Moments of Grace

by Norman Rockwell

The Gospel lectionary reading for today is from Luke 9:7-9....

Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. Herod said, "John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And he tried to see him.

Sacred Space has this commentary on this passage....

Herod’s curiosity is aroused by the stories circulating around Jesus. God is knocking at his door. This is his moment of grace. The moment passes and does not return until Jesus is brought before him for trial. Again God knocks on his door and grants his wish. He indeed sees Jesus, and Saint Luke says that he was very glad of this. But he rejects the grace offered him because his wish is too small. He wants Jesus to perform some amusing sign, no more. But Jesus says and does nothing, so Herod has his troops mock him and then sends him back to Pilate. His door is closed.

Lord, may I recognise you in the moments of grace that come my way. May I be open to you, no matter under what disguise you come to me.

The other day I wrote a post on this blog about grace spaces and offering places of grace to others as well as seeking such spaces for ourselves. Today, Sacred Space talks about moments of grace.

I think I experienced a moment of grace the other day. I was walking back into my apartment after collecting my mail. As I did so, a young Indian girl whom I have never seen before got out of a car. When she saw me a big smile came over her face and she said, "Good afternoon!" in a very formal but cheery voice. For me, at that moment, that was an experience of grace, something unexpected, serendipitous, that communicated love, joy, and peace to me.

What moments of grace have you experienced recently? I hope that this blog provides a moment of grace for you. We need to be on the lookout for such moments. We need to go on a God Hunt every day, and respond positively to his grace when we experience it, rather than rejecting his grace as Herod apparently did.

Sometimes all we have to do to experience grace is to say, "Thank you Lord." In fact, some Christians talk about "saying Grace" by which phrase they mean giving thanks for their food before they eat. I like what G. K. Chesterton once wrote about "saying Grace":

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the play and the opera, and grace before the concert and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing; and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

Perhaps, if we had more moments in the day where we "said Grace" then we might experience more of God's grace, moment by moment....

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