When evangelist Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his guilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
The judge asked, “Guilty, or not guilty?” When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, “That’ll be ten dollars — a dollar for every mile you went over the limit.”
Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. “You have violated the law,” he said. “The fine must be paid—but I am going to pay it for you.” He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! Later, Billy Graham reflected on the incident and said, “That is how God treats repentant sinners!”
This anecdote perfectly illustrates the biblical concept of grace. Most theologians define God’s attribute of grace as his unmerited favor or goodness granted to the ill-deserving. This means that God freely bestows his benefits and blessings on human beings who have neither earned them nor deserve them.
The greatest manifestation of God’s grace is in salvation. As we have learned in our last two reflections, God is holy and wrathful, which means that that he must punish sin to stay true to his divine character. If he did not punish sin, he would not be just, and therefore he could not be God. Furthermore, the Bible asserts that all human beings are sinful and are deserving of eternal punishment (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). But God freely grants his grace to whomever he desires. He is not required or mandated to express grace, but he does it from the goodness and love in his heart.
Today I would like to share with you some memoirs of unmerited favor to help us reflect on the doctrine of God’s grace. I hope that these stories will give you a better understanding and deeper appreciation for God’s grace in your own life!
The Grace of LaGuardia’s New York
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called ‘the Little Flower’ by adoring New Yorkers because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday comics to the kids.
One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.
But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. “It’s a real bad neighborhood, your Honor.” the man told the mayor. “She’s got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson.” LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said “I’ve got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions—ten dollars or ten days in jail.” But as he pronounced sentence, the mayor reached into his pocket and extracted a bill saying: “Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”
So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
Mayor LaGuardia was a just judge but he was also compassionate and gracious. This is exactly what Exodus 34:6-9 declares about God:
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. “O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, he said, “then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”
It is true, the law makes no exceptions; the Lord has to punish the guilty to maintain his justice, but he is compassionate and gracious. He extends his love and forgiveness to rebellious, wicked, and sinful people like us. Like the ancient Israelites, we are a stiff-necked people: selfish, stubborn, and quick to complain when things don’t go our way. But may we find forgiveness through the grace and compassion in the eyes of the Lord, just as the thieving grandmother did in the mayor’s!
The Grace of a Brazilian Mom
Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she slipped away, breaking her mother’s heart.
Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing. Pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janiero. Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or prostitutes. She went to them all. And at each place she left her picture–taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo she wrote a note. It wasn’t too long before both the money and the pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village.
It was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter disappeared. Her dreams had become a nightmare. A thousand times over she had longed to trade these countless beds for her secure pallet back home. Yet the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Christina’s eyes filled with tears and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation. “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, I still love you. Please come home.” She did.
This story reminds me of the words about God’s grace found in Titus 3:1-7:
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Like Christina, haven’t we all at one time been foolish, disobedient, and deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures? To some extent, haven’t we all lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another? We are all guilty of sin and none of us deserve salvation!
But thanks be to God for his kindness and love that he showed us by the giving of his Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered and died on the cross to save us from the penalty for our sin and rebellion. Through faith in Christ, our souls are saved from eternal damnation in hell, not because of any righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy. The blood of Jesus Christ washes our sinful souls and the Holy Spirit causes us to be born again and renews our lives. We are justified by his grace and therefore have the hope of eternal life. God’s grace is unmerited favor; instead of getting what we deserve, we get what we don’t deserve!
If you have been running away from God—if you have made a mess of your life—if you are guilty and feel like you are beyond all hope—come home to Jesus! Can you picture Jesus hanging on the cross? The caption says, “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, I still love you!” Won’t you give your life to him today?
Now that we have a better understanding and deeper appreciation of God’s grace in our own lives, let me conclude with one last memoir.
Years ago, a Christian father coached a baseball team of eight-year-olds. He had a few excellent players, and some who just couldn’t get the hang of the game. His team didn’t win once all season. But in the last inning of the last game, his team was only down by a run. There was one boy who had never been able to hit the ball—or catch it. With two outs, it was his turn to bat. He surprised the world and got a single!
The next batter was the team slugger. Finally, the coach’s players might win a game. The slugger connected, and as the boy who hit the single ran to second, he saw the ball coming toward him. Not so certain of baseball’s rules, he caught it. Final out! The team lost! Quickly, the coach told his team to cheer. The boy beamed. It never occurred to him that he lost the game. All he knew was he had hit the ball and caught it—both for the first time. His parents later thanked the coach. Their child had never even gotten in a game before that season.
The players never told the boy exactly what happened. They didn’t want to ruin it for him. And till this day, the whole team is proud of what they did that afternoon.
Like this coach, once you have experienced God’s grace in your own life, you can extend grace to others. When you recognize that God has shown you unmerited favor and has paid the penalty for your sins, it enables you to forgive others for the pain that they have caused you and to live a life of freedom, humility, mercy, and grace. Isn’t that the kind of life you want?