Grace as Currency

So it hit me this evening that finances can tell us a lot about grace. I'm sure we all know what it's like to be scraping the bottom of our bank accounts not knowing where our next meal will come from or how we will pay our bills. When you're poor you carefully budget every last penny you earn so you do not miss any obligations. You wonder if you can afford to order a sandwich from the dollar menu or if you should just wait until you get home. You meticulously count out each purchase you make and you constantly worry that something unexpected will happen that you will not be able to handle financially. You often find yourself eating ramen soup or, if you're Korean, rice. That is your meal. You worry if you have somehow made a mistake in your calculations and think "Oh no! If I mess this up I'm going to be in trouble!" What if you've forgotten something critical? You worry so much when you're in a serious financial situation!

I think we all have the bad habit of treating God's economy the way we do our own. At least I do. We carefully budget God's grace hoping we will have enough to cover all of our obligations. And we work like the dickens making sure we have earned enough grace to cover whatever situation we face. We worry that some crisis will come up where we will not have enough grace to cover us. The only thing is that at least with a monetary account we can check our balance before making a purchase. There is a concrete amount. I look at my account, "Okay! I have 45 000 won in there. I can afford this." With God though, we worry because there's nowhere we can look to see if we have enough. We have to go on intuition. This leads to worrying that we have overestimated how much grace is available to us today. Like we will face some situation during the day and suddenly discover that there's not enough grace left! When we live like this we live very weak, fragile, cautious lives. We constantly tread on thin ice trying not to put too much weight on our "grace account" in case it's been depleted. We tread softly and we are weak. Our lights are dim and our salt is only mildly salty. We do not exhibit the greatness of Christ.

What do we do then? Well do you know what it's like to have a full bank account? I got paid today and I feel rich all of a sudden! My first inclination, though, is to still be careful. "What if it's not as much as it really is somehow? I need to be careful what I spend it on or it could still run out!" I have about more money than I've ever had at once in my life right now with the possible exception of one or two other times! And I'm still worrying! Let me tell you right now! Your "grace account" is FULL! It is ridiculous! It's bigger than Bill Gates' bank account! You couldn't put a dent in it if you bought the most luxurious things in the world all day every day for the rest of your life! God does not run out of grace! It's like the sun running out of heat or light! Or like the universe running out of space! It's like the color blue running out of blueness! It ain't gonna happen, folks! And even if all those other things could happen God could still not run out of grace! God does not HAVE grace! He IS gracious!

It is this attribute of God that the universe hinges upon! And how is this grace available to us? Did God just say "I'm going to show grace to those people!"? No! God can't just dispense grace to us when we are His enemies! He cannot just hand grace out to the wicked people that we are! That would make Him an unjust judge! How then is this grace available to us? Through Christ! "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." --2 Corinthians 8:9. Jesus said "I love them enough that I will leave all my riches behind. I will humble myself and become a human. I will veil my power and majesty and take on poverty stricken, weak human nature. I will die instead of them. Then, Father, then you can bless them. Make them rich through what I do for them." The Father loved his Son more than any of our minds could ever possibly wrap our minds around. The love they shared is utterly incomprehensible to our small creature minds. How deeply must God love us that He would be willing for this event to take place?

So now we are free! Go out! Spend wildly! Jesus says in Luke 6, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you! Bless those who curse you! And pray for those who spitefully use you!" In other words, "You've got more grace than you know what to do with! Don't be careful who you show grace too because you're never going to run out! Go crazy!" So go out there and spend like your resources can never be depleted! Because they can't!