27th January 2024
Lopsided grace
It’s been said there are only seven stories in the whole world and the storyline of every book and movie are simply variations. The most common is the battle between good and evil and usually features a saviour figure. One familiar story is that of King Arthur and Guinevere. Everything is perfect until a bit of evil in the form of temptation enters the scene. The queen is seduced by Lancelot, the king’s best knight. When the king discovers their infidelity, he is faced with a painful choice: abandoning the law or the death of his beloved Guinevere. But he knows her death is the only action that will satisfy the law.
While Arthur agonised over the decision to let the love of his life die and serve justice or let her go and negate the law, God’s decision, and plan for us was clear from the beginning. Unlike Arthur, God is not subject to the law – he created it. He in no way agonised over balancing the scales of justice because he himself is justice. His plan to die in our place wasn’t about fulfilling any requirements of the law.
Humanly speaking, we want everything to work out evenly and be fair. Remember the parable of the workers in the vineyard who began at dawn? They received the same amount of pay as those who showed up at the end of the workday. To us, this seems quite unfair and even a bit extravagant. But God doesn’t use the same scales of justice as humanity. God’s love and grace are almost shockingly ‘unfair’. When Jesus went to the cross, everyone was forgiven. Everyone was invited to the eternal banquet with Father, Son and Spirit. No sin is too great to be wiped out. No one is beyond help. No one is out of his reach, and no one must be punished as a way of balancing grace and justice.
Some look at grace and see just that – a great balancing act, with mercy on one side and God’s holiness on the other. But God doesn’t use scales of justice, he uses the scale of grace, with one side up in the air and the other resting on the table. To us, grace seems outrageously lopsided and unbalanced. Lucky for us, it is unbalanced, weighted in our favour with more love and more and more grace.
Study by Tammy Tkach
First published on 9 January 2024, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com
About the writer:
Tammy Tkach is the Assistant Pastor of the Eugene, Oregon, USA, Grace Communion International congregation. She is a speaker and writer, and publishes a blog at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com
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