Grace and Forgiveness Is Costly

 

Forgiveness quote. 

This Sunday's sermon was about grace. Contrary to what some people believe/preach, God's grace is something that is costly . Grace IS NOT cheap. It is costly for we humans to both give and receive grace. 

I was reminded of this last evening when it came to my attention that someone both my spouse & I know was arrested for some pretty disgusting acts. To be honest, my relationship with this person has always been sketchy: as he professed a right-wing and hate-filled brand of Christianity: one that includes the vilification of LGBTQ+ persons. On more than one occasion I recall being very uncomfortable listening to this person's rants--- I did not { back then} trust myself to counter his hatred of people I love. 

To discover that Mr Family Values was arrested for something illegal and indecent blows my mind. Although to be honest, I'd suspect anyone with that much hatred in their hearts to harbor some sort of darkness within themselves. Yet I was not prepared to discover that someone I know-- even someone whom I do not particularly like, is capable of offenses against children. 

Reading the comment section of the local news outlets was--- interesting. There was a lot of understandable disgust towards this person's actions as well as some rater violent suggestions on retribution.  Again, I am being honest here-- s much as i abhor " taking the law into our own hands" with violence, I understand why people would speak that way. 

It is NOT OKAY to victimize a minor. While I hate violence, I understand why acts such as this trigger responses from the public. 

I actually dealt with the person in my life in our old neighborhood and { barely} tolerated his verbal spew. Unlike many of the posters on the local web sites, I know how hypocritical this guy is now, and that makes me feel even more soul-sick. 

I don't feel like offering any grace towards him at all. To me, he is the worst kind of hypocrite: demonizing others for whom they love { and for whom we " liberals" vote-- just don't get me started on THOSE words he and I exchanged} Yet I know that we are commanded to be agents of God's grace--- both giving & receiving the Gift tat God offers each of us daily.  Christians are not called to be vigilantes. I need to let God-- and the court system-- sort out this mess. 

As the sermon noted on Sunday: Grace is hard to GIVE and hard to RECEIVE. Right now I am still processing everything that went down in our old neighborhood. Frankly, I want to at least make a big ' call out" on this person for the hypocritical nature of his words and actions. yet I remember that this guy has a wife who is probably devastated by his actions. The last thing I want to do is cause her more sorrow. 

I sit with the disgust and wait for grace. 

Amen. 

~Sarah