The Sound of Grace [ page 7]

The Sound Of Grace...Continued from page 6


What would Jesus say to us today? Might he say, “I was naked, and you questioned my lack of modesty. I was in jail, and you debated the legal aspects of my case. I was poor, and you discussed if your donations are tax-deductible. I was sick, and you thanked God for your health. I was hungry and you formed a club that studies malnutrition. I didn’t have a home, but you said that the love of God would cover me. I was alone, and you left me alone while you prayed with your friends. You seemed so holy and so close to God, while I am still sick, alone, and afraid.”

If you have received the rescue of grace, but have been unfaithful as to the requirements of grace, and you have not lived your life in a godly way . . .

The rescue of grace: “Neither do I condemn you.”

The requirements of grace: “Go, and sin no more.”

Max Lucado writes, “The woman turns and walks away into anonymity. She’s never seen or heard from again. But we can be confident of one thing: On that morning in Jerusalem, she saw Jesus and Jesus saw her. And if we could somehow transport her to Calvary and let her stand at the base of the cross . . . you know what she would say. ‘That’s him,’ she would whisper. ‘That’s him.’ She would recognize his hands. The only hands that had held no stones that day were his. And on this day they still hold no stones. She would recognize his voice. It’s raspier and weaker, but the words are the same, ‘Father, forgive them . . .’”

And she would recognize his feet. On that day in Jerusalem they were dusty, but now the dust was mingled with blood.

“And she would recognize his eyes. How could she ever forget those eyes? Clear and tear-filled. Eyes that saw her not as she was, but as she was intended to be.”

Like Mephiboshet and like the woman caught in adultery, we have experienced grace. Now, let us learn from grace to go and sin no more