The 2nd Week of Christmas, 2022
Ephesians 1:3-14; John 1:10-18
“How many times have we heard the word ‘GRACE’ today?” My Catholic classmate asked me during our Lutheran Confessional Heritage class. We were in several classes together during our first year in seminary. She was pursuing a PhD and wanted to be a professor (which she is now); I was pursuing a Master of Divinity and preparing to be ordained as a minister. Then she showed me her 35+ tally marks on her notes at the end of the day. She said, “You Lutherans love this word, I think.” “I guess!” I responded.
The word ‘Grace’ in Hebrew is ‘chen’, which means favor, charm and graciousness. In Greek, it’s ‘charis’, which means kindness, graciousness, gratitude, and gift. ‘Grace’ is a heavy word just like the word ‘love’. It comes with mutual responses between parties when it is used. How about ‘Grace upon Grace’? It gets even heavier. This makes me think of ‘forgiveness’. Peter asked Jesus whether it is enough to forgive 7 times in Matthew 18:21. Jesus’ answer to him is that he just goes on forgiving; he can’t count but forgive infinitely.
God’s love can’t be measured; God’s forgiveness can’t be counted. God’s grace is infinite abundance as it said in Romans 5:20, “But the law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
St. Paul said in Ephesians 1:11 that in Christ we have also obtained an inheritance. This inheritance is a package filled with unmeasurable love, countless forgiveness, and infinite grace. By obtaining the inheritance, we are children of God, we live now and then with God, and we are united with our Lord Jesus Christ. That means we would love as how He loves, forgive as how He forgives, and be gracious as He is.
How would you and I respond to the gift of this inheritance, being part of a community of kingdom citizens as God’s family dwelling in Christ together? It is a community of kingdom citizens where we meet people wanting to receive our love, our forgiveness, and our graciousness. You and I are also the ones wanting to be loved, to be forgiven, and to be graced. It is an honor and a privilege to have the power to be children of God, isn't it? We are entitled and authorized to love, to forgive, and to be gracious. Amen.
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