Over the last few months, I have been reading and thinking a lot about grace. Unfortunately, those of us in the Church are often the least able to extend it, and I have watched a dear friend of mine be the recipient of such ungrace. Thus, the search in my life.
Anyway, amongst other things, I am reading Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace. In one chapter, Yancey describes all of the things that made the Jews of Jesus’ time unclean. You see, according to the law of Moses, there were several foods they couldn’t eat, along with other circumstances that made them unclean. If they were in a state of uncleanliness, if that’s even a word, they were not allowed to enter the temple or worship God, and in some cases, touch other people.
Having heard all this before, it was sort of old news to me. One thing, though, caught my attention. Yancey went on to explain that many people were banned from the synagogues and worship and declared unclean because of diseases. Rashes, sores, cleft palates, arthritis, any deformations, and countless other things counted people out.
That got me thinking.
I started wondering how many of us would be kept out of worship because of our disease. What if we were the ones who were banned from what we most wanted to do because of a circumstance we didn’t choose (and certainly don’t want!) For those of us with lupus, best known as the “look good, feel bad” disease, this may not be the case. Most people can’t see that we are sick, unless the unsightly “wolf cheeks” gets a hold of us for the day, and even then, some people may not notice. But what if lupus were more visible, like muscular dystrophy or Down’s syndrome or even skin cancer? People with these, not unlike myself, would be barred from church, from worshipping the God of the universe.
This epiphany led me to two other thoughts.
First of all, I am even more thankful that God sent Jesus to pay for my sins and that we are all saved by grace. We didn’t deserve it, and we certainly aren’t good enough, even the healthy ones, to earn it. Plus, since Jesus came, we no longer have to follow so many rules to get to God. Ceremonially unclean is not an adjective I ever have to worry about.
Beyond that, though, I wondered how much grace I extend to others- with physical ailments or without. When a man in a wheelchair comes to the door at a restaurant, do I get up to open it, or watch as he struggles. Do I hold the elevator or some other door for someone who may need an extra few seconds, or am I too busy? Do I forget to greet people at church because they are somehow different from me?
Sin is the great equalizer. We all are sinners. We all are the same. Even if we don’t look it. I am eternally grateful that Jesus broke down the wall between me and the God, and also the wall between me and people who don’t look like me. I’m glad God has grace for us, too.
