{"id":9,"date":"2007-01-17T11:41:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-17T16:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9"},"modified":"2007-01-17T11:41:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-17T16:41:00","slug":"grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9","title":{"rendered":"Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Every couple of weeks I have the privilege of speaking to our students in chapel. This week I spoke to both the Middle and Upper School Chapels. Our theme this month is GRACE. This is what I shared in chapel today…<\/p>\n

I have had an interesting past few weeks. We hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house this year. Clint and I had both of our families in town and had a great time. We spent New Year\u2019s with friends and then I hit the road to Memphis for a week. My little sister got married on January 6th and then this past long weekend my Mom and I headed down to Savannah to visit my brother. My brother is in the ARMY and he headed out for Iraq yesterday. There have been a lot of fun moments, but also some not so easy ones.<\/p>\n

In the midst of all of this family time, I have been trying to spend some time hearing from God what He\u2019d like me to share with you about grace.<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019ll start with a definition and short explanation of grace in the Bible.
Favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that person deserves. Grace is one of the key attributes of God. The Lord God is \u201cmerciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.\u201d Exodus 34:6. Therefore, grace is almost always associated with mercy, love, compassion, and patience.<\/p>\n

In the Old Testament, the supreme example of grace was the redemption of the Hebrew people from Egypt and their establishment in the Promised Land. This did not happen because of any merit on Israel\u2019s part, but in spite of their unrighteousness (Deut. 7:7-8, 9:5-6). Although the grace of God is always free and undeserved, it must not be taken for granted. Grace is only enjoyed within the covenant \u2013 the gift is given by God, and the gift is received by people through repentance and faith (Amos 5:15). Grace is to be humbly sought through the prayer of faith (Mal. 1:9).<\/p>\n

The grace of God was supremely revealed and given in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only the beneficiary of God\u2019s grace (Luke 2:40), but was also its very embodiment (John 1:14), bringing it to humankind for salvation (Titus 2:11). By His death and resurrection, Jesus restored the broken fellowship between God and His people, both Jew and Gentile. The only way of salvation for any person is \u201cthrough the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (Acts 15:11).<\/p>\n

The theme of grace is especially prominent in the letters of Paul. He sets grace radically over against the law and the works of the law (Rom. 3:24, 28). Paul makes it abundantly clear that salvation is not something that can be earned; it can be received only as a gift of grace (Rom. 4:4). Grace, however, must be accompanied by faith; a person must trust in the mercy and favor of God, even while it is undeserved (Rom. 4:16, Gal. 2:16).<\/p>\n

How do we understand grace for ourselves? One of the main reasons I was invited to my sister\u2019s wedding was because I was in charge of making the punch for the reception. That means putting the bananas, kool-aid, pineapple juice, lemon juice, sugar, water, and 7-up in a blender and putting it in the freezer. I made a lot of those bags! In order to pass the time, I decided to flip on the TV. I wanted to watch the funeral of President Ford. I have always loved History and Politics and a presidential funeral is an interesting combination of both. I enjoyed watching the National Cathedral fill up with former presidents, heads of state, celebrities, and other well-known people. The eulogies were given by President Bush 41, Henry Kissinger, President Bush 43, and Tom Brokaw.<\/p>\n

Gerald R. Ford was born and raised in Michigan. He played center on back-to-back National Championship football teams at the University of Michigan. He served as the Republican Minority Leader in the House of Representatives during the Presidency of Richard Nixon. On December 6, 1973 Ford was appointed Vice President to President Richard Nixon after Spiro Agnew was forced to resign when he was charged with tax evasion. On August 9, 1974 Ford became the President of the United States. Richard Nixon resigned as President following the Watergate Scandal. President Ford became the only person to serve as President without ever being elected Vice-President or President. <\/p>\n

At President Ford\u2019s funeral, everyone had nice things to say about him. They were complimentary of him as a family man and as a statesman. They all agreed on one thing, that \u201cThe Pardon\u201d defined his presidency.<\/p>\n

When President Nixon resigned as the President of the United States, he was involved in one of the biggest scandals to ever take place in our country. There were a lot of people who wanted to see him tried for his crimes and sent to prison. On September 8, 1974, Ford gave Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he may have committed against the US while President. In a televised broadcast to the nation, Ford explained that he felt the pardon was in the best interests of the country and that the Nixon family\u2019s situation \u201cis an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.\u201d Several people were upset about the pardon. They said that Ford and Nixon were conspiring and that the truth would never be known. Ford continued to say that he decided to pardon Nixon on his own terms. President Ford lost his bid for re-election in 1976.<\/p>\n

After Ford left the White House in 1977, staff members said that the former President privately justified his pardon of Nixon by carrying in his wallet a portion of the text of Burdick v United States, a 1915 Supreme Court decision which stated that a pardon indicated a presumption of guilt and the acceptance of a pardon was tantamount to a confession of that guilt.<\/p>\n

I want us to look for a few minutes at what a pardon is. According to a legal dictionary, a pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power intrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed. It is the private though official act of the executive magistrate, delivered to the individual for whose benefit it is intended. A private deed, not communicated to him, whatever may be its character, whether a pardon or release, is totally unknown and cannot be acted on.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s focus on the first part of that\u2026and the only part that makes much sense to me\u2026A pardon is an act of grace. A pardon is not giving grace to someone when they ask for grace. A pardon is giving grace even when it is not asked for. President Ford had a very difficult choice to make. He could have easily sat back and let Nixon be tried in the court of law and the court of public opinion. Ford knew that a trial would be hurtful to our country and in the end would probably not provide the closure people were actually looking for. He decided to pardon Nixon. When Nixon accepted the pardon, he basically admitted guilt and accepted the forgiveness offered. He would not have to face the penalty of his actions from the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

How does that compare to what Christ did for us? Romans 5:8 says that \u201cGod demonstrates his love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.\u201d Does it say that we asked for forgiveness or that we were sorry for what we had done? No\u2026God already knew that we needed to be forgiven. Even before we knew to ask for his grace, he already gave it. God pardoned us. By accepting the grace God offers us in His son Jesus Christ, we are admitting that we are sinners without hope of salvation on our own.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says \u201cFor it is by grace that you have been saved by faith and this not of yourselves, lest anyone should boast.\u201d God pardoned us even when we didn\u2019t know how to ask for grace. <\/p>\n

President Ford was remembered more for \u201cThe Pardon\u201d he gave than anything else he accomplished as a politician. How many pardons will you be remembered for? What do I mean?<\/p>\n

How many times have you extended grace to someone who has wronged you? I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve asked for grace, but how many times have you offered it.<\/p>\n

I am learning a lot of interesting lessons about grace. I grew up upset with my Dad for not being a part of my life when I was a kid. That continued to get worse and we grew further and further apart the older I got. It\u2019s only been in the last couple of years that I realized that it doesn\u2019t really matter at all anymore about those years. Right now, all that matters is what happens in 2007. I went to lunch with my Dad two weeks ago. We don\u2019t have a real warm and fuzzy \u201cDaddy\/Daughter\u201d relationship, but we had a nice time catching up as two adults having lunch. <\/p>\n

God is showing me that I tend to ask for forgiveness more than I offer it. For this New Year, I am praying that God would help me offer grace this year more than I have to ask for it. <\/p>\n

There is a song by Matthew West called \u201cOnly Grace\u201d it talks about the fact that once Christ enters the picture, our sins are gone and our new life has begun. Can we put the past behind us? Poor choices? Broken relationships? Hurtful words?<\/p>\n

If we have experienced grace we should constantly be looking for opportunities to share grace with someone else. As we close, I want you to listen to the words of this song. Today we can start over. If we accept God\u2019s grace and are willing to share it with those around us, our new life has begun. <\/p>\n

Here are the lyrics from \u201cOnly Grace\u201d. I played the song to end chapel.<\/p>\n

There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday\u2026has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it’s clear<\/p>\n

There’s only grace
There’s only love
There’s only mercy and believing it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there’s nothing left now
There’s only grace<\/p>\n

You’re starting over now
Under the sun
You’re stepping forward now
A new life has begun
Your new life has begun<\/p>\n

An\u2019 there’s only grace
There’s only love
There’s only mercy and believing\u2026it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there’s nothing left now
There’s only grace\u2026<\/p>\n

And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back up
Get back up again
Ohh\u2026get\u2026back\u2026up\u2026again\u2026<\/p>\n

There’s only grace\u2026
There’s only love\u2026
There’s only mercy and believing it’s enough\u2026it\u2019s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there’s nothing left now
There’s only\u2026there\u2019s only\u2026grace\u2026<\/p>\n

There’s only mercy and believing it’s enough\u2026it\u2019s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there’s nothing left now
There\u2019s only\u2026grace\u2026\u2026
So get back up\u2026get back up again\u2026
Get back up again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every couple of weeks I have the privilege of speaking to our students in chapel. This week I spoke to both the Middle and Upper School Chapels. Our theme this month is GRACE. This is what I shared in chapel today… I have had an interesting past few weeks. We hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}