“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:1ff

“To the man who has found his rest in God, there comes the strength to reduce all the ill-at-easeness to manageable units of control, making for tranquility in the midst of change and upheaval.” (Howard Thurman. Deep Is the Hunger . Ravenio Books. Kindle Edition.)

Grace upon Grace. Grace upon Grace. The Greek word for Grace is “Charis” – and it means grace, favor, kindness, blessing. “In the great proportion of passages in which the word grace is found in the New Testament, it (Grace) signifies the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man (and woman), effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit.” (Robert Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament)

Do you consider that your life has been “graced”? Howard Thurman suggests that there is a Grace, a gift from G-d that comes when we find our rest and our peace in G-d when our lives seem to be well out-of-control. I cannot think of a time like 2020 where so many people have been so restless. Yes there was September 11, 2001 and the terror attacks on our soil; and even the recession of 2008 – both events that struck a lot of terror in people’s lives. But I must say the pandemic of 2020 has lasted so much longer – and affected so many more people – old and young, rich and poor.

Do you believe that you can find rest in G-d? I know it is possible – and it begins with experiencing and truly knowing grace in our lives. The heart of the teachings of the Lutheran faith is “Justification by Grace, through Faith”. We have been made right with G-d not because we have done the “right” things, but only because Jesus came at the “right time” to do for us what we could not do on our own. As we come to some knowledge of this wonderful gift, then the Holy Spirit fills us with the realization that we have received “Grace upon Grace”. This is faith lived through love and service.

Pastor Dave