Exploring the wonder of God's grace and its implications for our daily lives.
Grace is central to a life lived out of faith. It provides meaning to our identities and purpose to our day-to-day. As the old, beloved hymn Amazing Grace reminds us, “‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
Freely offered to creation, grace is an expression of God’s love and forgiveness. We hear the word over and over and its ubiquity sometimes desensitizes and pacifies our response. In one sense, understanding God’s grace can feel unfathomable and incalculable; the logic of the Kingdom is not undergirded by the scorekeeping of the world. Instead, our grasp of grace has to rely on a theology of abundant generosity and tenderness.
But in another sense, God’s grace is the only thing that makes sense in our world of pain and division. It is the necessary balm for our society’s struggles, the sacred core of our belonging as human beings in relationship with our Creator.
As recipients of grace, we get to be active ministers of it on earth, to bring more of heaven here. To embody grace for others, we first must understand it in the context of our own lives. In his Gospel, John writes:
“And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” – John 1:14, 16
We all have been gifted grace from God’s full-heartedness. Grace is the result of the vast richness and goodness of God’s character. Pity and manipulation have no place within this extension of care for us. It is a freely given promise that acts as an expression of delight, an ever-flowing redeclaration of our identity and purpose.
God’s grace frees us from the burdens of shame and regret. Its presence in our lives is transformative—we have the privilege of living and moving within the safety of God’s affection. And within this understanding is an invitation to both see people as fellow recipients of grace and extend grace in our relationships with them.
Knowing that God bestows grace upon all of creation, people have been moved to respond to this gift for centuries. Issuing a call to his community, Peter writes:
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” – 1 Peter 4:10
Desiring to work with and through us, God uniquely equips each of us to become stewards of grace to the people in our lives. Being a steward requires the act of looking after something and giving human shape to an idea or mission. Put more simply, stewardship is partnership with God.
God invites us all into this partnership, moving us to reflect grace through the kindness, forgiveness, patience, and gentleness we share with each other. May we show up to our tables, offices, neighborhoods, classrooms, grocery stores, and more with an understanding of our ability to steward grace to better serve and love others. Wherever these words find you, may you be reminded of the fullness of God’s grace towards you, and encouraged to live out your sacred capability to extend it to your communities.
Words: Rachel Johnson
Photography: Kate Laine
