A Moment Aside for 8 June 2021

 A Moment Aside --- 8 June 2021

 

   Karma and Grace are opposing concepts. The concept of Karma holds that we are punished or rewarded according to either the bad or good we’ve done. It is a very even- handed idea of justice. If we are experiencing bad times, it must be a result of some evil we’ve done. We like this especially when we are treated badly, thinking all this will come back on those who have slighted us. In a sense, you get what you pay for.

Grace, on the other hand, seems quite unjust… in our view of justice. Grace brings with it the idea that we do not and cannot deserve the good we receive from God. It is a free gift.

Now we don’t like this. We want to get what we deserve and deserve what we get. Because of that, Karma appeals to us. Grace remains mysterious and beyond our understanding. And we don’t like those mysterious things.

With grace, from a Christian standpoint, we get what Jesus Christ paid for. That is rather simplistic I know, but that might be a simple answer we could comprehend. The idea of a God who freely gives forgiveness, help, and ultimately, salvation lays low all of our expectations. There is no more keeping score.

It could be as simple as to say we want to save ourselves and earn a place with God by our own efforts. Of course, our efforts will fall short and if we spend all our time and trouble looking to our own efforts and gauging them, we are not looking outward to God and all the others that God loves.

The quote above make it clear that God loves us not because of who we are or what we’ve made of ourselves, but because of who God is Godself. That is beyond our earning, efforts, or even desires. Thank God that is so.