Grace: giving and receiving

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ

Romans 1:5-6

Have you ever attended a large event, got in your car and recognized the need for grace? You know what I’m talking about. You’re trying to get out of your parking place and traffic is lined up for a mile. You need grace. You need someone who is willing to allow you to get out of your spot. It’s not a law; it’s not required of anyone. It’s grace and it feels so good when you get the friendly wave and pull out.

When the Apostle Paul began his letter to believers in Rome, he began by pointing toward the gift of God’s grace. It’s undeserved and Paul cherishes God’s blessing. In Paul’s view, grace is a gift that comes with certain responsibilities. Namely, Paul talks about “obedience to the faith”. It reminds me of a great question that Philip Yancey asks in his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” Yancey questions, “How should a ‘graced’ person act as a husband or wife, as a church member, as a citizen”?

After reading through Romans, the importance of God’s gift of grace is hard to miss. The mention of grace really stirs up my sense of gratitude for God’s willingness to give us an extravagant and undeserved gift. As important as it is for me to express my thanks to God, I believe it is imperative to do something with this gift. Two things come to my mind this morning. First, I should live it. God’s grace has provided me the freedom to live an obedient life. Paul is not shy about the scope of the mission of grace. He mentions his calling to share his faith with “all nations”. Second, I should share it. The Apostle Peter reinforces my responsibility to share when he refers to recipients of God’s grace as “stewards” of grace. In other words, I have a choice today of whether I will extend the grace that I have freely received from God toward others. I hear that little voice whispering in my ear. “Don’t be that person who receives grace in the parking lot and then refuses to let the next person out.”