A woman died. On meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates, he said, “You’ve lived a continually godly life, but before I can let you in you need to take this 100-point test. You earn points for how well you’ve lived.”
The woman answered confidently, “I’m a cradle Methodist. All of my life I attended church, read the Bible, and prayed.” Peter gave her 2 points.
Being a little shocked at getting only 2 points, she said, “I was kind to my family, neighbors, and friends by taking them food when they were sick.” Two points.
Scratching her head she said, “I taught Sunday school and went on mission trips until I was too old. I was a UWFaith leader in my circle, district, and conference.” Three points.
“I strove to gain knowledge and wisdom and continue in right living until the end of my life.” Five points.
After some time of stating her case but accumulating only 27 points the exasperated woman said, “At this rate only the grace of God will get me in.” The gates opened, and Peter said, “Welcome to heaven.”
The old story never fails to make me stop to think about God’s grace no matter how many times I hear it. No matter how many times I think about it I can never grasp its full nature. Grace is like that; we can’t take hold of it. As with wind, we can recognize it, know when it happens, feel it, hear it, and sometimes smell or taste it. We can see the results in swirling leaves. We can evaluate its effect. But we can never understand its totality.
The problem is that defining the word grace seems easy enough, until you try to do it. You start out thinking you know the definition but bog down from the get-go because descriptors and definitions can’t hit the mark. Instead, they circle around it, with some ideas getting closer than others. It’s like back when I played the kids’ word game hot/warm/cold. Whoever was “it” thought of a word, and the rest of us tried to guess it. After offering an answer, “it” would say “hot,” “warm,” “cool,” or “cold” depending on how close we got. The problem with grasping the concept of grace is the closest we can get is either warm or cool.
Despite being unable to grasp the full meaning of grace, as Christians, we must try. Some theologians consider grace to be “the greatest word in the Scriptures, even greater even than love, because grace is love in action (italics mine), and therefore includes it. It is hardly too much to say that God has in no word uttered Himself and all that was in His heart more distinctly than in this word grace (charis)!” (https://www.preceptaustin.org/grace_charis).
Scripture is the best place to start when trying to define grace. Here are a few passages.
"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love," Psalm 103:8.
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace," Numbers 6:25-26.
“The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” John 1:17.
“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:10-11
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness," 2 Corinthians 12:9.
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace,” John 1:16a.
One of my favorite modern descriptions of grace is God's holy love on the move.
Despite all, however, we never come to grasp grace’s full nature. The closest we can come is to experience it.
Our soul care blogs for the next two months will explore the nature of God’s grace in preparation for our Oct. 3 Horizon Texas Conference UWFaith soul care Zoom retreat: Realizing Grace. Full details will be presented in next week’s Newsletter. Mark your calendars now!
In the meantime, think about the nature of grace. What does grace mean to you? When has grace touched your life and the lives around you? Should we, as receivers of God’s grace, share it with others? Do you share this grace? I suggest you pray and journal about these questions and whatever else comes to mind about grace.
Love and grace.
- Karen Kaigler-Walker
Horizon Texas Conference Spiritual Growth & Soul Care Coordinator
Selected portions from Grace, Actually: When God’s Hand is on Your Shoulder (in press, Wipf and Stock, Spring 2027)
