Graceful Faith

“If grace is so wonderful,
why do we have such difficulty recognizing and accepting it?
Maybe it’s because grace is not gentle or made-to-order.
It often comes disguised as loss, or failure,
or unwelcome change.”
― Kathleen Norris

When I was preaching I tried to follow one rule:  there needed to be blood on the pulpit when I was finished.  Let me explain.

There are too many wimpy sermons in which there is nothing at stake.  The sermon may be pleasant or informative, but if it isn’t dangerous, doesn’t risk something, if the preacher doesn’t bleed a little, then it doesn’t work for me.  The gospel should never be reduced to something bland or safe; too many lives hang in the balance.

For example, a good friend of mine is going through one of the worst experiences a parent can suffer – the loss of a child.  To make matters worse, she appears to have taken her own life.  She was a person of faith, but in the end she was trying to fight too many demons by herself.  I can’t imagine the pain he and his wife are going through and my heart breaks for them. A tragedy like this can have devastating effects on a family.  I’ve seen families torn apart, caught up in a destructive cycle of anger and blame.  And I’ve seen others draw closer in their mutual grief.  The difference, in my experience, hinges on faith.  I’m not talking about the amount of faith, as in one family or person may have more than another; it’s not a competition.  I’m talking about the type of faith, a graceful (as in grace-filled) faith.

A graceful faith is a day-to-day faith that you take to work, the grocery store and all the less exalted areas of life.  A graceful faith looks for blessings, no matter the circumstances; a graceful faith doesn’t assign blame, doesn’t accuse, but shares God’s love without reservation; a graceful faith is honest, acknowledging that we are all brothers and sisters in our brokenness;  a graceful faith is humble enough to ask for help.

A graceful faith doesn’t divide the world into ‘us’ and ‘them.’  This morning I read an article that left me dumbfounded.  Studies show that racism among white Christians is higher than among the nonreligious.  Let me say that again.  There are more racists among white Christians than those who have no religious affiliation.  As a white Christian myself, I find this appalling.  What message have these people heard in church?  It’s hard to believe they’ve heard the gospel, the good news that although we are all sinful (regardless of skin color) Jesus died and rose again to bring all of us back into relationship with God (and one another).

We desperately need to hear the message of grace.  It can change lives.  It can save lives. We need to be intentionally graceful to one another.  We need to be extravagant dispensers of grace.  The good news is no matter how much grace we share, there is always more to draw from; the supply is unending.

I’m happy to say that my friend has a graceful faith and I know he will get through this.  It will leave a deep scar, and there will always be pain, but his deep trust in God will see him through.  The fact is, God never promised us a life free from pain and struggle.  God promised to be with us, walking beside us, showering us with grace.  Grace comes in many forms and, as Kathleen Norris writes, sometimes it’s heavily disguised.   Sometimes it takes the passage of time to recognize.

May we all be awake to God’s love and grace.

P.S. I was under the weather last week and missed swimming class.  I will have an update next week.