Have you ever experienced grace? It is a life changing event. During my softball career our team faced many difficulties. The greatest challenge for a team is when the all-star pitcher gets injured. That happened to our team. Bill Cahill was on the DL (disabled list) and we needed someone to step in. In a moment of weakness I volunteered. The game went well until the last inning. We were up by several runs but then it occurred. It is commonly called "The Choke." The pitcher loses the strike zone and starts walking guys. Slowly the lead started shrinking, until the winning run was on third base, with the bases loaded. I knew the situation so I started pitching fat pitches. Those are pitches right down the middle of the plate. Well, the last pitch of the night was a big fat grand slam. The words "crushed, crestfallen" come to mind. So there I am sitting on the bench alone, knowing I had blown the game. That is when a little girl named Jenelle came up to me, sat on the bench, hugged me and said, "Daddy, it's ok. I still love you."
Those words of grace changed everything. We all need to have "grace giving" people in our lives. That is why I am a Christ follower. Jesus is the most gracious person I have ever had a relationship with. The "Cliff Notes" of Jesus' message could be reduced to one word; Grace. His message of grace was very scandalous, outrageous, and even offensive.
In the story of the anointing of the sinful woman we see the scandal. Jews in Jesus' day had 620 rules to keep to be important in the community. If you messed up keeping those rules you were quickly expelled and ostracized. These rules made it clear that there was not room for pimps or prostitutes. But now Jesus appears on the scene with his radical message of grace. It moved from the exclusion of undesirables to their inclusion. Instead of the message, "No undesirables wanted" grace gives the message, "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest." Jesus was always hanging around the undesirables, losers, and outcasts.
We need to grasp the impact of this message in Stamford today. Go out on the street and ask 100 people how they are going to get into heaven and 90 of them will say the same thing as the Pharisees of Jesus' day, they are keeping the rules. Every one of the world religions is based on rules. Religion is people struggling to do something, striving to earn something, working to get the favor of God. Pray the Tibetan prayer wheel. Light candles. Say so many rote prayers. Perform a certain amount of good deeds. They are attempts by people to reach out to God. But grace is God reaching out to us. Grace says that no one can do anything to merit heaven so you might as well stop trying. We are all guilty of religious prostitution. None of us can say we have never sinned. We all know that. Our only hope is God's grace. This is the radical message we must tell a lost and hopeless world.
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