What is: Grace Upon Grace?

ELCA Lutherans are thought of as those whose faith is wishy washy.  “The Most liberal of the liberal denominations!”  That is, they live with a faith that hangs on, what others refer to as, “cheap grace.”  “They say that they are simply 'saved by grace through faith'.”  Historically this was, at first, a Roman Catholic verses Lutheran argument.  But the Pentecostals soon joined the conversation. 

So, I would like to do a bit of thinking, through my fingers, about what I have learned about grace.  Because it was grace that prompted me to become a Lutheran Pastor. I was not raised Lutheran.  I was an ecumenical child; raised in the town that only had one church when I was in grade school. It was simply called “The Community Church.” As a young adult, grace was the one thing that made sense!  I think it was the answer to all of the theologies that wanted to claim authority over anything graceful.  Who wanted to put judgments on human behavior as “sin.”  They say things like: “if you don’t believe as I do; you will not be saved.”  “You will go to hell when you die.”  

I call that scare theology!  

As a small child I remember going to Los Angeles to visit my grandma.  There were people in LA who would stand on boxes and yell about how people were doomed to hell;  because they didn’t believe a certain way.  They scared me!  I would walk really close to my mom's side as we walked on those city streets.   That kind of theology does not even know about God’s grace.  The God I was learning about in Sunday School was a loving and kind God.  Those men, on boxes on those city corners,  made God out to be mean and awful and scary.  

A terrible message to give about God!  At least the God I grew up with!  

So! If God is a God of love and mercy!  And, if Jesus came to teach us about that kind of God!  And if, as John writes in his Gospel: 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(John 1)

Then, it seems to me that we might want to think about — take seriously — this “grace upon grace.” Jesus brought to light.

One of my favorite writer, during seminary, was Gerhart Frost.  I believe it was in his writing that I read the definition of grace: “Grace!  What is it but God’s activity in our lives.”   

I lived with that definition for years!  

I still agree with it. 

I do believe that God’s activity in our lives brings grace.  But grace has become so much more!  It has become, to me,  the ingredient that creates a level plain in all the divisive crap people assume about God.  

Grace allows us to be human!  
                                           Not God-like!  
                                                               Not perfectly perfect!  

And still be acceptable and loved by God.  Grace gives us wiggle room to make mistakes and still be in God’s graces.  

My youngest daughter, who was often a challenging child, came home from school one afternoon and announced:  “Mommy, it is okay to make mistakes!"  My response was: “Really!  Who told you that?”   “Mrs. Koff told me, she said that mistakes help us to learn a better way of doing it.”

Miss Koff must have known God really well!

I have more to say about grace.  But before I do, I invite you to enter the conversation.  I invite you to write what you think grace is all about.  Why it might have been so important to Martin Luther that he broke away from the Roman Catholic theology.