Where Grace & Justice Come Together

Grace + Justice.

Have you ever wondered how Grace & Justice fit together in God’s economy?

Holding grace & justice together may be one of the most difficult balancing acts we try to preform as people & especially as Christians.  How do you hold up the amazing grace of God while acknowledging the truth of the justice of God?

The good news is that Jesus once told a story about that.  I’ll paraphrase but you can find the whole story in Matthew 22.1-14.

Jesus once said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding banquet thrown by a king for his son, but no one came. Twice the invitation was sent, each time the invitation was rejected. Two times? What grace the king demonstrated. Any other king would have not responded to such rejection so kindly. But this king is not like any other king. However, the last time the invitation was rejected, it was rejected in a violent way. The king finally responded with judgement & destruction. Even though this king is kind & gracious, he is also just.

Then the king invited everyone from the highways & byways to come for the feast.  People came! There was celebration. Rejoicing. Finally the banquet table that had been set & waiting by the king was being enjoyed. But there was one who had entered the king’s banquet who did not wear the robes of the wedding party. He had entered the banquet but had not changed into the clothes required for those who belonged at the table.

Immediately the king cast him out. Grace had been extended once again to those previously not invited. But to those who had accepted the invitation, change was required. If you accept the king’s invitation but don’t make the changes necessary to be in his kingdom, you will find yourself quickly removed from his table. Because even though this king is kind & full of grace, he is always just.

Two Things…

Jesus here reminds us that two things are required to enjoy the wedding banquet that’s being prepared.

1. First, you have to accept the invitation of the king.
2. Then, you must be willing to change to enjoy the party.

Again, here is GRACE & JUSTICE at work. At the end of the story, a man receives the invitation. That’s amazing GRACE. But, for whatever reason, he was inclined to remain dressed in his former clothes. He was, for whatever reason, unwilling to change into the wedding robes required for the wedding party. So, even though He had already received the grace of the King, the invitation of the King, He was unwilling to make the changes necessary to remain in the grace of the King, so the JUSTICE of the King had to be imparted.

Grace always comes before Judgement. But make no mistake about it, the justice of God will be enforced. Why? Is it because God is unloving? Is it because God lacks grace. No. Quite the opposite. The Justice of God always makes right what is wrong. And if you are unwilling to leave your ways & step into the ways of God, His justice has to remove you from His presence. Because God loves you as you are, but He loves you to much to leave you as you are. He wants you to change. Why?  It’s always for your good & for His glory.

God invites you to come as you are but loves you too much for you to remain as you are.

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Grace, Justice & Red Light Cameras

Here in Coppell where we live, we have these red light camera’s at different intersections throughout town. Now, I’m not knocking these cameras. I know they make our city safer. I know they exist to keep people from breaking the law by running red lights & all that. But what these camera’s lack is any capacity for grace.

When we first moved to Coppell I was driving through town at night. And I had pulled out a little too far into an intersection where I was trying to turn left. I thought that after the oncoming traffic passed I would turn, no big deal. But the traffic wasn’t breaking. And then the light turned yellow. But I still wasn’t too worried because how I was raised to drive in Montgomery, AL was that if you needed to turn left at a light, you pulled out & prepared to turn. Worst case scenario, when the light turns red there’s this brief moment when all the traffic stops. At that point, it’s your civic duty, because now you’re blocking traffic, to pull through the red light & get out of the way. Kind of a loop hole in the law.

That’s not how things work in Coppell. I pulled through the light like I have done my entire life. I saw a camera flash in my rear view mirror. A couple of weeks later I get a ticket in the mail!

Now, had I been pulled over by a police officer for the same offense, I might could have shared my story.

“I’m new to town. I didn’t know how the rules here worked. I’m lost. I’m not even real sure where I am or how to get where I’m going. I’m actually a new preacher in town, did I mention that?”

With a police officer, I might have had a chance to make a plea for grace. But with a robotic camera, there was no room for grace. All I got was exactly what I deserved. A ticket!

But what if this would have happened…  What if a police officer showed up after that camera flashed & said, “I saw what happened. You’re going to get a ticket in the mail. When you do, call this number. It’s my cell phone. Call me & I’m going to pay for that ticket for you.”

If that wold have happened, that would been an act of incredible grace. After experiencing that kind of grace, a change would occur in me. That’s what happens when we experience real grace, grace extended at the personal cost of another. We experience change in ourselves.

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God’s grace always anticipates changed hearts.

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But here’s the thing, it’s only grace because of the presence of justice. There’s a sense in which grace isn’t grace without justice. That’s what makes the arrival of grace so amazing: understanding what justice requires & then realizing what grace has done for you.

This is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like… The Kingdom of Heaven is where the Grace of God & the Justice of God meet.

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We struggle with trying to hold up the grace of God & the justice of God. But what the parables of Jesus do is they invite us into the story of God. What if we look for ways to participate in loving people the way God loves people.  Love them enough to not leave them as they are. Call them into a deeper relationship with God. Call each other into a deeper relationship with God.

Sometimes we think that those who love us most love us as we are. That may be where love begins, but that’s never where love ends. This is what we do with our kids. We love them as they are but we love them too much to leave them as they are!

Love always calls people deeper. That’s what God’s love does too. His love calls us, it compels us to change.

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May we love the way He loves. May we love people as they are, but may we love them to much to leave them as they are. May we call people into a deeper relationship with Christ for their good & for His ultimate glory.