Loading...Once upon a time, a preaching teacher told me (and the class) that everyone – especially people of faith –
has some sort of “grace story”: a moment when you get it; when God’s grace washes over you; when you go from blindness to sight, from lameness to jumping up and down, from lost to found.
Now, it’s quite possible that the “moment” is more like a series of events or moments that build up until you cannot help but see God at work in you. And, DEFINITELY, that “moment” is not what brought you to faith and relationship with God (that could be a lifetime and often includes relation-ships with other people who help you along the way).
The moment that makes up your “grace story” is the realization that God’s grace includes you and IS. FOR. YOU.
This preaching professor, Craig, by name, described his “grace story”:
He’s legally blind, so really cannot see very much, and definitely not details. From an early age, he learned to keep track of his possessions because if he dropped anything, it would be hard for him to find again.
When he was an Intern (a “student pastor”) in some northern, snowy clime, he was at his front door of the church-owned house he lived in and fumbled his keys. They dropped into the snow bank next to the door! He was very distressed when he called his supervisor and asked for help. The supervising pastor came over with another key, opened the door for Craig, and encouraged him not to worry too much about the keys lost in the snow. “After all,” he said, “snow melts.”
Most of you are probably familiar with John Newton, the author of the words of the hymn “Amazing Grace” who was, by the time he wrote the hymn, a former sea captain who ran a slave trading ship. During his time as a slaver, he had a conversion experience – turning to God in faith. He still served as captain of a slave ship, but insisted that conditions for the slaves be “humane” (which does not, in any way, mitigate the fact that he was transporting human slaves). He left the sea, became a student, and eventually became a Methodist minister in England. It was as he served as a minister that he wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace” remembering the moment of grace from God that he experienced – when he, who had been lost, was found by God.
My own story was the moment when, in the midst of a rock and a hard place in making a decision and trying to figure out if I was following God’s will for my life or attempting to impose my own will but dress it up as though it were God’s, I realized that it didn’t really matter if what I decided was my will or God’s – because God would use me to serve God’s people no matter what I did or where I went or what congregation I ended up being called to.
What might your “grace story” be?
Something might come to mind right away,
or, maybe you need to think on that question for several days.
No matter.
For, the healing, love, and grace of God is for you. No matter what.
~~~~~~~~~~
Come and see.
Come and be washed in the waters of the font.
Come and eat at the Feast of the Lord.
Then go and share the good news of great joy that you know.
Go and declare the amazing grace of God for you and for all.
Amen
