One Heart - Power of the WordSample

THE SCANDAL OF GRACE

In the book ‘Uncomfortable’, Brett McCracken tells of a profound scene in the Korean film ‘Secret Sunshine’, that captures the scandal of grace. The scene takes place in a prison, as protagonist Shin-ae goes to visit her son’s murderer in prison. Shin-ae, a new convert to Christianity, wants to forgive him. Her friends tell her she doesn’t have to see him face-to-face in order to forgive him. But she insists. She wants to see him in person and (truth be told) wants to witness the look on his face when she offers him the gift of forgiveness. And yet when she sits down to confront the prisoner on the other side of the glass, Shin-ae finds him unexpectedly happy, peaceful, even joyful. “You look better than I expected,” she tells him before explaining that the peace, love, and “new life” she’d found in God had prompted her to forgive him. She’s “so happy to feel God’s love and grace” that she wanted to spread his love by coming to visit her son’s murderer.

But then came the unexpected. The prisoner, the killer of her son, has also come to faith in Christ. “Since I came here, I have accepted God in my heart. The Lord has reached out to this sinner,” he says. “Is that so?” replies Shin-ae, crestfallen and shaken. “It’s good you have found God,” she says, very tentatively. The convicted murderer continues: “Yes, I am so grateful. God reached out to a sinner like me. He made me kneel to repent my sins. And God has absolved me of them.” And this is where Shin-ae begins to wilt. “God… has forgiven your sins?” she mutters in disbelief. “Yes,” he replies, “and I have found inner peace…My repentance and absolution have brought me peace. Now I start and end each day with prayer. I always pray for you, Ms. Lee. I’ll pray for you until I die.”

This hits Shin-ae hard. When she leaves the prison, she collapses, overcome by the horror of an idea she had not considered: that God could beat her to the punch in forgiving her son’s killer, offering this criminal the only real absolution he needed. Unfortunately, Shin-ae can’t accept this seeming injustice. How can a law-abiding, good citizen like her and a convicted child-killer be on the same level in terms of God’s grace? She can’t take that and abandons God because of it. Grace seems too scandalous!

Note. The self-righteous ones hate grace. The sinner needs it!

PRAYER POINTS

ME: Ask the Holy Spirit to expose and uproot every form of self-righteousness in your life.

US: Pray that the Church will become a living testimony of the transforming power of God's scandalous grace.

THEM: Pray that people who are trapped in the prisons of sin and hatred, will be set free when Christians can truly say: "We forgive you."

Remember your scripture memory of John 17.

"Self-righteousness is the devil's masterpiece to make us think well of ourselves." – Thomas Adams.