Week two of Lent has us considering the grace of God. In our first reading today, we look at the original example, the call of Abraham. We regard Abraham, quite rightly, as the father of our faith. But with this view of him, it’s easy to overlook the fact that when he was called, Abraham was a godless pagan; he was unrighteous. He hadn’t done anything to merit this blessing, had done nothing to deserve it as he was no different from anyone else at the time of his call. It was an unmerited gift from God. It was his faithful response to God’s call that led to God declaring him to be blessed. And in his being blessed, he was a blessing for others. It was because he lived out this blessing that others saw he was blessed and from his example, others received their blessing.

This leads to an inconvenient truth for us as Paul points out in our second reading. It wasn’t because Abraham adhered to the Jewish Law or a religious tenet that made him righteous. It was simply his faith in God that led to his blessing. And he did not keep this blessing for himself, because he lived a life of faith in God, made decisions based on his faith and showed grace, others were blessed through him. Paul wants the early church to realise it is no different for those in his time. Those coming to faith through Paul’s ministry aren’t blessed by God because they adhere to some aspect of Jewish law or practice. They are blessed because they, like Abraham, have expressed faith in Jesus Christ. And in living lives that reflect this, they show this blessing to the world.

I fear we miss this point though and have adopted a rather selfish view in relation to grace. Like Abraham, we haven’t done anything to deserve grace, it’s not something we have earned. We need to remember we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and are not saved because we adhere to some doctrine or tradition. Yet a great many Christians are all too happy to receive this gift and simply keep it to themselves as though they have somehow earned it by their efforts. They are keen to deny others grace because they don’t do things the same way they do. We are not meant to be reservoirs of grace; we are meant to be rivers of grace. We have been blessed by God and are also meant to be a blessing to others. What is the point of going through life with Great Commission vigour, to win others to grace, if we never show grace in how we live ourselves? If we live lives marked by grace, others will see what we have freely received and perhaps be inspired to seek God for themselves.