What happened to grace?
Comments (none) Published December 15th, 2008 under Soul TalkI think I’m a snob when it comes to worship music. I’m not very musically inclined, but I find myself having stronger (than sometimes warranted) opinions about choice of music, lyrics, style, etc… Worshiping with my daughter has actually been a helpful corrective, giving me a more charitable response to the worship service.
But I found myself uneasy and unsatisfied during our worship service yesterday. During my Sabbatical Since having children, I have learned to appreciate more the gift of grace that comes from God. My default is often to believe in my strength and wisdom to get through whatever struggles I face. My appreciation for God’s grace focuses my attention on God extending to me what I cannot conjure up within me.
When I wake up every morning, I recite the Lord’s prayer, paying extra attention to the prayer, “Give me today my daily bread.” I daily ask God to give me what I need to enjoy and weather the day ahead.
Back to yesterday. During one of the songs (“None But Jesus”), the lyrics we sang failed to capture the grace that I seek from God…
| In the moment of my weakness | Lord, I do feel weak. I feel weakness in various areas of life. | ||
| You give me grace to do your will | Lord, I want your grace… but with all honesty, the last thing I can imagine is to ask for your grace for the purpose of doing your will. I need your grace not for the purpose of doing. Lord, I need your grace because without it I can’t even be who I am. What I want to sing Lord is You give me grace to be who you call me to be, to be your child. |
I need to learn to be as much as I need to be empowered to do. I need God’s grace to be like Mary (in Luke 10), at the feet of Jesus to 1. receive everything he has to offer; and 2. receive him. It’s probably the Protestant Work Ethic that defines grace under the purpose of work. Everything must have purpose, including grace. And we think of God’s grace as having power to either forgive our sins or to recharge us to do more work.
But in my weakness (at least in this season), I just want God’s grace to provide peace and strength to embrace life, and to express kindness to others (especially to my children who have power to bring the worst out of me). As I disclaimed at the front end of this post, I’m a snob when it comes to worship music and I’m not much of a musically inclined guy. So take my musings for what they’re worth (which may not be much).
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