Amazing Grace!

We spent some time on the trip home debating whose foot we would break next time we went to Disney World.

Now, I have to admit that I hate it when people jump the line ahead of me and get special privileges which I am not allowed to share. But it feels entirely different when you are the one receiving the special privilege! Not once did we ask for special treatment. In every case, they came to us and asked if we wanted to make use of their wheelchair facilities. I should point out that in most cases we had to wait for as long as we would have been standing in line. I think they have to do this so that people don’t use wheelchairs as a scam to jump lines everywhere. I hate to think of going to Disney World some day and finding everyone in wheelchairs!

But I was overwhelmed by the caring that was expressed for people who were having trouble. On the Jungle Cruise boat were people who were suffering from far more that a broken foot: a woman with two false legs, a retarded child, an elderly stroke victim, people who have known a great deal of suffering in their lives. And the management came to them and said in effect, "We know that your life has been hard. We know that you have come here trying to forget your troubles and have a little fun. We don’t want your incapacities to spoil our fun, so let us help you. Let us make it a little easier for you." That was grace, pure and simple.

Grace is a concept which is at the very center and heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without grace there is no faith and no salvation. One writer explained grace this way. "Human beings are born broken. They live by being mended. The grace of God is the glue."

Another writer has said, "What is grace? Well, many learned people have thought about grace for centuries. Most of them think it has to do with forgiveness and mercy. But I’m inclined to disagree with them. I rather think grace means just the constant presence of God." The basic definition of grace means "the undeserved love of God" which saves us from sin and grants us salvation.

This idea of grace is suggested in our text. Verse 5 says "God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children; this was his pleasure and purpose."

That means we didn’t do anything to make it happen. God decided to make us his own even before we were born, and then he sent Jesus to make it all possible. We couldn’t earn it but we can receive it as a free gift. That’s the meaning of grace. Undeserved love.

Nearly a century ago, a famous English preacher described in vivid detail the practice of one particular lord of the manor. Every year on Christmas day, this lord gave all the poor people who were his subjects a generous basket of food. Every person brought a basket with him and the lord’s custom was to fill the basket completely. Each time they came, year after year, the baskets got bigger and bigger, until the lord wondered how they could stagger away under the weight of all that food on the way home. But no matter how large the basket was, he filled it every time. They came because they knew about his wealth and because they trusted in his free-flowing generosity.