My Favourite word in the English language. (Part 1)

A Prostitute got herself into wretched straights. She was homeless, sick, and unable to buy food for her 2-year-old daughter. She told a minister that happened upon her situation. She had been renting out her daughter and made more in one hour than the whole night working on her own. She had to do it, she explained, to support her own drug habit. This of course made him legally liable to report the child abuse.

But what would you say? He said, “Have you ever thought of going to church and seeking help?” A look of pure naïve shock 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.”

I worry about that story in two aspects. Women like that fled to Jesus, not away from Him. The worse a person felt about themselves the more likely they would see Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost the gift of making the down and out no longer feel welcome.

In a society that seems adrift without moorings, there is no better word in the English language in which to drop anchor. I hope you will drop your anchor in this word as you read on. This word is amazing. It contains the essence of the gospel, just like a drop of water can contain the image of the sun. If not already, this can be your story.

There was once a conference being held on comparative religion at a British University, with experts from around the world. They were debating about what was unique about the Christian faith compared to all others. Was it the incarnation? Well other religions have different versions of gods appearing in human form. What about the resurrection? There are other accounts of people returning from the dead. There are even similarities in the ‘Golden Rule’ of treating others the way you would wish to be treated.

C.S.Lewis wandered into the room and asked, “What’s the rumpus about?” He heard that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among all the world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh that’s easy. It’s grace.”

After some discussion, the conference agreed. The notion of God’s love coming free of charge, with no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist 8-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, the Muslim code of law; each of these offer ways to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional. Jesus in His parable of the prodigal son pictures God as a lovesick father.

An acronym of GRACE is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

Paul declares that the church is founded on this; “the declared gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24) Yet often we find a shortage of grace within the church.

They tell me that a vet can learn a lot about a dog owner, even if he has never met the person, just by observing the dog. What does the world learn about God by observing His followers? TBC