When is the last time you were given something without having to earn it? It is such a counter-cultural concept, especially in our capitalist society. After all, we are taught that we need to earn almost everything in our life from the very beginning.
An incomplete list of things I have been taught to earn:
Good grades
A teacher’s approval
Dessert after dinner
A paycheck
What would you add to your list? Because we have been taught to earn our food, our friendships, and our love, it comes as no surprise that we also feel compelled to earn God’s grace.
Martin Luther writes: “I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith.”
As Luther reminds us, God has justified us through faith. Not through our actions, our to-do lists, or the leadership roles we take on in the church. God extends mercy to us, no matter what we have done, or left undone.
This message is excerpted from “Accepting God’s radical grace” by SommerAnn McCollough in the May 2020 Cafe online magazine.
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