And Such Is the Grace of God

And Such Is the Grace of God
Justin Wainscott, 2014

I'm amazed (though not often enough)
at the beauty that comes out of brokenness,
whether it's beautiful music birthed out of misery
or beautiful poetry inspired by pain.
One person's hurt produces another person's healing.
And such is the grace of God.

Defying Gravity, Delighting in Grace

Grace and Gravity 
M. Justin Wainscott, 2013 

Grace and gravity, 
both of them forces 
far beyond our control. 
Grace and gravity, 
both of them laws 
learned through pain. 
Grace and gravity, 
both of them instruments 
employed by God, 
but in very different ways. 

Gravity’s pulling us, 
always downward. 
Grace is lifting us, 
always heavenward. 
Gravity says, 
“What goes up 
must come down.” 
But grace says, 
“Who falls down 
must be lifted up.” 

Gravity seems 
to work against us. 
But grace is always 
working for us. 
Gravity’s a force 
we like to defy. 
But grace is a gift, 
a wonderful gift, 
in which we ever 
only want to delight.

Restoration Occurs Best in the Garden of Grace

A helpful reminder to exercise grace when reconciliation and restoration occur (drawn from the parable of the prodigal son):

The younger son was ready to do penance when he got home, but the first thing the father wanted his son to do was dance....No doubt, there were some "walks and talks" about the prodigal son's sinful choices, but restoration occurs best in the garden of grace, not under the doghouse of shame.

--Scotty Smith, Tabletalk (December 2012)  

No Graduation from the School of Grace

"No disciple will ever graduate from the school of grace.  Every follower of Jesus needs to know, and be reminded, that the gospel that makes disciples is the very same gospel that matures disciples.  We are born in grace and we breathe by grace, all bought by the blood of Jesus."

--Jonathan Dodson, Gospel-Centered Discipleship

Grace Applied

Check out this very encouraging story about Germantown Baptist Church and the grace applied to their past pastors and their past congregational difficulties. Here's an excerpt:

"Since 2006, there have been several heartbreaking situations that have occurred in our church family that resulted in broken relationships, broken trust, divisions within our church family and a damaged witness in our community," Dr. Charles Fowler, the church's senior pastor, wrote to the congregation last month.

"How can a church proclaim the glories of the love of God to those who are lost when their reputation is such that they cannot get along with each other?" Fowler wrote last month.

"I could simply turn a blind eye to the implications of our painful past (but) that would be spiritually irresponsible. ... In December, God impressed with great conviction that the way forward was to confront the past by seeking and applying grace."

This story is all the more encouraging to me because I know the church's current pastor and the children's pastor very well. Not to mention, I know numerous people who grew up in that church and others who experienced some of the pain in their recent past.

May the Lord give us more and more examples of this kind of grace!

Grace Is More Abundant and Stronger than Sin

If you're tempted to doubt the grace of God, then hear this reminder from Luther:

Although sin does still remain in our flesh, and we daily fall and offend, yet grace is more abundant and stronger than sin. The mercy and truth of the Lord reigns over us forever. Wherefore sin cannot terrify us, nor make us doubtful of the grace of God, which is in us. So long as Christ, the vanquisher of sin, is at the right hand of God, making intercession for us, we cannot doubt of the grace and favor of God towards us.

--Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians

His Blood Shall Over All Prevail

I love the last two lines of this stanza by Toplady:

The Sinner's Rest
Augustus Toplady, 1740-1778

Oh, that I now the voice might hear,
That speaks my sins forgiv'n;
His Word is past to give me here
The inward pledge of heav'n.
His blood shall over all prevail,
And sanctify the unclean;
The grace that saves from future hell,
Shall save from present sin.

Two Ways to Be Your Own Savior and Lord

"There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good.

...[T]he prerequisite for receiving the grace of God is to know you need it."

--Tim Keller, The Prodigal God

Ponder Anew

Think about what we are communicating to one another when we sing these words by Joachim Neander (translated into English by Catherine Winkworth):

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper
Thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy
Here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

We are reminding ourselves (and those within hearing distance) that it is the Lord who both prospers our work and defends us from evil and temptation. We are also reminding ourselves (and others) that His goodness and mercy are not just theological attributes or divine characteristics; they are actively present with us even now, attending to us daily. They are working in our lives even as we sing those words.

And as a result of that truth, we should ponder anew what God can do if we know it to be true that he has befriended us in love. If the thrice-holy God of the universe can befriend sinners with His love in and through His only Son, ponder what else He can do. And what He will do.

And ponder it anew. Oh, I'm sure you may have thought about that before, but think about it again. Think about it today. Think about it right now. Make it fresh. Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, if you know that He has befriended you in love.

Grace Yields Humble Service

"Self-justification and judging others go together, as justification by grace and serving others go together....Once a man has experienced the mercy of God in his life he will henceforth aspire only to serve. The proud throne of the judge no longer lures him; he wants to be down below with the lowly and needy, because this is where God found him."

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Great Work Is Done While We're Asleep

And [Jesus] said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." (Mark 4:26-29)

Sabbath Poems (1979), from A Timbered Choir
Wendell Berry

Harvest will fill the barn; for that
The hand must ache, the face must sweat.

And yet no leaf or grain is filled
By work of ours; the field is tilled
And left to grace. That we may reap,
Great work is done while we're asleep.

We must do the hard work of sowing and scattering the seed (our hands will ache and our heads must sweat), but then we leave it to grace, trusting that "great work is done while we're asleep."

God's Purpose in Showing Us the Evil of Our Own Hearts

"The purpose of God in showing believers the evil of their own hearts is to make them prize more highly the grace and all-sufficiency of Jesus."

--From the Introduction to Letters of John Newton

Tasting Grace, Hating Sin

A sobering quote by J.C. Ryle:

The man who professes to know Christ and trust Him, while he cleaves to sin and the world, is going down to hell with a lie in his right hand. The heart that has really tasted the grace of Christ, will instinctively hate sin.

HT: J.C. Ryle Quotes