I don’t know what this means but I think it might be funny.
Mark Galli writing in “Christianity Today” this month makes the observation, that when “the radical grace of God becomes manifest some begin to grumble”. Mercy is the same way. Too much forgiving going on out there with without obvious repentance. Too much generosity to the poor without a proper show of gratitude going on out there. To much free grace without a proper dollop of justice going on out there. As I write those words the voice and the face of a Senator from the past, Ernest Hollins comes to my mind. He spoke with a rich southern drawl and sounded all the world like Foghorn Leghorn, the ostentatious rooster in the cartoons I watched as a child. He said, in a memorable explanation of the economic concept of inflation, that there was “too much consumin going on out dare” A while back a black man was shot by a white police women, convicted of murder, and forgiven by the man’s brother and given a Bible from the judge. There was a great deal of outrage that there “was too much forgiven going on out dare”.
The audacious act of God reconciling the world to himself by sending Christ to bleed and die on the cross is radical. It is so radical that it has been debated to the point of lunacy and fought over to the point of open warfare. The fact that God so loved the world that He gave is a stunning and startling message and all good news. Objections to grace and mercy show the desperate need for it. I am thankful for the grace shown to me – I’m just not sure about the grace shown to you.
