The Art of Grace

Scripture:  Luke 6:27-38

 I had a class in high school where the teacher loved to give group projects.  Almost every week there was some project that was supposed to be done throughout the week and then presented on Friday.  I became popular in that class among a certain group of students, and they would all scramble to claim I was their partner.  This is because they knew that if they did not do their part of the group work, I would just do end up doing it for them.  I wanted to get it done and I wanted a decent grade and more often than not the most efficient way to accomplish both of those things was to just do it myself.  While it was not as bad in higher education, in both college and even in seminary I was involved in group projects where I ended up covering the work of someone else.  Whether it was for school or work, chances are most of us have experiences where a person did not pull their weight on a group project, someone else covered for them, but the person who did not do the work gets the same grade and recognition as everyone else. 

At some point we have probably all heard the pithy proverb “work smarter, not harder.”  The idea behind this is to always find the most efficient way to get the job done. However, some people twist this a little bit, and they see working smarter and not harder as figuring out how to do the least amount of work and still get paid.  The person who does not really contribute to a group project might be a more common example, but other people take this idea to the next level.  Perhaps one of the most incredible examples is Joaquin Garcia, a low-level bureaucrat from Spain.    His job could be done at one of two locations, a water treatment plant or a central office.   He told the treatment plant he would be at the central office, and he told the central office he was at the water treatment plant.  In fact, he was at home doing whatever he wanted.   He pulled this lie for an amazing fourteen years, and he only got caught when he was to be recognized for twenty years of loyal service, and no one could find him.   Being able to do the minimum amount of work and still get paid is a balancing act that requires an odd level of skill, this is why when sociologist Roland Paulsen wrote his article about the subject for the Atlantic Magazine, he entitled it “The Art of Not Working.”  
 
The art of not working is all about getting the most you can while giving the least.  There are many who try to build their life of this philosophy, and there are some who would insist this is just practical wisdom and clever living.  In this morning’s scripture, Jesus describes a different way to live.   Jesus describes the art of grace, which is the opposite of the art of not working.  The art of grace is all about giving the most and being at peace with receiving the least.    The art of not working is all about finding ways to not work harder for personal benefit, but the art of grace is all about working harder to be more like God.

This morning’s scripture has similarities to a section of the sermon on the mount found in the fifth chapter of the gospel of Matthew.  However, the gospel of Luke once again tends to be a little bit more into the nitty gritty of everyday life.  For instance, the gospel of Matthew states to pray for those who persecute you, and this morning’s scripture does state something similar in pray for those who mistreat you.   Now praying for someone, even someone who has been unkind to us, is something that we might begrudgingly do.  However, this morning’s scripture takes it a bit further.  Not only should we pray for them.  Jesus tells us to do good for those who hate us.   Jesus tells us if anyone who takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  Jesus then sums up why we should be willing to do these things in verse 31: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” 

Since the 1600s, this has been referred to as the golden rule.  There is a decent chance that even someone without a church background could give you a decent paraphrase if you asked the, “What is the golden rule?”   Not just as Christians, but as society, we seem to recognize this teaching of Jesus as important.  Despite that we collectively do not always do our best at following it.   In fact, so much of conventional wisdom seems to go against this teaching of Jesus.

For years I have seen social media memes that some might describe as “tough love” memes.  I imagine the people who make these posts like to think they are “Just telling it like it is.”   These posts meant to be shared and re-shared over and over again will have matter of the fact statements such as “Respect is not given, it is earned” or “facts do not care about your feelings”, These could be seen as hardy salt of the earth proverbs, but the problem is they all go against the golden rule.   Because if respect is earned not given then that means we do not need to treat someone with respect until they meet the standard we set as right.   If facts are always more important than feelings, then that gives us permission to ignore the feelings of those we disagree with.  This is not how any of us want to be treated.  We do not want to be judged by someone else’s arbitrary, subjective standard or have how we feel ignored. These are not tough love statements, because there is no love in them.  In the same way, it is common to encounter people who believe, “If you respect me, I will respect you.”  They often declare this belief as if it is a fair statement that grants them some sort of moral high ground.  Yet this is a statement that Jesus directly refutes in this morning’s scripture. 

In verses 32-33: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners do that.”   There is nothing good or godly about being respecting the people who you think have earned it.  It is not much of a virtue to claim we are kind to those who have proven they are worth our kindness.   In fact, the beauty of the art of grace we do not need to prove ourselves to receive it.   Thanks be to God for that amazing truth, because we would all be in a sorry state if we had to earn grace.   

Treating others the way that we want to be treated, means we let go of our standards of behavior and measurements we try to hold people to.  It means we give others the benefit of the doubt and we treat people with a basic level of dignity and respect even if they have nothing to earn that basic level of dignity and respect.   We should be willing to do that for others, because God was willing to treat us mercifully even when we did not deserve it.   In Romans Paul writes about this: “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.”  We have all done what we know is wrong, we have all made the willful choice to put ourselves first, we have all acted in ways that cause harm and deny God’s goodness.  By God’s standard we are all ungrateful and wicked.   If God used the standard of “respect is earned, not given” we would all be rightfully doomed.
 
Thankfully, that is not God’s standard.   God is a God of Holy Perfection, God is a God of justice, but God is also a God of extravagant mercy.  It can be seen consistently throughout the entirety of scripture that God consistently chooses side of mercy.   After stating we all fall short of the glory of God, Paul makes this clear in Romans when he writes this beautiful truth: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

 Do to others as you would have them to do, is all about treating other people the way that we want to treated.  It is about treating others the way that God treats us.   Ultimately the way we want to be treated is with grace and mercy.   Treating other people in the same way is the art of grace.  Unlike the art of not working, the art of grace is in fact hard work.  It requires us to actively put others first.  When it comes to doing that in our lives, I think there are two things we should keep in mind as we learn how to be more grace-full people. 

First, we should consider verse 35 of this morning’s scripture.   Here Jesus reiterates that we should love our enemies and be good to them.  The example he gives for how we do this is give to them without expecting to get anything back.  We should do this because God is merciful, and God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.   Far too often, we tend to shun mercy and kindness because we assume the worst of people.  We hold those in need with cynicism and suspicion instead of mercy.  We should follow the teachings of Jesus and the example of God the father and lead with mercy.   Instead, cynically assuming people in need are just trying to take advantage of the system, we should try to meet the needs of others if we can.

 I understand there are bad apples out there.  I understand there is a need for wisdom and discernment, but we should not let jaded cynicism or assuming the worst stop us from helping people.  If we were truly in need, we would want people to help us out, so that is what we should do for others.  We should show mercy to others.  If it turns out they are trying to scam us out of a few bucks, then come the day of judgement that is on them.   We should strive to be faithful in being merciful, doing good for all, giving without expecting anything back, and being kind to everyone, even the ungrateful and wicked.  Because that is the way that God treats us.  

Second, this morning’s scripture is all about how we relate to our enemies.  It addresses how we are to respond to those who have wronged us.  Jesus challenges us to reconsider who we label enemies and why do that in the first place.    It is frightfully easy to take those who we disagree with or who seem incredibly different and brand them our enemies.  This is often done by labeling others as “those people”, we instantly create an “us vs. them” scenario.  When we do that, it becomes very natural to say things like “respect is earned not given” to those who we consider not us.

When we tear down those “us vs them” walls it becomes much easier to love others.  We should realize that all people belong to the same group, specifically all people need Jesus.   Saints and sinners, friends and enemies, us and them- we all need Jesus.   Instead of lumping people into little categories we should draw the circle wide to include everyone, because there is only one category of people, we should put people in and that is the category of people who need Jesus.   I need Jesus, you need Jesus, we all need Jesus. Out of God’s endless mercy, God has sent his only son, that all who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God has been merciful to us, and when we realize that we are in the same category of people who need Jesus it is easier for us to be merciful to everyone else.
 
 In this morning’s scripture, Jesus challenges our default assumptions and urges us to lead with grace.  This can be hard work, because it requires us to put others first and to lead with mercy.  Yet, it is worthwhile because as Jesus states in this morning’s scripture, “your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.”  So may we lay aside our cynical attitudes and may we be willing to treat people with mercy and compassion.  May we not divide others into categories or label anyone our enemy, but may we recognize and value the sacred worth of all people.  May we be kind to others the way that God is kind towards us, may we love the way that Jesus loves.   Using mercy, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness as your colors of choice may your life be a beautiful masterpiece that illustrates the art of grace.