Grace & Humility

Last week in the Wendt program, we watched (part of) Les Miserables to spark a discussion about grace. In the movie, the main character is a thief who spends significant time in prison, and then is released with papers naming him forever a criminal. Homeless and hungry after his release, he knocks on a bishop's door for food and shelter, even announcing that he was a criminal, as if to say, You shouldn't trust me. But the bishop, without hesitation or speculation, invites him in for dinner and offers him a bed to sleep in. True to form, the criminal rises in the middle of the night, packs up the bishop's earthly treasures, knocks out the bishop, and runs. When caught by the authorities, they brought him back to the bishop's house to return to goods, but the bishop swore up and down that the man was his guest and he had given him the treasures as gifts. In a single statement, the bishop releases the criminal from a lifetime of shame and hardship, freeing him of all guilt...only if he accepts it.

The idea of accepting the gift of grace has really been hitting me in a new way since I've stopped to think about it. Because I think that it is possible, and maybe more frequent than anyone cares to admit, to ignore the gift of grace - to refuse it. But what makes us refuse it? What makes us turn away from this gift? I can only think of one thing. Pride. We only refuse grace because we don't think we need it. 

What do we have to do, then, before we can accept grace? We must first accept that we need it. In order to do this, we have to lower ourselves to the reality that we've screwed up, that we're not perfect, that we need a gift we know we don't deserve. Humility. Humbleness is an absolute necessity. 

But if humbleness is a requirement for becoming a recipient of grace, is there a requirement for the giver? It is compassion? Love? Obligation?

And, assuming Newton's laws are true, then what is the reaction of giving and receiving grace? For the receiver, humility leads to gratitude? Service? And for the giver? Joy? Obedience to God? Peace? Why can't I put the right words to this? 

Grace is quickly becoming something that as I learn more about it, I need to learn more about it. The more clear I think it is becoming, the more questions I have. More to come, it seems.