Grace: The lazy man's approach to life.

I'm always doing something, thinking up schemes, remembering to do something while I'm in the middle of watching TV.  That gives some people the impression that I am a very hard worker.  But I'm really not.  I'm fairly lazy.  Most of the work I do is all about finding easier ways of doing something.

That's why I like grace over law.  Grace is easy and simple.  Law is exhausting.

Now some might like to say that forgiving and accepting others is incredibly hard compared with living life according to a certain structure.  Others might say grace is fine, but "you can compromise your beliefs or life just falls apart."  I disagree on both counts.  Grace is easy... it's just not comfortable when your foundational ethic is on law.

Here's what I mean:

A life with a foundation of law means you have to vet everyone and everything that comes into your life (vet means "make a careful and critical examination") to make sure that you stay on the straight and narrow, and that everyone else believes you do to.  That takes an incredible amount of effort.  If you make a mistake in the vetting process you run the risk of "appearing" sinful, so you have to make sure (and you actually never will be).  That requires you to hold everyone and everything at arm's length for a very long time.  Friendships never solidify, knowledge is stilted and walls begin to form around the society that happens to pass muster.

On the other end of the scale is a life based on grace.  You can accept everyone rather than except everyone.  New experiences can be judged for their value, not because they "might" be acceptable.  You lack walls that keep you from reaching out, or for others to reach in.  The only rules that apply are those you set for yourself.  You are answerable only to you, God and people God sends to you for accountability (and you'll be able to recognize them because you don't have to run them through the law filter.)

I'll give you an example.  Years ago, shortly before my conversion, I got into the marijuana clique.  I started consuming marijuana in various forms, but mostly in social settings.  But I didn't participate because I was coerced into it.  I wasn't trying to fit in nor was I trying to be a rebel.  I was curious.  I enjoyed the society of my friends and we did silly things under the influence.  One day, though, I went out to the beach, alone, just to think and lit up.  The same thing happened that always happened:  I started dry coughing and feeling light headed.  About 2 minutes in I started to think, "This is really stupid.  Why am I doing this?"

The next day I was with a very good friend that I respected and that knew I used the drug and I recounted my experience on the beach.  She breathed a sigh of relief and said "I've really wanted you to quit for some time."

She never told me that before.  Never said a word.  She was walking on a foundation of grace with me.  I thought about my beach experience and what my good friend had just said to me.  I decided at that moment that the drug was just not what best for me.  And I got rid of my stash.

Think about what exists today in the illicit drug society.  We have laws up the wazoo.  We have a legal multibillion dollar industry that works to get people off drugs, an illegal multibillion dollar industry to get people hooked on them; a multibillion dollar entertainment industry that both glorifies and demonizes the practice and a multibillion dollar government infrastructure to deal with it all.  Our society polarized on either side of the issue.  Drug users don't feel welcome in polite society, much less the church, and polite society wants the users put away in prisons and medical facilities so we don't have to look at them.

It's all so complicated and takes so much effort.

But I had a friend that decided to deal with me in grace and transparency.  She didn't shut me out of her life because of my practices.  She didn't look at me as a sinner.  She just looked at me as a friend.  And that influence was enough to nudge me away from a potentially darker lifestyle.

It was so simple.  Imagine how uncomfortable it was for my friend to not complicate the process for both of us.  But it wasn't hard.  It was simple.
Now I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of comments from this about my stand on drugs so let's make this very clear.  I'm not talking about drugs, dammit.  I'm talking about living in grace and how it simplifies your life and the lives of others.  The grace lifestyle transcends topics.

I have people whose opinions I value that are diametrically opposed to my political, moral, economic, sexual environmental, religious, literary, musical and artistic positions.  That we disagree is not a reason to avoid relationship.  It is the reason to pursue it.

The Bible puts it in many different ways.  "Iron sharpens iron," is the most common.  Finding people with hard positions that oppose our own is the best way of finding if our positions are correct.  Grace allows me to hear what other say and consider it.  Some believe, however, that opening yourself up to those contrary positions can cause you to stumble.

But the Bible also records the promise from God, over and over, that He will write His laws and words in our hearts... not the other way around... and his laws are always based on grace, not judgement or separation.  I have found that to be the reality in my life, which is good because I'm so very lazy.

Chapter 13 -- A Family: Act Two

Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 

We're catching up to our friend from Samaria.  She's come a long way, but we need to step back a few years before she ended up where we first met her.  Let me tell you the story.

There was a man with two sisters.  The youngest sister left her home in exchange for what the world offered, and one day found she had lost everything of value.  Into her poverty came a Word and the Word drew her to Himself like no man ever had.  From that time on, where ever the Word was spoken she followed and listened.  In the listening her treasure was restored and the depth of her gratitude overwhelmed her.  Others, however, could see the restoration only with the greatest of difficulty.

We are in a well-appointed dining room in a prominent house in Bethany, a few miles from Jerusalem.  Several men are sitting or standing in a dinner room prior to a meal being served.  A few are talking casually but one is in a heated discussion with the host.

Ichabod - Are you sure you want to have this man here?   Do you know the kind of people this man associates with?

Simon - I have heard a great deal of gossip and innuendo from people who have neither heard nor seen him first hand.  If this is another charlatan "Messiah,"  I will be able to discern it quickly, God willing.

Ichabod - You are naive.  And you will bring a curse on this house.

Simon - I bring nothing of the kind.  My invitation to him is not an endorsement of his work, but this man has influence and teaches with authority.  As members of the Sanhedrin we have a responsibility to hear him out before passing judgement on his teaching.

Ichabod throws his hands up in frustration

Simon - Listen, Ichabod! This man is a guest in my house and will be shown respect.  You will show that respect if you wish to enjoy the same status.

Ichabod -I beg your forgiveness, my friend.

Simon -Very well, then.

A servant rushes in, out of breath.

Servant - Master, he is here!  And you should see the crowd that follows him.  I hardly recognize anyone.  They must be from out of town and ...

Simon -Yes, yes.  Bring him in and allow him to bring his friends.  Wait!  Allow him three friends.  We already have a crowd in here as it is.

The traveler, enters the room with three of his companions.  

He stands patiently near the table.

Simon -Ah, Rabbi!  Now we can eat. Come sit here next to me.  Your friends may sit with you.  

This is always an awkward time in high society.  

The lower classes will generally grab the first seat they see, 

eager to get at the food.  

In this house, however, the guests begin jockeying 

for position on the other side of Simon.  

The traveler hesitates as though waiting for something. 

He finally shrugs and sits at Simon's right hand.  

Simon looks exasperated.

Simon - Please, everyone sit.

Simon is a man of great influence.  

Everyone drops to the floor as though a rug had been pulled out from under them.  Servants begin bringing out the trays of food.  

Ichabod approaches the traveler.

Ichabod - Rabbi, your teaching has the entire country enthralled, but I was wondering about this teaching on the Sabbath.  Am I correct that you believe the Sabbath was created FOR man, not ...

Ichabod’s interrogation is cut short.  

There is some commotion just outside the door.  

Women are screaming, Servants are calling for aid.  

One voice is recognizable, however.  It is our Samaritan friend.

Mary -Leave me alone!  I have to see him.  He has to know what he's done for me!  

Mary bursts onto the room.  She carries a small clay jar.  

She sees the traveler and stops short.  

He smiles, once again, in recognition.  

She begins to weep.  

She moves to where he sits, 

kneels and opens the jar, 

pouring its contents on his feet.  

She begins wiping his feet with her hair and kissing them.

Ichabod pulls on Simon's arm and whispers roughly in his ear.

Ichabod -You see!  You know who that is.  We ran her out of town three years ago.  We have the right to take her out and stone her now.

Simon -Yes, I know.  If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is --that she is a sinner.

The Traveler appears not to have heard this interchange and examines a fig.

Traveler -Simon, I have something to tell you.

Simon -Tell me, teacher.

Traveler -Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?

Simon - I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.

Traveler -That's a good answer.  Now, consider this woman.  I came into your house. You did not give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  There was very little warmth in your greeting to me but this woman has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  

Simon, you need to know that her sins -- even though they are too numerous to count -- have been forgiven which is demonstrated her great love for me.  But he who has been forgiven little loves little. 

The Traveler turns to Mary.

Traveler - Your sins are forgiven.

This does not sit well with the other guests.  After all, forgiveness, like cleanliness, is divine ... not human.  The other guests start to murmur and recite her past sins.  But Mary cannot hear them.  She cannot see them.  She can only see the Traveler. 

Traveler - Your faith has saved you; go in peace.  Go home, Mary!

What are we anyway?

A few people have asked me in the past few weeks, since I started talking about the "Christian nature" of the US: If we aren't Christian, then what are we?  So I've been thinking about it.  And I've discovered we are a nation of two separate identities.  Schizophrenic your might say.

On the one hand, we are a nation built on offense.  The pilgrims came here because their home nation was an offense to their religious sensibilities.  They build their community on perceived offenses within their community, which cause other communities to be founded.  Over the centuries we have made offense a profitable endeavor.  We have entire broadcast networks dedicated to being offended (EIB, MSNBC, Fox News).  Our political process is run by the two percent majority on either end of the spectrum that is constantly offended by anyone who doesn't agree with them (yes, I mean Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson).  We are offended by coaches of our favorite teams, by minorities, by educational standards, by other religions, by the other drivers on the roads and even by members of our families.  And we hold on to those offenses until the turn into hateful grudges.  Offense is at the very root of our politics and religion.

On the other hand, we are a nation built on the concept of reconciliation and the premise of the second (and third, fourth, fifth, etc.) chance.  The pilgrims had worn out their welcome in their homeland and an adopted land.  They came here for a fresh start and a chance to build something they could believe in.  The Revolutionary War for Independence was based, originally, on various offenses committed on the American colonies by Britain, but the war began only after several attempts at reconciliation were rebuffed.  The war itself was, in fact, an act of reconciliation.

"How the heck can war be reconcilation?" I can hear you say.

Reconcilation is merely the redefinition of a relationship.  It follows forgiveness (and I'll get into that later) but it does not replace forgiveness.  It establishes a baseline for a continued relationship after an offense.  While the colonies worked hard prior to the war to resolve their differences with the homeland, they entered into a wartime footing when it became apparent that England was not going to change how it treated the colonies.  The Declaration of Independence did not fire the first shot, the British did that themselves when they refused to accept the terms of reconciliation... at first.  Much later they were forced to.  Today, the US and the United Kingdom enjoy one of the closest national relationships in the world.  We are closer to England than we are Mexico and Canada.  And, as a nation, we take pride in that relationship.  It is a hallmark of who we are.

I the US, it is possible to screw up in business, marriage, parenthood, crime, politics (remember Richard Nixon was out of politics altogether before his second run at President... and he's still a hero in China) and still be able to come back for a do-over.  In my travels in Europe, that is the primary good quality of America that is recognized universally.

Offense and reconciliation are the yin and yang of America.  Whichever we seem to be is whatever we tend to feed.

We are a nation based on offense. Pilgrims came here because their nation was an offense to their religious sensibilities. We have whole broadcast systems dedicated to being offended. We have industries built to Medicate us from the depression caused by unresolved offense.