Grace and Freedom

GRACE AND MERCY

BY CHRIS LACARA

How often are we kissing the feet of Jesus without ceasing?”

This past month, I had the opportunity to speak to our high school students on the topic of Mercy. Wow! Well, isn’t that just one of the easiest topics to explain to high school students?! How does someone begin to explain mercy to an adult let alone to high school students? I really had to sit down and read explanations and instances over and over again trying to understand the fullness of God’s mercy.

Oh but wait, there’s more! I also had to differentiate between mercy and grace. That is where I just had to step back and pray for understanding. You see, we hear so many times about God’s mercy and grace, but what do those actually mean and how are they different?

The way to understand grace and mercy best would be to explain them. If grace is like “getting a gift we don’t deserve,” then mercy is “not getting what we do deserve.” Another way to explain would be to say that by taking our punishment for sin, Jesus displayed mercy. Jesus died on the cross even though we deserved to be in his place (that’s’ mercy). Instead, we get the gift of eternal life if we turn from our sins and put our faith and trust in Jesus (that’s grace). If you are in the same predicament as I was, trying to understand the difference, go ahead and reread the previous examples as many times as you need to gain further clarity.

The scripture we focused on was Luke 7:36-50. Reading Luke, we see how a prostitute, who at that time would have been stoned for her sins or at the very least have been an outcast, goes to Jesus and cries at his feet. She goes into the house of a Pharisee and was also in the presence of men, alone. Each of these were high offenses at the time. The woman wipes perfume and her tears on his feet using her hair. It says, the woman did not cease to kiss his feet. Instead of condemning her, Jesus tells her that her faith saved her and to go in peace.

Everyday we find ourselves amidst grace and mercy from Jesus. We don’t think about these things as often as we should, but that’s the beauty of mercy. We have been given the opportunity to learn from Christ’s example and teaching to show others the same mercy shown to us each and every day. How often are we kissing the feet of Jesus without ceasing? There are many times, I don’t deserve mercy, but I know that Jesus has shown me mercy and it is my responsibility to show mercy to others. Don’t look at being merciful as a task or a burden, but instead see that mercy is the love that Christ showed each of us.

Chris Lacara