Blog

by Nathan Buck

The CEO and shareholders stood there looking at this employee who was begging for his life. The employee had invested unwisely and lost his shirt on several business ventures he was in charge of. He owed more money than he could ever repay. In fact, if he gave his daily paycheck over to the company every day, he would have to work 200,000 days (548 years) to pay off the debt.

Here he was begging for his life, begging for mercy from the CEO to keep his job and somehow repay / regain the loss. To the amazement of everyone, the CEO had mercy. Instead of making him repay the debt, the CEO gave grace to the servant – forgiving the debt, and letting him keep his job and his freedom.

When the employee left the boardroom and walked outside, he bumped into “Jack – from accounting” a coworker who owed him a couple hundred bucks for afternoon “mocha latte” coffee breaks. As soon as he saw his co-worker, he grabbed him by the throat and started demanding he pay him back for all his “fufu mocha lattes.” When “Jack – from accounting” begged him for mercy and to give him a chance to pay him back, the man who had been forgiven his debt to the company, called security and demanded that his “mocha latte” buddy “Jack” be treated as a thief and escorted from the premises.

The rest of the company employees were enraged and took the elevator up to the boardroom and told the CEO and Shareholders what happened. They brought in the man who had been forgiven, and then decided to attack his co-worker. The CEO said, “I forgave you your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have done the same for ‘Jack – from accounting’?” And in a rage, the CEO had the man arrested and imprisoned in a correctional facility that made inmates work to repay their debts.

Ok, so I modernized the Biblical object lesson Jesus taught in Matthew 18:21-35. Indulge me for a moment with your imagination. Isn’t this story playing out for us every single day? This was not just a situation isolated to Jesus’ day. This struggle is alive and well today. In fact, I’ll be honest, its alive and well in my own heart – every single day!

I know that as human beings we want grace and forgiveness for our shortcomings, but we do NOT like extending grace and forgiveness for the shortcomings of others. THIS fact about my nature as a human being, this judgmental factor of my existence, is one of the things that drives me to seek God. I know it is not in my power to be good, and it is my nature to put myself ahead of others. I know that no matter how big my pile of mistakes, I want someone to take them away – but I am unwilling to help take away the simple mistakes of others. And the injustice and selfishness of this self-oriented human existence drives me to search for one who can rescue me (and others) from myself.

I found that Savior, in the only one willing to give His life to rescue me – Jesus Christ. Like the “CEO” above, Jesus took the weight and penalty of my debt and my sins and cancelled them by sacrificing His own life for mine. It is a debt I can never repay. But if I accept that grace that saves, it is a debt of forgiveness that I can share and pass on. How do I keep it in front of me? How do I keep from forgetting the incredible grace that has been extended to me?

Well, I don’t do that very well. I am human. And like the “employee,” I struggle to remember how much God has forgiven. The amazing thing about grace, though, is that we have reminders everywhere. And if we are looking, those reminders can help keep us on track. Look at creation, look at the sunrise, look at the rain, look at the seasons, listen to the waves of the ocean, the lapping of waters in a lake, consider the wonder of the creatures of the earth, the beauty of the sunset, stars, and universe. There is so much that shouts the wonder of our existence. Grace was given even before we knew we were selfish and broken.

All of those daily reminders, while I sip my “fufu mocha latte,” should be enough. The fact that God created all of this existence, and allows me to live here, even with my failings and my flaws – that grace confronts my soul! I am reminded that even before the dawning sun of a new day, I already have been given more than I deserve.

It is that grace, that wonder and grace, that drives me to believe God and seek Him out – I need that grace and want to live fully in it. That grace that tells me I am loved even when I am unlovable. That grace leads me to understand Jesus’ sacrifice for my selfish sinful decisions, and fuels my faith to walk with Jesus and share his forgiveness and grace with others.

When grace shows me who I am in God’s eyes, it challenges me to see (and treat) others the way He treats me. And that grace leads to hope, and the hope leads to perseverance, growth and change.

When you look around you, what do you see?

Ask God to show you His grace, and let it change the way you see… forever.