Surprising grace

A little boy was trying to explain to his little sister the meaning of the word "grace."

They had both heard the word in Sunday School, but being older, the little boy felt his being two years older gave him more experience with such hard concepts. So, he gave her this example.

"If you break grandma's flower vase and get a timeout, that's justice," he began. "If you break her flower vase and say 'not to worry about it,' that's mercy," he continued. "But," he said, "if you break her vase and she hugs you and gives you a cookie, that's grace!"

The Bible is filled with references to grace. Grace is more than pity. It's about God finding ways to surprise us with love and forgiveness when we don't feel that we deserve it.

It's an act of God, where God takes the initiative to bless us, not because we earned it, but because God's love for us is so real and deep that God wants us to experience this love as a tangible reality.

Even during our most difficult times, God finds ways to surprise us with love and mercy. Even when we feel we may be beyond redemption, God steps in and does what seems impossible.

In the New Testament, when the Apostle Paul felt overwhelmed by his own weakness, he writes that he heard God saying to him: "My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made complete in your times of weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). For Christians, the grace of God is embodied in Jesus Christ, whose life, death and resurrection is the central focus of the Christian faith.

In fact, Christians believe that God tries to get our attention and reach out to us even before we are aware (see Romans 5:6), and then continues to find opportunities to creatively and surprisingly demonstrate love toward us. It's not something we earned.

Like grandma's cookies in the young boy's illustration, it's something we receive with thanksgiving and joy.