students of jesus

Is there anything more irresponsible than grace? It’s the refuge of losers, the hiding place of the harebrained, the only hope at end of the line. How do we learn anything from grace, where we are shielded from the fruit of our ways? How can we grow into responsible adults if we are allowed to avoid the shipwreck of our poor choices?

Better to live well grounded in the predictable world of choice and consequence. Consequence is the lever of choice, tilting upon the worldly fulcrum of cause and effect; sowing and reaping are the dependable laws of nature. Karma chants responsibility: “Choose, and eat the fruit of your choice.” How can we mature apart from learning the mathematics of choice and consequence?

To look at grace from the outside is to see someone getting off scot-free. The work of grace is the spoiling of an only child. Grace runs counter to good stewardship. Grace is the foolishness of giving a field hand a full day’s pay for but a few hours work.

Oh, but from the inside—to taste of grace is to drink the water of life. It’s the meal without the tab; the drinks are on the house. Grace is more and better wine even though the guests are tipsy. Grace is calories that somehow don’t count. Karma is the voice of reason; grace is the voice of love.

Reason cautions us: this makes grace even more dangerous: the unscrupulous can figure the con quickly. Grace can be abused, grace can be played the fool, grace can be wasted—but grace doesn’t care. Grace is the divine scandal. Grace is the way of Heaven, where mercy triumphs over judgment: not that judgment is unknown, but rather tried and found wanting.

Simone Weil said there are but two forces capable of moving the human heart: gravity and grace. Gravity, the great force of nature, exerts its unstoppable influence from the outside; grace, the beautiful power of super nature, floats on air.

And here is our dilemma: we want grace for ourselves, but choose Karma for others. Grace seen from the outside is how rouges get off scot-free. Grace seen from the inside is the spring of life. The trick is to see grace from the inside—on behalf of others. Grace is more than a gift; it is the example of Heaven. Grace is the way, the truth, and the life. Grace calls us not only to taste and see, but also to come and follow.

The grand goal of grace is that we would not be mere partakers, but that we would become the servants in its grand banquet. Grace calls us to fill the glass of every thirsty soul.