Many just and true things have been spoken over the last two days but among the ink spilt so much of it is splenetic hate and lies by people on both sides of the political spectrum that the voices calling for grace and patience are muffled to silence. If God weeps, surely a tear is in the eye.
In these two days, I have gnawed my tongue until it is raw and hit the delete key on my Mac until I think I've broken it getting rid of things I thought I'd say or post but waited a few minutes and mostly thought better of it. (I wish I'd deleted more.) When I hit the delete key, it is because I remember judgment and hostility serve one purpose, alienation - that drives people away. Grace on the other hand, is a call to unity and fellowship that says we are all brothers and sisters on this ride together. They may not get on the bus, but they know the invitation is there. That is what changes my mind.
Most people I know, including me, take a degree of pride in their claim on being a source of grace - but as it is written, no one deserves a reward for doing their job, for that is what they are called to do.
Most people, often me, have a hard time coming to terms with two realities about grace. First, we look at the world through the lens of our own experience which means we do not have a unbiased view. Second, we find it hard to accept the idea that we seldom discover the best reward for doing what we ought to do - knowing the person who sees our actions (or words) and decides our grace is worth modeling, and shares their grace with another.
Grace is a double-edged sword. Grace can be feeding someone when they are hungry. Grace can be speaking up for some one who is abused. But in both cases grace focuses on the aggrieved, not on the power that aggrieves. The power that aggrieves cannot defeat grace, rather grace will always win even when the good result is not evident.
But, you may get bruised, or worse.
Grace does demand we speak out against injustice by human institutions but also to endure the consequences of our speech (or actions/inactions). Human institutions and rulers only have power as a tool to supress. Both the best and the worst human institution in your opinion will disappoint you in due time.
That is why one can never rely on a human institution or ruler for grace - and the reason why even our best effort at grace will not be perfect. Power that aggrieves cannot defeat grace. That is the essence of the empty cross.
So whether your politics are extreme on one side or the other, or miraculously fit the middle, always ask yourself, "Am I succumbing to the urge to be graceful or to exercise judgment?" Is anger getting in the way of grace?
Judgment is the futile effort to grasp power. Striving to model grace among the living is a righteous act in the only Kingdom that matters.
Grace and peace.
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