her eyes and hung her head. She braced herself for the first stone to be thrown. The wait was agonizing and long. The silence was deafening. Then a voice spoke.

“Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” She slowly looked up and realized that she was alone. The circle of men had disappeared.

Her voice was barely audible, “No one sir.” Then she looked at the Holy Man for the first time and saw something that she had never seen before. In those eyes she saw acceptance, love and understanding. There was no condemnation. There was no ridicule.

Jesus looked into her eyes. “Then neither do I condemn thee. Go…and sin no more.”

The woman left that day with a new outlook on life. She left with hope for a new tomorrow and a second chance.

The story about the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) isn’t about adultery. It’s about bad choices. It’s about not living up to your potential. It’s about failing. But more than that, this story is about GRACE. Jesus offers each of us the same release he gave to the woman.

We are NOT condemned. We are guilty. But through Him we can receive forgiveness and a new life.

The Struggle to Believe

Mark 9 tells the story of a family torn apart by a terrible seizure disorder that would often attack the parent’s young son. While the Bible identifies the source of the seizures as being the work of a demon, the reason wasn’t nearly as important to the worried parents as the possible outcome.

When the seizures struck, the boy would convulse, grind his teeth and his young defenseless body become as stiff as a board. At times the child’s body would come dangerously close to writhing into the fire, or the nearby sea. Both would mean certain death.

The father is the one who does the speaking in the story, but mom in probably very close by. We aren’t told in Mark if the parents were religious, but indications are that they had performed all the sacrifices needed for healing and were faithful Hebrews. The very fact that they sought out the new Holy Man in the area must mean something.

They finally came upon a crowd that had gathered at the foot of a mountain. The Holy Man (Jesus of Nazareth) had gone into the hills with a few of His closest friends.  The crowd anxiously awaited his return. The plight of the family finally reached the ears of Jesus’ disciples. The man came to them begging  them to heal his son.

Similar passages in the New Testament indicate that very likely, these same disciples had just returned from a successful missions trip in which they were empowered to cast out demons, heal the sick and give sight to the blind. One can imagine the suspense as the parents look on, the crowd watches in anxious anticipation and the disciples prepare to heal the young man.

Something went terribly wrong in the process however. There seemed to be nothing that the disciples could do to rescue the boy from the terrible seizures. The crowd scoffed. The parents hung thier heads. This, thier last chance had met with failure as well. There was no hope.

Then, as they turned to leave, Jesus returns. He questions the parents, and asks them if  they believe! What a question. While they may have believed at one time, It’s not surprising that the father professes his belief in a God that can do all things, while at the same time admitting that his faith was weak and dwindling.

Jesus spoke. The demon left the boy as a corpse. Then Jesus raised him up and gave the healthy young man back to his parents.

That’s grace! We serve a God that at times can seem agonizingly silent, or distant. His actions are not as we’d like. But, like the distraught parents we can come to him when we doubt and know He will listen and reach out His hands towards us.

The Carol tells the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge. A man long ago hardened by a God he no longer believed in. Yet, on that mysterious Christmas Eve, Scrooge was awakened to the reality that God does exist and reaches out to all who are in need, whether that be the physical need of the street urchins, or the spiritual void of the rich.

As Tiny Tim would say…”God Bless us, Everyone.”