Session 2 What's So Amazing About Grace by Phillip Yancey "The many uses of the word in English convince me that grace is indeed amazing - truly our last best word. It contains the essence of the gospel as a droop of water can contain the image of the sun. The world thirsts for grace in ways it does not even recognize: little wonder the hymn "Amazing Grace" edged its way onto the Top Ten charts two hundred years after composition. For a society that seems adrift, without moorings, I know of no better place to drop an anchor of faith.." ... from the Introduction

The Questions to Consider

What is my perception of God as my Father? How did Jesus - God's Son - treat sinners? What can we learn from the parable of the prodigal son? What do we mean when we say, "God's love is unconditional"?

Comments - recorded by Sherry Vera

In two small groups the story of the prodigal son was thoughtfully examined. Having considered our views of what constitutes “God the father” for each of us we came to treat the biblical passage in Luke 15:11-32 more as the story of the Prodigal Father, than the Prodigal Son. Perhaps one of the most telling images was expressed by those who understand the middle east. For the elder son to complain about his father’s treatment of his “wayward” younger brother would be as if the elder son were demanding his inheritance and thus wishing his father was dead. For the father to be pictured running to meet his youngest son goes against cultural standards whereby revered fathers walk and don’t run. Furthermore, they wear long-hanging robes which make it difficult to run. Thus the picture painted in this story is of a divine father rapturously greeting his son and throwing all cultural limitations and cautions to the wind. Some debate ensued as to whether grace comes only to those who deserve it, or who go on to “sin” no more. The biblical story certainly belies the notion that only the deserving receive grace. Yancey’s statement: “God loves us not because of who we are but because of who God is” seems to sum up both the story of the “prodigal (abundantly generous) father” and the Christian understanding of grace and forgiveness. Members of the two groups spoke of the degree of their identification with the elder and younger sons. We also considered the possibility of our acting with our own children in a manner keeping with the spirit of the loving father in the Luke story. Some thought that the child is the father of the man. And in some measure we do learn forgiveness, generosity of spirit, or on the other hand, vengeance, from our elders. Some participants saw the churches having become rule or regulation oriented as we carried forward into discussions of the contemporary role of the Church and what it means to speak of God’s love as unconditional,. The story Jesus tells is not one of regulations, it is not a creedal statement which only serves to make our act of seeming love conditional. Such acts are conditional because they are commandeered by cultural or church expectations. The purpose of this classic story is to stunningly illustrate the ecstasy of the father who celebrates the return of a lost son--totally unexpected, far exceeding all “rational rules and standards”.

Oct 2006