How to Share in Grace
Life has a lot of layers, doesn’t it? We experience joy, disappointment, challenge, and grace in any given week. My experience is it’s rarely all one or the other, though sometimes it is. This past week for me, had a lot of different moments. Tuesday was joyful as we spent some great time together as a family, playing games, talking, and laughing a lot! Wednesday was pack up the girls’ room day; they are both college-bound. Wednesday night, when I went downstairs to turn the lights off, the room’s emptiness caught me off guard. Tears gathered in my eyes as I realized a particular chapter of life had gone– I am excited for them but will miss them a lot. Friday was full of grace as I dropped my oldest off at college and played golf with some good friends.
How do we encounter God in a life with so many moments, some good, some heartbreaking, and others that seem so ordinary? Paul’s letter to the Philippians guides us.
God meets us in the mess
Paul talks about his joy for the Philippians because they hold him in their hearts, share in God’s grace amid imprisonment, and are loyal to Jesus as Lord (Phil. 1:7-8). They share in God’s grace by caring for Paul amid challenges. Said another way, God meets us in the messiness of life. This was true for Paul and the Philippians, for the whole world in the person of Jesus, and for us today. God has entered the messiness of life through the person of Jesus so that the mess is where God meets us. The brokenness and challenges are not from God but don’t prevent God from ministering to us. On the cross, we see God bring life out of death, so we can find God even in situations that otherwise seem hopeless.
It’s the hope that saves you
The situation for Paul and the Philippians seems grim. Paul is in prison, and the church is being persecuted because they claim allegiance to Jesus’ Kingdom, not Rome’s. Rome is growing, powerful, and destroys anything that attempts to compete. Despite this challenge, Paul is confident that Jesus will complete the good work he has begun (1:6). How can Paul be confident? Because Paul believes that God has transformed the world through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
We need this hope, too; otherwise, we would cave to the brokenness. Recently, as I was helping my daughter return to college, we talked about how every human being will face challenges, loss, and pain in this world. No one avoids it; we all must determine how we will live through it. Though we like to pretend otherwise, life is beyond our control. Our hope must lie in something else. Paul’s hope is in his confidence that Jesus will bring restoration. We can encounter God in the many moments by choosing the hope offered in God’s promise of restoration as signaled in the ministry of Jesus.
Living for the good of our world
Paul’s prayer is that the Philippians would overflow with love, creating the insight to do what is best (1:9). What is best is the wise action of love. What does this look like in your life? First, it will often appear foolish because love serves, sacrifices, and hopes when others cut their losses. Our call to this is caring for one another and our world. This can happen formally through a program or ministry. It often occurs in the unnoticed ways of reaching out when you haven’t heard from someone, offering a meal during a tough time, or showing up during a hard season because you believe people shouldn’t be alone. When we choose the wise action of love, we too get to share in God’s grace like Paul and the Philippian church.
