Law and Grace
Law says: "try harder." It says: "if you really wanted to you could."
And law is the way most of us hear the message of Christianity. But that's not what the Gospel says.
Gospel means "good news." And the message that says "you can be good if you really want to be," or that says "if you would only try harder you could do it" doesn't sound like good news to those who have tried and failed. It doesn't sound like a message that says salvation is available to everyone.
To me that sounds like good news for the strong, the self-controlled, the self-disciplined. Or for those who've never really struggled, who don't know what it's like to truly hate the wrong in their lives. It sounds like good news for those who live in a Father Knows Best fairy tale. Or who are blind to the grace and mercy that they have received. Like the ex-smoker who has forgotten how hard it was to kick the habit and now berates those who say they want to quit but fail every time they try. It's Christianity for those who have no sense of "there but for the grace of God go I." And it's not the Gospel of Jesus as shown in the bible.
Grace says: "I love you as you are." And then grace says: " I love you enough not to leave you as you are."
Grace says: "in weakness I am made strong." Grace says: "let me change you."
Jesus spoke of the Pharisees as those who laid a heavy burden on others that they themselves would not bear. Considering how religious the Pharisees were I find this very interesting. In our world the concept we have of a pharisee is one of hypocrisy. Yet if we look closely at the first century world of Jesus we see that the pharisees were people who were fanatically serious about attending to even the most minute details of their religion. Not only did they tithe (giving 10% minimum of income) to the temple, they gave alms to the poor over and above those tithes. They prayed multiple times a day on a consistent basis. They observed the sabbath scrupulously. They were the most religiously observant Jews of their time. And they demanded the same response from others.
But some folks then, as now, struggle to live such lives. As hard as they try, they fail to live such a structured life of religious observance. They could spend every moment of their lives trying harder and they still would not be able to do it. It's beyond them. It's beyond me. Such a demanding religious expression then must not be the burden the pharisees laid upon others that they themselves would not bear. So what was that burden?
Here's how Jesus described it: "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. " (Matthew 12:4-5 from The Message, a translation of the New Testament by Eugene Peterson)
Implicit in the Mosaic Law and the Judaic traditions are grace and mercy. The giving of alms is not a tax to be paid, but an act of compassion, expressing a desire to alleviate the hurt of another. Mercy. Sabbath observance is not a ritual to affirm our religiously correct behavior, but a time to withdraw from the demands of living and to refocus and center our lives in our relationship with our Creator. There is within that ritual a recognition of the broken bond between the human and the divine that must be repaired. And that sabbath is not something we do for God, but that it is God's gift to us. Grace.
The burden they lay upon others -- "try harder" and "If you really wanted to you could."
No grace. No mercy.
And no recognition of the places in their own lives in which they, too, fail to be the people God has called us to be. They've got the externals down pat. But their hearts are hard and their lives are un-redeemed.
Jesus says to all of us who struggle, who know how weak we are, who have tried and tried, and failed and failed, and who are ready to give up, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message.)
And law is the way most of us hear the message of Christianity. But that's not what the Gospel says.
Gospel means "good news." And the message that says "you can be good if you really want to be," or that says "if you would only try harder you could do it" doesn't sound like good news to those who have tried and failed. It doesn't sound like a message that says salvation is available to everyone.
To me that sounds like good news for the strong, the self-controlled, the self-disciplined. Or for those who've never really struggled, who don't know what it's like to truly hate the wrong in their lives. It sounds like good news for those who live in a Father Knows Best fairy tale. Or who are blind to the grace and mercy that they have received. Like the ex-smoker who has forgotten how hard it was to kick the habit and now berates those who say they want to quit but fail every time they try. It's Christianity for those who have no sense of "there but for the grace of God go I." And it's not the Gospel of Jesus as shown in the bible.
Grace says: "I love you as you are." And then grace says: " I love you enough not to leave you as you are."
Grace says: "in weakness I am made strong." Grace says: "let me change you."
Jesus spoke of the Pharisees as those who laid a heavy burden on others that they themselves would not bear. Considering how religious the Pharisees were I find this very interesting. In our world the concept we have of a pharisee is one of hypocrisy. Yet if we look closely at the first century world of Jesus we see that the pharisees were people who were fanatically serious about attending to even the most minute details of their religion. Not only did they tithe (giving 10% minimum of income) to the temple, they gave alms to the poor over and above those tithes. They prayed multiple times a day on a consistent basis. They observed the sabbath scrupulously. They were the most religiously observant Jews of their time. And they demanded the same response from others.
But some folks then, as now, struggle to live such lives. As hard as they try, they fail to live such a structured life of religious observance. They could spend every moment of their lives trying harder and they still would not be able to do it. It's beyond them. It's beyond me. Such a demanding religious expression then must not be the burden the pharisees laid upon others that they themselves would not bear. So what was that burden?
Here's how Jesus described it: "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. " (Matthew 12:4-5 from The Message, a translation of the New Testament by Eugene Peterson)
Implicit in the Mosaic Law and the Judaic traditions are grace and mercy. The giving of alms is not a tax to be paid, but an act of compassion, expressing a desire to alleviate the hurt of another. Mercy. Sabbath observance is not a ritual to affirm our religiously correct behavior, but a time to withdraw from the demands of living and to refocus and center our lives in our relationship with our Creator. There is within that ritual a recognition of the broken bond between the human and the divine that must be repaired. And that sabbath is not something we do for God, but that it is God's gift to us. Grace.
The burden they lay upon others -- "try harder" and "If you really wanted to you could."
No grace. No mercy.
And no recognition of the places in their own lives in which they, too, fail to be the people God has called us to be. They've got the externals down pat. But their hearts are hard and their lives are un-redeemed.
Jesus says to all of us who struggle, who know how weak we are, who have tried and tried, and failed and failed, and who are ready to give up, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message.)
posted by Wake of the Flood at 6:39 AM
1 Comments:
ahh. that's what i meant to say. well, actually i did say that only in much less eloquent and studied terms.
one part that always seems to trip me up, can't be ignored yet isn't as onerous as it sounds is this:
Grace says: "I love you as you are." And then grace says: " I love you enough not to leave you as you are."
Grace says: "in weakness I am made strong." Grace says: "let me change you."
change me? whoa, cowboy...you think you are gonna change me? i don't think so....
except...
there is that innermost part of me where i have felt unfulfilled, off someway; where no matter how, i couldn't quite catch the tune or key to the song i want to sing - the notes seemed just not quite right. the little unnamed thing that bothered one part of me i couldn't quite figure out...is that the part that can get changed? hmmm.
i guess that part would be ok.
know what? it was, it is and it ever will be to have that be changing. "always reformed. always reforming."
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