29 August 2006

We will continue taking from Bonhoeffer and his writing on grace - cheap & costly.

Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth the love of God taught as the Christian "conception" of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, ipso facto a part in that grace. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.

It sounds as thought he general concept of a God who paints everything nice and clean just because that is what God does is all a part of what can be so cheap about grace. We have all heard such a word and probably been a part of it. It is really a mushy word that may have an immediate impact on someone but then...it has no substance upon which we can build our lives in a new way. Even though we have yet to hear Bonhoeffer talk about costly grace, we can hear in his description of cheap grace the voice (of costly grace) that is calling for - a life shift - a remaking of life - a transformation - a letting go of what we like to control and a turning to that which is in God's hands. I often find that as I am talking about the love of God it is so very easy to leave off the cost that comes in, with, and under the word of grace. It is like forgetting to tell the story of the night in which our Lord was betrayed as we enter into the Eucharistic banquet. The banquet must tell the whole story which is also the story of our lives - the utter brokenness and the amazing grace that opens up space beyond our fall so that we can step into something very new and yet very much out of our control.

Connection: We must all learn to say "yes" and "no" and to live with the tension of taking both of these words to heart. It is also important to note that in every "yes" there must be some shape of "no" that needs to be heard - and vice versa.

Come, Lord Jesus, and take us up within you gracious Reign so that as we face this day we will continue to look at where we will walk as your followers. Encourage us as we see the many places into which you carry us so that we will not run away from the expansive love of your way. Amen.