‘Strengthened by Grace’

My Dear Shepherds,

Sometimes Christians are susceptible to spiritual snake oil salesmen who peddle religious elixirs “guaranteed” to boost spiritual health and vitality. One of the Bible’s warnings about such nonsense says,

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. (Heb. 13:9)

Pastors are sent forth with the God-given mandate to dole out the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the way Jesus’ disciples distributed the loaves and fish. Since it is indeed “good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace,” who in all the world are so ideally positioned to do good as pastors?

We carry grace, spoken and unspoken, wherever we go. Pastors have a kind of freedom and experience lay people may not have. It reminds me of how we can go into a hospital when others can’t, given our credentials. We open the scriptures and God’s grace springs to life. As we breathe deeply of the Holy Spirit, we embody the truth and touch of Jesus.

I’m retired but God has not revoked my pastoral privileges, so I still step into all kinds of situations assuming I’m authorized to distribute his free gifts of truth, peace, mercy, hope, and love. You can probably relate to my experiences on a recent Sunday.

After the service, I met A___, the young man who sat next to me. He said he was there because his uncle, a pastor, told him bluntly the day before, “You need to be in church!” So, there he was. I just met him on the welcome mat. For him, grace simply held the door open and said, “We’re so glad you’re here!”

As I was leaving the auditorium M___, a prayer warrior if ever there was one, sought me out to ask for prayer. Long COVID is debilitating her. She felt guilty about her frustration and discouragement. “I know God is trying to teach me a lesson,” she said, shaking her head hopelessly. The Spirit brought Job’s story to my mind, so I suggested that perhaps this wasn’t about some lesson she needed to learn at all. Instead, perhaps God counted her trustworthy to bear this hard thing, knowing that her faithfulness would honor him, not only before the enemy but also before all of us watching her. As I prayed, grace and wisdom came to her as the loving approval and admiration of her heavenly Father.

As I left her, I saw S___ sitting at a table. I went over to make small talk. “How was your week?” I asked. “Well, actually, it was kind of hard,” she said. “My dad died last Sunday.” You know as well as I do that there’s not much to say in such a moment. But I listened and asked about her father, and my heart went out to her. Grace came to her gently with a bit of balm at just the right time.

As I walked away, I saw G___ and asked him how his week had gone. He looked around to be sure we were alone and then said, “To tell you the truth, not good.” Then he courageously trusted me with a shame-faced, heart-broken confession. Guilt can be terribly lonely, so God dispatched me to be with him. As I embraced him and prayed, grace wrapped that brother in the white-as-snow mercy of Jesus.

God’s grace has so many voices, so many garments, and such impeccable timing. And you, dear shepherds, always carry it.

Be ye glad!

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