Grace - Cheap or Costly?

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:15-18

BibleGateway recently offered a 40-day devotional on the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  If you don't know, Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian during the time of Hitler.  He was imprisoned and eventually executed for his part in the resistance and attempted assassination of Hitler.  Bonhoeffer wrote many great theological books, one of them the now classic, "Discipleship."  I've been a big fan of his work and greatly respect his theology, so when I saw this devotional offered, I knew it would be right up my alley.

If you have ever heard the phrase "cheap grace,"  it comes from Bonhoeffer.  "Cheap grace," according to Bonhoeffer is

preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord's Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ.

I agree!  And I think a lot of us... especially we Lutherans who love to promote and focus on grace more than any other aspect of God... dabble in cheap grace now and then, or even more than we are willing to admit.  God's grace is supposed to change us and if it doesn't, we are sitting in the shallow end of the ocean of grace and only experiencing cheap grace.

But just because the grace might be cheap, it doesn't make it any less real.  You can choose between two restaurants... McDonalds or Ruths Chris.  You WILL be fed at both, but at McDonald's you get what you pay for.  Now I don't think cheap grace will get you any less of God's love, but at the same time, we won't experience God's love the same way.  We won't get the same kind of spiritual growth or the same level of abundant life that God so wants for each one of us.

Will we still go to heaven with cheap grace?  Sure!  But if we stay in the shallow end of the grace ocean, we will never experience the overflowing, abundant, drowning in grace that will change our lives forever.  Cheap grace is fine if you are satisfied with the least God has for you in this world.  But if you want it all, go after that Costly Grace.  Take your forgiveness WITH repentance and your baptism WITH the discipline of community.  Take Communion WITH confession and experience the ocean of grace that comes with true discipleship, the cross and the living, incarnate Jesus Christ.

Father,
Forgive us for being satisfied with cheap grace and guide us and lead us and encourage us to go after the costly grace for which your Son died.  Amen.

Joys:  summer fruit; getting an early start on my hiking today; praying friends