"Peter said to him, 'You shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.' Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" John 13:8-9 ESV
Have you ever taken someone like this to lunch? Or are you that person? You know who I am talking about, it is either an obstacle of pride or a feeling that they have to earn everything, the person can't accept a gift. Even a small one! You invite them to lunch and have a great time, but when the check comes, the friend insists on being the one to pay the check. EVERY TIME! You offer a simple bit of grace - and the person you are with makes a deal for it.
You can see this with Peter as he tells the Lord that He can't wash his feet and that in fact Peter should be washing His. Then when Jesus insists, Peter tries to make it something ridiculous and escape the moment of grace that Jesus was trying to offer.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with occasionally accepting a gift. It is as good for the giver as it is for the person receiving the gift.
This is why, in my opinion, that it is so hard to accept grace. We feel we need to do something in return. Of course, that is the moment when it stops being grace. Grace is God's unmerited gift of love for us. God gave us the opportunity of eternal life and a relationship with Him that we could in no other way obtained accept through the sacrifice of the life of Jesus Christ. All we have to do is accept it. Until you rationalize the fact that there is nothing you can do on your own to "earn" your way into heaven and that there is never a behavior that is "good" enough to gain entry into heaven you will walk around empty and searching for the grace that is freely given. If we tried to do it our way God would have to wait forever for us to reach that level of grace that He gave through Jesus Christ. He asks us to live the life He has set before us, but the first step of the journey is never earned, merely accepted.
The other difficulty we have in accepting God's grace is something Peter understood: what Christ demonstrates to us is something He expects us to follow and demonstrate to others. Peter pushed back on the footwashing offer because he knew that Christ was telling him to go and do the same. I mean who wants to wash someone else's feet? Christ did!
I know that I personally struggle with the concept of God's grace. I am not sure if it is because I don't feel worthy to receive such a precious gift or because I know what He is asking me to do with it. It is only when I humbly receive the free grace of Jesus Christ that I am able to accomplish the tasks that He sets before me daily.
Grace - God's merciful gift that promises eternal life in heaven, abundant life here, and the reminder of a world that needs our touch through His power. Have you received it?
Below is an excerpt from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book "The Cost of Discipleship" that speaks about the grace we run from and deal with.
“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?...
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
Have you ever taken someone like this to lunch? Or are you that person? You know who I am talking about, it is either an obstacle of pride or a feeling that they have to earn everything, the person can't accept a gift. Even a small one! You invite them to lunch and have a great time, but when the check comes, the friend insists on being the one to pay the check. EVERY TIME! You offer a simple bit of grace - and the person you are with makes a deal for it.
You can see this with Peter as he tells the Lord that He can't wash his feet and that in fact Peter should be washing His. Then when Jesus insists, Peter tries to make it something ridiculous and escape the moment of grace that Jesus was trying to offer.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with occasionally accepting a gift. It is as good for the giver as it is for the person receiving the gift.
This is why, in my opinion, that it is so hard to accept grace. We feel we need to do something in return. Of course, that is the moment when it stops being grace. Grace is God's unmerited gift of love for us. God gave us the opportunity of eternal life and a relationship with Him that we could in no other way obtained accept through the sacrifice of the life of Jesus Christ. All we have to do is accept it. Until you rationalize the fact that there is nothing you can do on your own to "earn" your way into heaven and that there is never a behavior that is "good" enough to gain entry into heaven you will walk around empty and searching for the grace that is freely given. If we tried to do it our way God would have to wait forever for us to reach that level of grace that He gave through Jesus Christ. He asks us to live the life He has set before us, but the first step of the journey is never earned, merely accepted.
The other difficulty we have in accepting God's grace is something Peter understood: what Christ demonstrates to us is something He expects us to follow and demonstrate to others. Peter pushed back on the footwashing offer because he knew that Christ was telling him to go and do the same. I mean who wants to wash someone else's feet? Christ did!
I know that I personally struggle with the concept of God's grace. I am not sure if it is because I don't feel worthy to receive such a precious gift or because I know what He is asking me to do with it. It is only when I humbly receive the free grace of Jesus Christ that I am able to accomplish the tasks that He sets before me daily.
Grace - God's merciful gift that promises eternal life in heaven, abundant life here, and the reminder of a world that needs our touch through His power. Have you received it?
Below is an excerpt from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book "The Cost of Discipleship" that speaks about the grace we run from and deal with.
“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?...
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
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