Grace Realized

Most Christians know that grace is defined as undeserved favor. It means you get something you don’t deserve; you get something for nothing, essentially. It’s not “for nothing” if you consider what Jesus Christ had to suffer to purchase your grace, but there is nothing more you have to do. While I say most Christians know this intellectually, many still feel unworthy to receive it. That is the point: no one is “worthy,” or it wouldn’t be “grace.”

It often takes a physical demonstration to bring the truth of what grace means home to the recipient. I have such an experience to recount. My wife and I were comfortably retired, travelling the country in a large fifth-wheel RV. (See "Mounting Everest") We enjoyed being where it doesn’t snow in the winter and being back in beautiful Michigan for the summer. The fly in our ointment came as we discovered that our commitment to ministry in Michigan was being diluted by our being gone for six months every winter.

We believed that God was calling us to resettle in Michigan – to come off the road as it were. We had thought to retire in Montague, Michigan where we had been spending our summers in the RV. However, the ministry and church we were involved with is in Muskegon, twenty miles down the road. It happened that we were making that forty-mile round trip just about every day, sometimes in two vehicles. The gas costs were enormous.

Enter our pastor/realtor, Nick. We asked if there were any houses for sale in the neighborhood of the church. Our “dream house” would have to have four bedrooms because we wanted to establish a sober living home for women in transition from incarceration or drug addiction. Nick suggested that the house across from the church might be coming on the market, and he would ask the Lutheran church that owned it if they were interested in an offer.

After several months of investigation and negotiation, we were able to buy the house at a steep discount to the appraised value. We discovered that it not only had the necessary bedroom, but it also had a fireplace, basement workshop, three-stall garage and other hidden goodies we were ecstatic about.  Because we had not owned a house for almost five years, we were able to obtain a “first-time buyer” package that required virtually no money down. That suited us perfectly since we had minimal savings. Grace realized #1.

Having spent five years out of any house, we had divested ourselves of most of the accoutrements of a home. Another one of our pastors, Bill, does drywall part-time and he helped us repair some water damage that had occurred several years ago. The causes of the leaks were fixed, but the damage had been left unrepaired. Through generous friends’ donations of appliances and furniture and the low cost of buying at second-hand stores, we were able to furnish a 2,500 square foot house for $220. Grace realized #2-3.

The house had been built as a top-class home in 1948. Time had taken its toll, but the bones were solid. We made necessary upgrades, including installing a shower and mini kitchen in the area where our guests would live. The largest expense was replacing the original 1948 windows that had deteriorated beyond repair. This was accomplished with a no-money-down, no-interest, no payment for twelve months loan arrangement. Much of the remaining cost went onto no-interest credit cards. Grace realized #4.

Fast forward fourteen months and we were in the middle of the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020. We had chosen to refinance the house and get some cash out of equity to pay for the windows before the interest was added to the loan. With the restrictions of the C-19 situation, the re-fi dragged on relentlessly toward the due date for the loan payment. A call to the company holding the window loan garnered a three-month extension of the no-interest period. Grace realized #5.

We closed a few days after the initial period of no interest but in plenty of time to save the thousands of dollars the accrued interest would have added. With the extra cash from the re-fi and the CARE benefits we were entitled to because of COVID 19, we were able to pay off almost all of the credit card debt accumulated in our remodeling, some overdue income taxes, and a subsequent surgery on my shoulder. Grace realized #6.

I saved the best for last. The required appraisal of the house for the re-fi revealed another move of the hand of God. During the fifteen months we had owned the house, the real estate market had changed drastically. The supply of houses for sale was far below the demand of buyers, so prices had risen dramatically. With the market change and our improvements to the house, the appraisal came in over 30% higher than our initial appraisal only months earlier. We effectively gained many thousands of equity dollars just for enjoying the blessing of God in the house He provided. Amazing grace #7 realized.

God has allowed us to bless others with the blessing He gave us through this sequence of events. I know He will continue to do so as long as we remain open to His leading. When the time comes to move on, the sale of the house will allow us to be completely debt-free with a substantial savings account to boot, a condition we could never have imagined less than two years ago.

I recount all this in the hope that someone will see, in our blessing, the potential of their own blessing. Or that someone will look back on their life and see the grace of God where they had not realized it before. I don’t see my wife and I as special, in some way “deserving” the blessing we have received, but there is one lesson to be learned. We would never have been a party to God’s good grace had we not submitted to His will for us.

We were not “ready” to stop travelling and buy a house when He called us to do so. We were enjoying retirement in every way, but we heard the voice of God asking us to set aside our pleasure for the sake of helping others. We did it, and here we stand, still missing the joys and freedom of the open road, but happy to be blessed ourselves in the act of blessing others. Long ago I learned a phrase I have used as a sign-off many times:

Blessed to be a blessing,

Clair

Living the Examined Life

Back in 2013 I posted a blog called "High Resolution Living." The purpose was to encourage careful observation of our surroundings so that we would take advantage of opportunities to make a positive impression. In other words, how to live like a believer. I still stand firmly on the major premise, but as I had occasion to re-read what I wrote today, I found myself choking on my own words.

This would not be the first time I have found it necessary to eat my words. I am prone to letting my mouth run with my brain disengaged. The problem comes when I make a unilateral statement in writing and then publish it for all to see. Back in 2013 I said, " Real men don't make resolutions; they don't eat quiche, and they don't carry 'man bags.'”

I now own what would certainly qualify as a “man bag.” I was teaching in the prison and I wanted a small, simple canvas bag to carry the few things I am allowed to take in. So, for Christmas I received the present you see pictured here: an ammo bag, thank you. (Not the appropriate name for something carried into prison by visitors.) I know; it’s a man’s purse. But it’s practical; it does exactly what I need done under the circumstances. It has few pockets so the guards can search it easily, and it is big enough to carry what I want to take in. Strike one.

It gets worse. A couple years ago my wife and I received a selfie stick. (That's one of those telescoping rods that allows you to get a self-portrait from a longer distance, for those who don't know.) My youngest expressed shock that we owned such a thing.  In 2013 I could have easily said real men don’t use selfie sticks; they wouldn’t even do selfies. My Facebook photos now abound with selfies. Strike two.

And worse yet, in 2018, I realized that it was not really “Christian” to say I hate cats. (Read For the Love of Cats.) Although I had made my serious dislike of cats known to anyone who cared to listen, I came to the conclusion that God loves all His creatures, and if I am supposed to be transformed into the image of Jesus, I would have to do the same. It didn’t seem Christ-like to hate cats – or any of the creation He made for that matter. Strike three; Ouch!

What is this all about? The Spurgeon devotional I am reading had a piece on Ecclesiastes 10:7 which Spurgeon crafted into the admonishment to “reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.” This reminded me of the frequently quoted statement by Socrates who said, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” I will grant you that the sage was condemned to death soon after making that pronouncement, but it remains true, nonetheless.

I think I am pretty smart—most people who know me well think I am too smart for my own good – but I know that there is much I don’t know. This deficiency has nearly caught up with me in my old age making me question many of the things I have asserted as truth for much of my life. Hence the examination which makes life worth living, thank you Mr. Socrates. It is worthwhile, but it is not without pain and potential embarrassment.

For Christians this is especially important. Just think of the many things that Christians have historically believed to be true only to ultimately be proven wrong. The early disciples believed Jesus would return in their lifetime. The Roman church of the middle ages persecuted and martyred believers who asserted facts that contradicted the church’s interpretation of Scripture. (Galileo, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler) The Crusaders believed they were doing God’s will to murder innocent unbelievers. Doctrinal misunderstanding abound: read “The Lies We’ve Been Told” and “Canaan Cannot Be Heaven” and “Many Called; Few Chosen” for examples.

For this reason, I believe it is important to keep the main thing the main thing, as someone once said. Jesus counselled us to seek first the kingdom and wait for all else to come our way. The kingdom to which He referred is a kingdom of the heart. Kingdom implies rulership; rulership in the kingdom of Heaven reigns in the heart. This brings me back to Spurgeon’s counsel; we must learn how to “reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit, soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.” A life examined in this way is ultimately the only life worth living. And for the record, I love quiche.