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The Blessing of Grace
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2 Corinthians 8:7 You are rich in everything-in faith, in speaking ability, in knowledge, in the willingness to help, and in the love you learned from us. And so we want you to also be rich in this work of giving.
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Download audio fileWhether we realise it, relationships are based on a contract – one that we repeat again and again. It goes like this: If you do A, B and C, I’ll do X, Y and Z. But if you don’t I won’t. So, the simple contract that underpins most relationships, is a conditional contract.
I’ll do my bit, but you have to do your bit too and if you don’t, at some point, I’m out of here! So, we have expectations of others, and if they fail to meet those expectations, we pull out. That’s why, whether we realise it or not, our default basis of relationships is actually a conditional contract.
But as pervasive as it is, it has a fundamental flaw, because the reality is that none of us is perfect. And because of this basic contract under which most of us operate, what that means is that we can’t have any certainty in relationships. And without certainty, well, you’re out in the cold, right?
So, what’s the alternative? What’s the solution?
You are rich in everything-in faith, in speaking ability, in knowledge, in the willingness to help, and in the love you learned from us. And so we want you to also be rich in this work of giving. (2 Corinthians 8:7)
Literally the original words that the Apostle Paul uses there at the end of that verse, in writing to his friends in Corinth, are these: see that you excel in this act of grace, also.
He’s writing to some wealthy, selfish people, asking them to dig deep for some Christian brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, who are starving through a famine.
There’s no two-way, conditional contract here. Paul’s asking them to excel in grace. Now, grace is unilateral, in other words it’s a one way, unconditional contract. It goes like this: I’ll do A, B and C if you do … well, nothing. No conditions. No strings attached. I’ll just do A, B and C … full stop. No ifs, no buts, no maybes.
Grace is the attitude out of which generosity springs, out of which forgiveness springs. Grace is the enactment of true, unconditional love. And without a heart of grace, we’re creating a pretty cold, brutal world, don’t you think?
Be rich in the work of giving. See to it that you excel in this act of grace.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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