What does grace look like?

I am writing this blog post whilst listing to Lou Reed’s music, a peculiar choice to be sure but I heard this afternoon that he died today. He was 71, which I suspect might be considerably older than many predictions might have been. But why bring him up at all when I preached about grace and what it looks like today?

I’m not entirely sure but I think it has something to do with the notion that a grace-filled church and grace-filled Christians would have room for Lou Reed, if not necessarily his music, among them. Philip Yancey has said about grace, “it is one grand theological word that has not spoiled. I call it “the last best word” because every English usage I can find retains some of the glory of the original. Like a vast aquifer, the word underlies our proud civilization, reminding us that good things come not from our own efforts, rather by the grace of God. Even now, despite our secular drift, taproots still stretch toward grace.”*

We need grace even if we can’t define it as well as we might like. Grace is the unmerited favour of God, a nice, concise definition but . . . what does that look like? This week’s sermons take a look at our epistle, Gospel and Old Testament readings for different views of grace, I hope at least one of them connects with you.

Knox Presbyterian What does grace look like?

St. Mark’s Presbyterian What does grace look like?

Blessings,

 

 

* from What’s So Amazing about Grace by Philip Yancey, well worth reading.