Grace, Grace, Grace...

Grace, grace, grace...we hear it all of the time. I remember as a younger kid (and even still), I would always hear grace, whether in prayer, the Bible, or during church. Grace is such a common word among Christians. Why is it so important? Well, first off, what is grace? Grace is “a free, underived gift given by God, to us”. <— Thanks, Google, for that exact definition. Also, this is NOT a sponsorship. So...yeah, we are given blessing that we don’t deserve but why is it THAT important to mention daily? Here is my opinion on why grace is so underrated and why the word should be used even more than it is now...

In Luke 7, we see this pretty interesting story that I’m sure we’ve heard before. Basically, Jesus is eating with religious leaders, and during their meal, a “sinful woman” comes in, and begins to do something pretty un-cultural. She wipes Jesus’ feet with the tears from her eyes, and the hair on her head, while anointing them with oil. While this is taking place, Simon (Pharisee) thought, ‘if this man is who He said He is, then wouldn’t He know who this woman is and what she has done? Surely if He knew, He would not allow this to be happening right now’ (summary). Jesus then tells him a parable about a man who had two debtors. One owed little, and the other owed much. When he realized that they could not pay him back, he canceled their debt. Jesus asked Simon, “Now which of them will love him more?” To which Simon says, “the one for whom he canceled the larger debt”. Jesus soon states the popular verse, “‘Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ (‭‭Luke‬ ‭7:47‬ ‭ESV‬‬)” Jesus then forgives her sins and tells her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace”. Now that story time is over, let’s talk about what we see in this passage. There is so much, but here are the things I see.

1. The woman doesn’t knock and say, “Hey Jesus, can I come cry on your feet and rub my gross hair on your feet?” Nope. She comes in and just washes His feet with all that she has, and all that she can afford. What can we learn from this? I see it like this... If you feel far from God, don’t hesitate to barge in on Him. He always has time for you. In fact, He makes time for you. His schedule is always open and because of His omnipresence and omnipotence, He intentionality has time for you whenever and wherever. Also, just a side note... If you feel far from God, know that it’s not even theologically sound. When Jesus’ ministry starts in Matthew 4, the first thing He says (in red) is, “repent, for the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND”. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Stop thinking God is far. It’s just not true. He is like He promises, always with us (Joshua 1:9b). 2. Now, on to Simon. According to Matthew 26:6, Simon was most likely a leper healed by Jesus. Therefore, he has already tasted the grace of God. Simon seems to be blindsided by his own sin. Almost as though he thinks he has little to no sin to be forgiven of. Either that, or this woman was really, really bad. However, Jesus puts him in his place by reminding him of his sin, using the parable of the moneylender. Sometimes we become like Simon. We look at our neighbors, friends, or even family members, who are “for sure far from the Lord” and say, “how can they talk about God and what He has done in their life when they show no sign of Him in their life?!” Since when did we become the judge? We must stop. Just like it wasn’t appropriate for Simon to even say it to himself, it isn’t appropriate for us to say it to ourselves or to others. Let’s celebrate others victories in Jesus. When a neighbor who seems to be caught in cycles of sin gives God the glory, let’s celebrate that with them (Romans 12:15).

3. Finally, the “meat of the story”. In Luke 7, Jesus states, “‘Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’” My point to take from this verse is this: we must look at our sin with perspective. Our sin is so wrong and has gotten out of hand. We have become accustomed to our own sin. How sick! When we can see how gross and sinful we are, then we can see how great His grace is! His grace is so sufficient for us, but when we mellow out our sin, we have more trouble celebrating the freedom we have in Jesus. Let’s celebrate the grace of God in our lives. After all, He saved us from eternal death for eternal life with Him.

4. Finally, my fourth and final point. The final verse in Luke 7 states, “And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’” This point is pretty obvious. We can only live in peace because of the grace God has bestowed on us. Imagine if our moneylender didn’t drop our debt. Just try to imagine the weight of your own sin on your shoulders. There would be no peace present. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us” (Ephesians‬ ‭2:4‬ ‭ESV‬). Because of the depth of His love, He offered us forgiveness of sins. What love! Another side note...throughout the gospels, there are times when someone with physical impairments would ask for healing. Before Jesus heals the physical, He heals the spiritual, by forgiving their sins. This should be a sign to us, showing us that the forgiveness of our sins is of far more importance than anything else — including walking, itself. Again; what love! Now back to the point. Because of His gracious wealth, we have been set free. So, now we must walk in peace, for the war has already been won.

Overall, I think that this message goes well with the past few blogs on the importance of the gospel. The key thing in the gospel is grace. If we ought to be reminding ourselves of the saving power of the gospel everyday, then we must also be reminding ourselves of the great grace He has for us. Although “grace” is such a common word in Christianity today, it isn’t used enough. It’s because of this 5-letter word that we have new life in Jesus. Thank You, Jesus for Your grace!

- Jack Hilsher