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The Problem with the Traditional Concept of Grace In the shuttered confessional of Father Flanagan, Four Fingered Willie unloads the guilt of his latest hit. The ageless priest, his senses dulled by the exploits of the privileged classes, proscribes the usual penance. Moments after leaving the church, the mobster is mowed down on the street in a hail of gunfire. Across the street, Rachel Reubens, an agnostic social worker rushing to continue her crusade to lift welfare mothers out of their socio/economic despair, is killed by a stray bullet. At the same time, somewhere in the depths of the Amazon Rain Forest, native tribesmen are wiped out by land developers before missionaries can reach them to spread the Gospel of Grace: while, somewhere in America, a whiskey sippin' tele-evangelist strives to require God's Grace every night he can manage. Put these few examples together with the vast parade of history prior to Christ's sacrifice, and we have enough contradiction to drive a thinking person mad. Just how does Grace apply to these situations? What of the many "good" people today who are put off by the apparent hypocrisy they see in what passes for the teaching of The Master -- of the evil done in the name of Jesus -- such as those who would justify the burning of a church, yet call themselves Christian? My own minister recently asked if I was aware of the vast array of books written on the subject of Grace. "That's because," he said, "nobody understands it." Then he smiled that special smile of provocation and walked away to talk with others. Over the past year, I have found just how right he was -- even the founding fathers of the many churches of Jesus had very little understanding of what The Master was talking about. Only the apostle Paul, who was not among the original disciples, had any understand ing at all; and even he thought Jesus would return during his own lifetime. Let's go back, to the days just prior to, Jesus for perspective. The Jehovah of Israel seemed an angry god who required bloody sacrifice. If we attempted to worship today in the manner today, we would be quickly brought up on charges by the S.P.C.A. I mean, these people are even getting after poor fishermen who only long for a moment's peace and quite. Anyway, the average Joe wasn't allowed to make his offering directly to God; only a licensed union priest could do that. The temple in Jerusalem was kind of like a Shriner's convention, meat market for hunters, and tent revival all rolled into one. All these people milling about waiting to present their offerings or exchanging the Roman coin of the realm for acceptable Jewish money (which didn't contain the likeness of Caesar) in order to purchase a dove for the slaughter. Meanwhile, the money changers made their own killing on exchange rates. That's why Jesus did his thing on them and drove them from the temple. People carried on, animals cried out, blood flowed, and the smoke of offering filled the air with stench. Just picture this scene -- and you think you have trouble combining adults and children in one worship service. Between this mess and the "mercy seat" of Jehovah, a great curtain separated the unwashed masses from the source of their need. Despite all this shedding of blood, there remained a great separation between God and Man with only a metaphorical link. But, once Jesus offered His blood, the veil of separation was rent from top to bottom opening up access to the "mercy seat" without ANY restriction. We were now free to offer up our prayers directly to God through the spiritual modem provided by our Savior. But, what of those who lived and died before? What of those who have never known of Jesus? Is God as tight asses as the priests who purported to serve Him? For a while, the new Jewish sect called Christians by their detractors, grew in the face of much persecution. The defenders of traditional belief feared the growth of this radical group of trouble makers. They stood to loose power, prestige, and wealth. Not just the Jewish priests that God had "laid off" with His corporate restructuring, but also the Greeks feared loss of support for their multiple deities and the Romans disrespected these traditionless interlopers for risking the wrath of the historically influential Jewish War God on the stability of "Pax Romana." Despite horrible odds, the young sect continued to attract new adherents. Why? Why was this new belief so attractive despite the resulting threat of loss of social standing or even the right to go on living? Freedom, that's why! Jesus brought freedom to humanity! His sacrifice, and the example it taught, not only freed us from the wages of sin, but He brought a whole new outlook on life. Men and women where equals. That was truly radical. Jesus, as rabbi, had violated taboos by merely speaking to women who were not allowed to take part in religious observance. Also, there was to be no distinction between slave and master or Gentile and Jew; all were of one blood before God. This broke down sexual, racial, and social barriers. We were all brothers on this planet and expected to love each other as such. Just how well has Christianity followed THAT teaching, hey? No longer was humanity to be beaten down by the yolk of unworthiness: just think of how often we don't even try to raise our gaze because we feel we can never measure up? All were now forgiven; and by perceiving the "stripes of Christ," we could now be healed from the anguish of dealing with every day life -- with the disappointments, the illness, the doubt. All the trouble in the world is caused by the perception that we need to get what we need. When others stand in the way of our driving desire, we run them over. We put others down, so we can appear elevated. We hate others, because we are filled with fear of what we don't understand. God has given us a way to overcome all that. When the elders lay their hands on us to heal us, God is providing a reminder that we are under His providence. This life is His to give us for the perfecting of our souls -- that is ALL that really matters in a Grace based world. Acquisition of possession is the vain game of the blind; we have been freed of that delusion and can focus on the real goal of life: to learn to be Jesus and act accordingly. Since we are covered by His Grace, we don't have to worry about falling down as we learn to walk -- to run -- to fly. People run for their lives when they hear the missionaries are coming. Why is that? Well, remember how the religious leaders of old "lorded it over the people." Jesus came and said, "With you it shall not be so, for he who would be master must learn to be servant." Then He washed his disciples' feet to give an example of the humility we must all attain. But, what is the track record of Christianity? A Wall Street big shot once commented on social reform, "If all the wealth of the world were to be evenly redistributed, it would be but a short time before the same people would reacquire it." The same happened after Jesus. The control freaks adjusted the new teachings to regain their power and prestige. Once again, robes stood between the people and their God. Those who insisted on following the Way of Jesus were martyred are driven away. Cathedrals were raised up and self interest poured out fable from golden goblets of false pretense. Women were, once again, excluded; social barriers were maintained; and guilt was the order of the millennium. The First White Horseman went forth with his bow conquering and to conquer; men had stolen God's Word and buried the Way of Grace. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and it shall set you free;" but "what," as Pontius Pilot asked, "is Truth?" It is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to find out and make whatever difference we can. It's time to begin some Bible page flipping: Scriptures to follow. belief Mal. 3:6 Unchanging Jonah 4:2 -11 Merciful 2 Pet. 3 : 9 - 15 Patient Lam 3:22 Unending mercy Jer. 51:5 God has not forsaken Israel Rom 9-10 Jews to be yet saved Rom. 5:2 Jesus died for the ungodly Eph. 1:5 Predestined Rom. 11:32 Allow unbelief Jn. 6:44 must be called to god Matt. 18:11 god will save all Eph. 2:4 restores the dead in sin Gen. 15:6 Abram believed God Ps. 94:18 Holds us all Rom 3:22 - 24 All have sinned, but freely receive His grace Rom. 4:4 We can't earn it Rom. 11:5 can't be related to works 1 Cor. 2:8-9 by grace, not by works 1 Cor. 4:7 a measure of grace to all 2 Tim. 1:1-9 Who HAS SAVED US by His grace 1Pet. 1:5 Kept by Gods Power through faith Jude 1:24 He is able to keep us from falling 1 Pet. 5:10 Perfection is a growth function of Grace 1 Pet 4:10 STEWARDS of Grace ***** Rom. 5:3 Growth from Truth ****** Don't abuse your freedom I Cor. 8 Offending those weaker Gal 5:13 Express the Law of Grace by loving others I Cor 8 If anyone thinks he knows anything, he is ignorant of real knowledge 1 Cor. 13:1-13 Expressing Grace is our highest calling Gal. 5:22 Fruits of Grace 2 Pet 1:5 Growth in Grace Matt. 6:14 Forgive as God forgives 2 Cor. 12:9 Grace is sufficient - made strong in our weakness. |
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