God’s grace and mercy are what makes God… God! It is by His grace and mercy that we live and will be saved to enter the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of Heaven when the time comes.
That we are alive and not suffering in the pits of Hell is evidence that we have received God’s blessing. Why is it then that devout Christians, firm believers in the Savior and astute readers of the Word spend so much time worrying about how can we ever earn God’s mercy?
The Bible gives us clear direction about all we need to do to enjoy God’s grace and mercy. To be clear, the two are different but related. Mercy is forgiveness, a pardon for our failings. Grace is the rewarding of gifts and favor without a thought as to whether we deserve them or not.
In the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), Jesus illustrates what we need to do to see God’s continued grace and mercy. There are three characters in the story. The father who has some property and money, and two sons. The prodigal son does not want to wait for his father to die to get his half of the inheritance, so the father says he can have it right away. That son then leaves to enjoy life in another land.
The second son stays and works the land with his father. He follows all the rules of being a good son and earns his keep with strong work.
At some point, the prodigal son is out of money and hungry. He finds his way back to his father where he confesses he lost everything and asks if he can sleep in the barn and work as the hired help works for food and shelter.
But the father will hear none of that. Instead, he welcomes the prodigal son home with open arms, not to mention a beautiful new tunic and a big party.
The other son is appalled. He follows the rules. He works hard. But his father never gave him a party. He refuses to join in the celebration.
In this story, the father is THE father. The good son represents the Pharisees or religious folks who are keen to the rules more than the faith. The prodigal son shows what happens when we stray (we lose everything) and how to come back to the fold. The prodigal son came begging for mercy and offered to live like a pauper for his father’s kindness.
There was no reason for any of that. Once the prodigal son told his father what happened and asked forgiveness, the father’s mercy (forgiveness) and grace (new clothes, tunic, and welcome home) were the natural results.
There is no need to worry over can we ever earn God’s mercy or not. We believe God sent His only Son to die for our sins and save us. He paid the price for our sins already. The mercy God shows us is already earned by Jesus Christ. If we believe that and are sorry for our shortcomings, our merciful God will get to work on the feast and new tunic. We’ll never have to sleep in the barn.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (ps 103:8)
