Rhythms of Grace
From a young age, I’ve been able to explain the gospel. I could recognise that I’d sinned and so there was a break in my relationship with God that was irreparable without His intervention. I knew Jesus was the one God had sent, in his grace and love, to lay down his life for my sin and to make a way for me to know God again. And the cherry on top was that it meant there was eternal life in heaven forever! That’s all seriously good news. Period. I just struggled to ever have those truths sink down deep enough to make a difference in the day to day of my life. It felt more like a set of beliefs rather than a relationship, and I wasn’t sure what to do with that. To be honest, I’ve seen and heard the same thing from other Christians for years. Maybe you’ve felt the same thing before too.
Why is that?
I want to suggest that it’s because we teach people the truths of the gospel clearly, but we don’t often have the same diligence in teasing out the implications of the gospel for our life in Christ. We form a good theology of salvation, but fail to equip them for the vital process of spiritual formation that will help to carry them through to the end. I know that was the case for me.
After all, Jesus himself says this ‘this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).’ What he means is eternal life begins when you enter into a relationship with God - there are obviously some differences between what that life looks like in heaven and on earth - but the relationship has begun. Here and now. And that’s how eternal life is defined - knowing God and the son he sent. He offers ‘life, and life to the full’ (John 10:10) in the present, which is found in the context of a relationship with Jesus.
You see, the grace that Jesus offers to us in his life, death and resurrection isn’t isolated to salvation from our sin. It absolutely must involve that, but this grace then invites you and me into a grace-saturated way of living life. This is what we often call ‘discipleship’. And sometimes that discipleship is practical, however, more often than not it is exactly as James K.A Smith describes it, where ‘we often approach discipleship as if becoming a disciple of Jesus is largely an intellectual project, a matter of acquiring knowledge. Why is that?’
It’s because too often we value the life of Jesus more than we value the lifestyle of Jesus. By that I mean we appreciate what Jesus’ sinless life achieved for us more than we value living like Jesus. In his recent book ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry’, John Mark Comer suggests that ‘the western church has lost sight of the fact that the way of Jesus is just that: a way of life. It’s not just a set of ideas (what we call theology) or a list of do’s and don’ts (what we call ethics). I mean, it is that, but it’s so much more. It’s a way of life, based on that of Jesus himself. A lifestyle.’
Here’s the point: to understand the grace of Jesus fully, we need to create space for our knowledge of Jesus to shape the rhythms of our lives. In the ordinary moments of our lives, through simple means of grace - like reading Scripture, prayer, taking a Sabbath rest, serving others, silence, fasting and meeting in community with our spiritual family. It still centres on what Jesus has done and not on what we do. And it revolves around grace-filled response rather than guilt-driven duty. But it enables a richness and vitality to the relationship that we were created for - us and God.
Jesus invites us, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt 11:28-30).’ This is a deeply practical call to approach Jesus with every mundane moment of life and draw from his unending well of grace. It’s from that place that our life in Christ can truly flourish because our conception of being a Christian has shifted from being purely knowledge-based to involving a practical following of Jesus. Rather than navigating life with our own yoke, or way of living, it involves taking direction from Jesus in each sphere of life.
This is precisely what James K.A Smith means when he suggests that ‘the Christian faith is the practice of many practices - not because faith is works but precisely because such practices and disciplines are habitations of the Spirit’. There is a practical nature of embodying grace that is inevitable. The practices, or rhythms, that make up our lives are exactly the places in which the Spirit continues to work out the grace of Jesus for the sake of his glory. In your life, and in my life. Each and every day.
That’s why we need to recognise how important the rhythms in our life are - because they’re precisely the places God’s grace is made tangible. It’s not just in our right knowledge about God but in the outworking of our relationship with Him. I’m grateful that in his grace God is continually teaching me this, and my prayer for you is that the same would be true.
May the grace of God shown to you in Christ guide you into a life of deeper communion with Him.
