{"id":815,"date":"2008-05-01T23:29:26","date_gmt":"2008-05-01T23:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:45:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:45:30","slug":"true_grace_is_s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Grace is Scandalous"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s a Thinklings two-fer.
\nFirst, go read the incredible story<\/a> of a man who’s mother was murdered by the next door neighbor’s son. What’s incredible isn’t the murder, it’s the grace offered by the family of the victim.<\/p>\n

Yesterday at her funeral, her son offered to pay for the defense of her killer. … He said that he was following Jesus’ teachings: loving his enemies, forgiving others, and doing unto the “least of these” as he would to Jesus. The radio host said, “Jesus is my Lord and Savior too, but all I would want is 5 minutes alone with the guy.” “Yeah,” Mr. Barrios said, “but you’d be doing it to Jesus.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wow. There are only a few comments on that post, but the tone shows just how even believers can find grace scandalous and ridiculous to the point of tossing it out. Not possible or even worth considering. Except that when they need it, they’re glad that Jesus offered it.
\nThe harsh responses to the story prompted Jared to share this post on the audacity of grace<\/a> which he originally wrote in the midst of a particularly hard time in his former congregation, when their popular minister was let go.<\/p>\n

Imagine you are one of the early church’s first members. You are sitting in a home with a few other believers, sharing a meal. You pray together. You sing a few Psalms. Someone recites a bit he’s heard of Jesus’ biography. Then someone gets up to read a letter to you from some guy named Paul.
\nPaul is a guy who used to go by the name Saul. It’s possible he is responsible for the murder of someone you know, perhaps even your parents or one of your children. Now you have to sit and listen to someone read not just words from this guy, but instructions from this guy. Since his conversion from Christ-hating enforcer of the Law to card-carrying Jesus freak, he’s not just one of your fellow Christians. He’s an authority over all Christians recognized by nearly everyone.
\nIt is possible this arrangement would not have sit well with you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Go read them both, but if you must choose make sure you read the second one.
\nGrace is what makes Christianity different. It’s what makes us whole. It’s what makes everything OK when it absolutely shouldn’t be OK. It’s exactly what we need and exactly what we could never expect to receive. It’s a ridiculous solution to a tragic and insurmountable problem. When all seemed absolutely lost, grace saved the day. Grace puts all the crazy endings to all action adventure movies to shame, both in it’s efficacy and it’s audaciousness.
\nWe need reminded. We think too much that Christianity is a nice, straight forward religion. It’s not because at its core is a God who took the audacious step of suffering Himself to redeem those who had wounded Him. It’s even more scandalous than the victim’s family paying the legal fees of the murderer. In our trial it’s the prosecutor who dies for the defendant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a Thinklings two-fer. First, go read the incredible story of a man who’s mother was murdered by the next door neighbor’s son. What’s incredible isn’t the murder, it’s theRead More Grace is Scandalous<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGrace is Scandalous - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grace is Scandalous - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here’s a Thinklings two-fer. First, go read the incredible story of a man who’s mother was murdered by the next door neighbor’s son. What’s incredible isn’t the murder, it’s theRead More Grace is Scandalous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-05-01T23:29:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-29T02:45:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@salguod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml\",\"name\":\"Grace is Scandalous - salguod.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-05-01T23:29:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-29T02:45:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grace is Scandalous\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"salguod.net\",\"description\":\"Stuff I Think Up\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f\",\"name\":\"Doug Schaefer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Doug Schaefer\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/salguod.net\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/salguod\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/author\/salguod\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grace is Scandalous - salguod.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grace is Scandalous - salguod.net","og_description":"Here’s a Thinklings two-fer. First, go read the incredible story of a man who’s mother was murdered by the next door neighbor’s son. What’s incredible isn’t the murder, it’s theRead More Grace is Scandalous","og_url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml","og_site_name":"salguod.net","article_published_time":"2008-05-01T23:29:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-29T02:45:30+00:00","author":"Doug Schaefer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@salguod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Doug Schaefer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml","url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml","name":"Grace is Scandalous - salguod.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-05-01T23:29:26+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-29T02:45:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/true_grace_is_s.shtml#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grace is Scandalous"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/","name":"salguod.net","description":"Stuff I Think Up","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f","name":"Doug Schaefer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Doug Schaefer"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/salguod.net","https:\/\/twitter.com\/salguod"],"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/author\/salguod"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1116,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2011\/09\/hebrews_91-14_-_clean.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":815,"position":0},"title":"Hebrews 9:1-14 – Clean","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"September 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Hebrews 9:9-10 - The temple system was imperfect, temporary and was only in place until a better, more perfect way could be established. Hebrews 9:11 - I imagine that the Most Holy Place in the temple was a place of awe and much curiosity among the devout. It was where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1096,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2011\/05\/hebrews_1_-_the_real_jesus.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":815,"position":1},"title":"Hebrews 1 – The Real Jesus","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"May 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently pointed a friend to Hebrews as a place to learn about Jesus in relation to the OT law and temple system, so I thought I'd revisit myself. One of my favorite books of the Bible, so it was easy to talk myself into. Hebrews 1:1-2 - Once, God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":731,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/09\/ezekiel_chapter_31.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":815,"position":2},"title":"Ezekiel – Chapter 43-44","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"September 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Ezekiel 43:5 - The Spirit carries him into the inner court, a place where he likely has never been in real life. A place that only a few men have gone and only a few times. Imagine how that would have felt to have God bring you into his most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":592,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/12\/change.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":815,"position":3},"title":"Change","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"December 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Why is it that folks try to change others rather than themselves? We assume that things between us and another person would be better if they would only change to be more like us. Of course, the answers are somewhat obvious. To change ourselves would be more work, criticism of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "God and Church"","block_context":{"text":"God and Church","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/god-and-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":564,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/09\/hebrews_10.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":815,"position":4},"title":"Hebrews 10","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"September 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Hebrews 10:11-14 - This is actually the passage I was think of before:And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":521,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/07\/qts_with_jessic_3.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":815,"position":5},"title":"[QT’s with Jessica] – John 4:27-54","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"July 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"(Oops! I forgot to post these notes from last week!) My Summer time Bible Readings with 11 year old Jessica. John 4:27-38 Any questions? J - What are benefits (John 4:38) That means rewards or the good things. Like if you work to clean your room and someone else gets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1465,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions\/1465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}