“Layered Grace”

January 2, 2022

John 1: 1–18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. ***

One day I happened upon a new convenience store opening in a city I was passing through. At the entrance was a large display of pies and a store manager standing next to it. As I walked by, he said, “Do you want a pie? They’re really good. We have three kinds.” I shook my head and said, “No, thank you,” thinking they really did look good.

As I walked on, he said, “Are you sure? It’s free.” Free? I said to myself. Nothing is free. There has to be a catch: buy one get one free, fill out a survey, sign-up for their rewards program, something. As I turned back, I said, “What do you mean?” “It’s on us,” he said, “have a pie.”

“Well, ok, pecan please.”

Free things often raise our suspicion. Free does not compute in a world in which you are expected to pay for what you get. It does not add up in a world in which you are supposed to earn and deserve what you have. Free just does not make sense in a world in which you must pay off your debts and return the favor.

Concerns about whether something is free does not apply only to goods and money. It is also about the expectations and transactions in the relationships we have with each other. Even in matters of faith, free comes to play in how we perceive God’s intentions, our standing with God, our assumptions about how God works, and the way we sometimes pray.

So, that free pie came to mind as I was pondering this passage from John 1. It sounds strange but stick with me and I will try to explain that it is not a half-baked connection.

The beginning of John’s Gospel announces that God is doing a new thing in Jesus. He is the Word made flesh who lived among us, which literally means he “pitched his tent” among us so we have “seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” In fact, “we have all received, grace upon grace.” (v16)

Grace — God’s love for you, undeserved and free. There is that word again.

John’s makes clear that out from the fullness of God in Jesus, we are given grace upon grace. Layered grace.

Grace was not invented with Jesus. Grace did not first come in Jesus. Grace goes back to the beginning, to the creation. Yet, in Jesus, grace comes in a new way that was not yet fully known (v17). Grace upon grace.

Back to pecan pie. The challenge of a free pie with no strings attached is tiny compared to what this passage proclaims. If it is difficult to trust and believe that a pie can be free, how much more difficult is it to open ourselves to God who proclaims in Jesus that we have been given grace upon grace. That is what today’s gospel is getting at when John writes, “And his own people did not accept him.” (v8) Maybe grace upon grace sounds too good to be true, and you know what they say about something that sounds too good to be true.

Of all the theological truths we push back on and struggle with, grace is chief among them. We are uncomfortable with the idea that God gives us this favored loved, undeserved and free. “But I have to accept Jesus first, don’t I?” “Don’t you have to have faith first? Such questions have been uttered since the creation of the human race.

I suspect everyone has struggled with the gift of grace. We are uncertain of how to be grace-full. So let me illustrate this with an imaginary conversation with Grace. (From “Hoping Against Hope, 49 by John Caputo).

Grace: Hi, I’m Grace.

Me: I wasn’t expecting you. What brings you here today?

Grace: I want you to have this gift.

Me: Thank you, but you really shouldn’t have. That’s not necessary.

Grace: But I want to. I want you to have this gift.

Me: I’m sorry but I don’t have anything for you.

Grace: I don’t want anything from you. I’m giving you a gift.

Me: But why? I don’t deserve this.

Grace: So. This isn’t about what you do or don’t deserve. It’s a gift.

Me: I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?

Grace: It’s just what I do. I am Grace gracing. I am Gift gifting.

Me: I will never be able to repay you.

Grace: I don’t want you to repay me. It’s a gift.

Me: That’s very generous of you.

Grace: I’m not trying to be generous. I’m trying to give you a gift.

Me: I’ll never forget this.

Grace: Please, forget it. Just enjoy the gift.

Me: One day I’ll return the favor. I promise.

Grace: You don’t owe me a thing.

Me: I’ll be forever in your debt.

Grace: I don’t want you to be in debt to me. Just take the gift.

Me: What’s the catch?

Grace: There is no catch. It’s free. It’s on me.

Me: Surely there’s something I can do for you.

Grace: How can I convince you? All I want is for you to have this gift.

Does any of that sound familiar in your life? Where do you struggle with the gift of grace? How might you change that? And what would your life be like without that struggle?

My guess is that, without that struggle, we would see, experience, and embrace a life of “grace upon grace,” gift upon gift, with no questions asked. In other words, everyone would receive free pecan pies for life, no strings attached. Isn’t that what we caught a glimpse of and experienced this past week? Think about all the gifts that were received in recent times.

We received the gift of friends.

We received the gift of family.

We received the gift of feasting.

We received the gift of celebration.

We received the gift of joy.

We received the gift of hope.

We received the gift of love.

We received the gift of our life’s manger being filled.

We received the gift of a savior born to us.

We received the gift of the Child.

And the list could go on and on. In this season we have received gift upon gift. What if that is the lens through which we are to see and live life? What if that is the lens through which we are to read God’s Word and the Child’s life? What if Bible is a gift catalog of the Word become flesh?

This Word become flesh is the One who –

Graces our life’s water with wine.

Graces our troubled hearts with peace.

Graces our thirst with living water.

Graces our hunger with loaves and fish.

Graces our paralyzed legs to stand up and walk.

Graces our blindness with eyes that see.

Graces our sins with forgiveness.

Graces our prodigal trips to the distant country with a homecoming party.

Graces our grief with resurrection.

Graces our dead parts with new life.

Graces our lives with life abundant.

All that and more entered our lives when “the Word became flesh and lived among us…. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

Grace upon grace, gift upon gift. What does that look like in your life today? In what ways are you being gifted, graced? And what are you saying to Grace?

If you are arguing with Grace, offering protests, measuring your worthiness, looking for some way to pay back, feeling indebted, or otherwise saying no or making excuses for why you should not accept the gift, stop it. Just stop.

Enjoy the pie.