The bible study in our parish is currently delving into the book of Ephesians.  Being one of the epistles (letters) of Paul, it begins with a salutation, “To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

At our last meeting we decided to explore the idea of grace.  It is a term and a theological idea which we use regularly as part of the Anglican liturgy but we are perhaps not all that clear about what grace is.  As we were given homework to investigate the concept of grace, I thought I would share some of what I have found this morning.

First, as I noted, grace is used in our liturgy – indeed, in the opening of the service of Holy Eucharist, the presider greets the worshippers with these words:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with you all.

You might conclude from this that grace comes from Jesus Christ and not from God the Father.  Let me explore this further to see if this is a correct assumption.  However, as the salutation from Ephesians notes, grace is from God the Father and Jesus Christ.  I checked a good resource I have on my bookshelf, Dictionary of Christian Theology, ed. Alan Richardson.  This was a gift from my father which I find to be very helpful in such investigations.  The entry for grace begins;

In general, grace (Latin: gratia: Greek: charis: Hebrew: chen) means favour freely shown, especially by a superior to an inferior.  In the NT, it denotes primarily the favour and kindness of God, freely shown to men (sic) in the incarnation and life and atoning death of his Son (II Cor. 8,9: Phil 2.6 ff). 

So, we are beginning to get a handle on what grace is.  It is freely given by someone – in theological understanding from God through Jesus Christ to all of God’s people or perhaps even all of God’s creation.  Being freely given by the kindness of God as an act of love, we do not need to earn it through our acts or deeds.  However, that raises the question, what does it mean to receive God’s grace.  Also, the definition indicates that grace can be given from anyone to anyone else – traditionally a superior to and inferior which fits well in the case of God's grace.  However, in these times of democratic ideals, surely it can be given from anyone to anyone else.

It might be helpful to consider how we think of grace in respect to ourselves and others.  A gracious person is one who treats others with respect and kindness.  A person may also be graceful (full of grace).  A graceful person moves and acts in ways that seem to fit the circumstances i.e., their way of being in the world is in sync with what they are doing.  As an online definition puts it, “If a person's behaviour is graceful, it is polite, kind, and pleasant, especially in a difficult situation. 

How then do we live out our lives in a way that is graceful?  Perhaps the key to being graceful is to know that we are the recipients of grace and in turn can share that grace with others.  I happen to have been sent recently a podcast which discusses how we can have grace to others.  It is part of a series entitled, The Bible for Ordinary People.  The episode is, How Grace Saves Us which can be found on-line at https://overcast.fm/+cZ2vFThW4.  I found this to be a good exploration of the challenges of grace in the world today and how it is a challenge to show grace to others who do not always seem to be worthy of grace.  These days there seems to be no shortage of people in that category.  But that is the principle of grace: the person does not have to earn it.  In this way it is perhaps simply following Jesus’ commandment to love one another. 

As it happens, Richard Rohr happened to touch on this recently in one of the Daily Meditations and I will close with what he says, in effect, we can be gracious even though we don’t necessarily feel that: 

I must be honest with you here about my own life. For the last ten years I have had little spiritual “feeling,” neither consolation nor desolation. Most days, I’ve had to simply choose to believe, to love, and to trust. In this, I know I stand in good company with Teilhard, John of the Cross, Mother Teresa, and countless other mystics and saints, and maybe some of you.

But God rewards me from letting God reward me:
This is the divine two-step that we call grace:
I am doing it, and yet I am not doing it;
It is being done unto me, and yet by me too.
Yet God always takes the lead in the dance, which we only recognize over time.

May you be blessed to be graceful and gracious on your journey