Parousia…Amazingly Graceful

Sometimes I wonder how God feels. Maybe there’s a danger in potentially conflating my feelings with God’s, and I suppose we’ve all done that to some degree. I feel that the world is unjust, so God must. I feel upset when I look at the state of world affairs, so God must be less than thrilled also. It bothers me that people read the Biblical story in ways that differ from my own; therefore, God is surely troubled, too.

It’s very easy to equate God with our individual ego. Meanwhile, plenty of voices remind us that the two are not identical.

Consider the oracle found in Isaiah 55:8-9. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” Perhaps Isaiah is informing us that we can’t possibly know God. Even so, I tend to see this as an affirmation that God performs acts of amazingly gracefulness. After all, this saying comes in a context where the prophet extols a merciful God “who is generous in forgiving” (Isaiah 55:7).

Then, of course, Paul makes a statement similar to Isaiah’s. “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). Like Isaiah, Paul connects God’s unfathomable judgment to His comprehensive grace. “For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all” (Romans 11:32).

No wonder we have trouble understanding a God who shows mercy on all, whose grace is so abundant that our cups overflow. It doesn’t seem natural for anyone to be so graceful, so generous. How do we wrap out heads around that?

Granted, I’m assuming God has feelings. I live with the working assumption that God is passionate, emotional, and even sensitive. I believe that God’s expressions of emotion are authentic. After all, for God to be love, how could it be otherwise? Love is emotional and not simply a function of detached logic.

Maybe that’s the issue. We’ve been trying to make intellectual sense of God and grace instead of simply feeling its welcoming embrace. We try to makes sense of the irrational. Who can explain love?

Yet, I still wonder . . . how does God feel about our penchant for treating grace as primarily something to be received? How does God feel about our tendency of making grace a commodity you acquire in order to cover your sins so you can enjoy a pleasant afterlife? How does God feel about our proclivity for making God’s grace about us and what we get? How does God feel about our long term response to grace?

Frankly, because God is egoless and gracious (which may be synonymous terms) I don’t suspect God is too upset about not receiving acknowledgment. Besides if God bestowed grace only upon those who fully appreciated all of the nuances of grace, grace would cease being grace. Grace is about God-from alpha to omega. Grace is God’s indescribable gift.

Of course, receiving is an element of the grace experience. Certainly, grace covers a multitude of sins. Definitely, deep gratitude and exuberant worship are proper responses to an awareness of God’s grace. All the while, our ego may feel a little twinge when contemplating the reality that grace is not ultimately about taking us anyplace except beyond our individual identity.

But what about God’s feelings to our response to grace. Instead of gushing sentimental displays directed upward, I believe God would be happier with our graceful transformation directed outward.

Consider Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23-25. In an act of grace, the king forgives a debtor who owes a huge amount. Yet, the forgiven man acts dis-gracefully by throwing his debtor into prison. In seeing grace as a product for his own selfish benefit, the man failed to undergo graceful transformation. He was grateful to have his debt forgiven, but not graceful enough to forgive his friend.

John Newton’s classic hymn celebrates God’s amazing grace that saves wretches. Grace delivers us from the wretchedness of selfishness, egocentricity, exclusivity, and isolation. To the extent we grasp on to conceited narcissism we have not yet experienced the complete saving power of grace. Grace that does not call us out of ourselves is pseudo-grace; it promises freedom but brings only the bondage of self-absorption.

Grace becomes effective as our thinking changes from “I got mine” to “How can I pay it forward?” Grace becomes amazing as we transform from reservoirs of grace to living streams of grace. The greatest act of thanksgiving and the most profound worship occurs as we embrace and practice our divine likeness in becoming grace givers. What’s more, our infinite capacity for gracefulness enlarges and expands as we practice grace and perform generosity.

When we extend grace toward others, God’s thoughts and ways become ours. When we have mercy on all, we’ve fathomed the depths of God’s wisdom. When we live gracefully, we’ve searched out God’s ways and judgments. And this is what I believe God absolutely revels in.

~~~~~~~~~~
Originally published on April 28, 2008. (c) Presence International. Parousia is a free Transmillennial publication of Presence. To receive Parousia in your inbox each week click here.