Grace Unpacked

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● Matt 7:1-2 . . Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way
you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will
be measured to you.

I don't think that passage is saying God judges folks based upon their own
personal standards, rather; it's saying what goes around comes around.

This is particularly applicable to online forums where cyberspace fault
finders have an annoying propensity to point out every perceived mistake,
whether significant or insignificant; and usually do so with very little
consideration for either tact or diplomacy.

● Rom 13:10 . . Love does no harm to its neighbor.

● 1Cor 13:4 . . Love is kind.
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In the 25th chapter of 1Samuel, the story is told of David's disappointment
with a very wealthy man whose employees he good-neighborly protected
free of charge or obligation. David humbly requested a favor in return.
However, unknown to David; the man for whom he did the favor was an ill
bred clod.

● 1Sam 25:14-17 . . But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife,
saying: Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our
master; and he railed on them.

. . . But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither
missed we anything as long as we were conversant with them, when we
were in the fields: They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the
while we were with them keeping the sheep.

. . . Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is
determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such
a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

* A son of Belial is quite the opposite of a son of God (Matt 5:9)

David was very close to behaving himself in a manner unbecoming for a son
of God until the wealthy man's wife Abigail-- whose graciousness
complimented her amazing courage -- talked David down from his impious
intentions, plus also provided him with the assistance he requested, and
even offering to substitute her own life for the life of a husband in very
grave danger. As a result: Abigail saved the day for her evil spouse, for
Israel's future king, and the future king's regime.

* Abigail's story has to be read from start to finish before someone can fully
appreciate her value as one of the Bible's primo examples of grace in shoe
leather, i.e. grace in words and practices.
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● Matt 15:21-28 . . Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A
Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out: Lord, Son of
David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon
possession. Jesus did not answer a word.

. . . So his disciples came to him and urged him: Send her away, for she
keeps crying out after us. He answered: I was sent only to the lost sheep of
Israel.

. . .The woman came and knelt before him and said: Lord, help me!.

. . . He replied: It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their
dogs. She replied: Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from
their masters' table.

. . .Then Jesus answered: Woman, you have great faith! Your request is
granted. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus' meeting with that woman wasn't happenstance.

● John 6:38 . . I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but
the will of Him who sent me

● John 10:30 . . I and my Father are unified.

Nor was his response impulsive.

● John 8:26 . .He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things
which I have heard of Him.

● John 8:28 . . I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as
the Father taught me.

● John 12:49 . . I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me,
He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

● John 14:24 . .The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who
sent me.

So then, I think we may safely assume God was right in the middle of that
meeting and coached His son thru the whole scene. Which means of course
God deliberately maneuvered Jesus to a location where that woman could
intercept him with her greeting and with her request.

NOTE: The woman-- a Canaanite --greeted Jesus as "son of David" It's a
mystery how it came about that she was aware of Jesus' genealogy but had
she, a Gentile, been indifferent about it, that would've been understandable.
Back then; a non Jew's faith in that respect was indeed remarkable.
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There's a 1945 photo in circulation of a serviceman standing atop a car
amidst a large crowd in San Francisco celebrating the end of war in Europe.
There's a guy sort of like that in the Bible.

● Luke 19:1-6 . . Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was
there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was
wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could
not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree
to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

. . .When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him: "Zacchaeus,
come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came
down at once and welcomed him gladly.

That man didn't know it but he was on Jesus' itinerary even before the Lord
started out that morning on his day's travels.

● Luke 19:7 . . All the people saw this and began to mutter: "He has gone to
be the guest of a sinner."

Yes; Jews who collected taxes for Rome were definitely considered sinners
but what was Jesus to do when it was his superior officer in Heaven who
filled out the Lord's contact list.

● John 4:34 . . My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me

● John 6:38 . . I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do
the will of Him who sent me.

● Luke 19:9-10 . . Jesus said to him: "Today salvation has come to this
house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came
to seek and to save what was lost."

Would to God everyone was singled out like that; but alas such is not to be.

● Rom 9:15-17 . . He says to Moses: "I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does
not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

Well; Mr. Zacchaeus-- a traitor in the eyes of patriotic Jews --surely needed
mercy; so there he was person-to-person with a very good source.
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When people survive long enough, two situations eventually befall them all,
to wit: they get old, and their parents die.

Young and beautiful,
But someday your looks will be gone.
( Love Will keep Us Together, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield )

Though my father and mother forsake me,
The Lord will receive me.
( Psalm 27:10, David ben Jesse )

My dad passed away in 1972 when I was 28 and he 62. His death left me
staring into an abyss and feeling adrift with no anchor even though at the
time I had a good job and was independent.

My dad had always been available when I was down; he was a resource I
could count on to prevent my ending up on the street alone, in poverty, and
homeless, i.e. he was a very dependable safety net. So I lost more than a
parent when he died: of a sudden I was an insecure child.

So I turned to religion for strength and in time became a serious student of
God's ways via the Bible, bible-study books, radio programs, and church
attendance. Time and circumstances have proven my dad's replacement a
wise choice; at least for me anyway. Others may have better success in
other directions.
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In ancient Israel, a man's eldest son was automatically his principal heir for
perpetuating their father's estate. Daughters were typically not included
among a man's heirs because their destiny was with a husband and his
family away from their father and their family.

However, a special case arose in the 27th chapter of the book of Numbers
where a man with five daughters died leaving behind no sons to perpetuate
his estate: and the covenant that the Moses' people agreed upon with God
contained no instructions for fathers lacking male heirs.

So the man's daughters consulted Moses for a legal solution to their
deceased father's dilemma, and Moses in turn consulted God. That all
resulted in the creation of a new rule (thus far unheard of) allowing a man's
daughters to become his principal heirs in the absence of a son. The only
caveat was that the daughters had to marry men within their deceased
father's tribal affiliation so that his tribe's land wouldn't be lost to outsiders.
(Num 36:1-12)

My point is: God took the daughters' side in the matter and Himself
personally stepped up and did right by them; which should help towards
convincing certain women that God isn't the total sexist bigot that the world
sometimes makes Him out to be.
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● Num 35:9-13 . .Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying; "Speak to the sons
of Israel and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of
Canaan, then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge,
that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there.
And the cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the
manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for trial.

The thing to note is that cities of refuge are not intended for harboring
murderers in the first degree; only when someone's deed is a manslaughter:
defined by Webster's as the unlawful killing of a human being without
express or implied malice.

For example: my eldest nephew ran over a 30-year old bicyclist late one
night back in Dec 2008 while driving under the influence. He was convicted
and sentenced 12½ years in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter. The
killing was unintentional, but nevertheless it was an unlawful killing under
California State law due to operating a motor vehicle on a public highway
with an unacceptable level of alcohol in his blood at the time.

The "avenger" is translated from a Hebrew word that basically pertains to
payback by the deceased's kinfolk taking the law into their own hands, for
example;

Oh, The Martins and the Coys,
They were reckless mountain boys,
And they scarred the mountains up with shot and shell.

There was uncles, brothers, cousins,
Why; they bumped them off by dozens,
Just how many bit the dust is hard to tell.
( Ted Weems and Al Cameron, 1936 )
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Jesus was solo in this next scene as his men had gone into town in search of
victuals.

● John 4:3-9 . . He left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

. . . Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria
called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat
down by the well.

NOTE: Sychar (a.k.a. Shechem) wasn't located in a foreign country. It was
actually situated in Israel within the territory assigned to Joseph's son
Ephraim. (Josh 21:21)

. . . It was about the sixth hour when a Samaritan woman came to draw
water. (That would've been +/- mid day per the Jews' time as their civil day
began half way between midnight and high noon per Roman time whether
the sun was up or not.)

. . . Jesus said to her: Will you give me a drink? The Samaritan woman said
to him: You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me
for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

That scene was an excellent means for testing Jesus' prejudices which, if he
was motivated by any; didn't factor into this meeting at all. In point of fact,
he discussed with this woman-- ordinarily a religious and cultural outsider -
some very important facts of life relative to everyone desiring to associate
with God no matter what their age, race, gender, economic level, and/or
ethnic distinctions.

* Jesus counseled a very receptive audience as this woman not only knew
about Messiah's coming but was watching for it. (John 4:25) In other words:
she trusted in the reality of such a man; and Jesus said of her: "I have food
to eat that you know nothing about. My food-- said Jesus --is to do the will
of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:32-34) viz: the meeting
with that woman wasn't happenstance; she was on Jesus' itinerary for that
very day's activities.
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At Luke 15:11-24 the story is told of a privileged young man who grew up in
a good home but in time longed to go out on his own and make his mark in
the world-- you know: be independent and all that.

The thing is: Mr. Privileged Jr. didn't know how good he had it till setting out
on his own. Well; I rather suspect Privileged Sr. half expected his offspring
to fall on its face and end up needing a safety net 'cause his youngest was
permitted to leave with neither resistance, nor lecture, nor complaint.

Long story short: Privileged Jr's venture out into the world ended badly and
he came to the realization that his ambition to be independent was all pie in
the sky. Sort of like it's said: The dream is better than the reality.

We might expect his dad to scold the lad upon dragging himself back home,
but no; his father was really glad to have him back and I think we can be
reasonably confident that Privileged Sr. guessed his boy had learned a thing
or two about life during his walk on the wild side; so to speak.

Ergo: that father's lenience, combined with patience, was a bit risky but in
the end, Privileged Jr. was a better man due to a father stepping back and
allowing his son space to try his wings.
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He looked beyond my faults,
And saw my need.
(Dottie Rambo, 2003)

NOTE: Solomon wrote 1,005 songs (1Kgs 4:32) Dottie surpassed him with +/- 2,500.

Anyway, that one brief lyric says quite a bit.

● 1John 4:9-10 . .This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his
one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love:
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.

Without Christ's crucifixion, mankind would have no safety net to rescue
them from facing justice with a very meticulous, unbiased jurist; and for
sure the outcome would not be to their advantage. But why would God go to
the trouble?

The Greek word translated love in the above passage isn't necessarily
relative to affection. It mostly pertains to impersonal interactions, for
example: kindness, courtesy, charity, civility, tact, assistance, compassion,
pity, and sympathy, et al.

Compassion plays a strong role in many of God's activities with mankind. It
can be defined as a sympathetic awareness of others' distress coupled with a
desire to alleviate it. A longing for sympathy is sometimes viewed as a
character flaw; but nonetheless, I think it's perfectly normal for people to
crave it.

I've encountered folks on internet forums who actually resent Christ for
doing something for them that they didn't ask for. Well; the thing is;
complainers don't have to sign on for the benefit, after all; it is optional: sort
of like the liberty that homeless people exercise when they refuse a hand
out. But in this respect, we're not talking about money and/or goods and
services, instead, we're talking about a man's life. i.e. an uncommon
donation that's above and beyond the usual.

● Rom 5:6-8 . .At just the right time, when we were still helpless, Christ died
for the impious. Very rarely does anyone die for a righteous man, though for
a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His
own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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● Eph 1:4-5 . . He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus
Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.

There are important differences between adopted kids and foster kids.

The latter have no inheritance rights, they have no right to be known by a
foster father's name, they have no right to a foster father's love, they have
no right to address their foster father with a filial vocative like dad, pop, or
papa; and they have no right to a place in his genealogy.

Plus, foster care is temporary. Older kids eventually age out of the foster
system and the State ceases to assist foster fathers to continue providing for
them. At 18 the older kids are legally adults in my country, and the
responsibility for their providence is upon themselves. Ouch!

Adopted kids' circumstances are so, so much better. They are legally just as
much an adopted father's children as his biological offspring. Ergo: adopted
kids have inheritance rights, they have a right to be known by their adopted
father's name, they have a right to their adopted father's love, they have a
right to address their adopted father by a filial vocative, and they have a
right to be placed in his genealogy.

Plus, adoption is permanent. Older kids don't age out of their adopted homes
so they always have a family support base to fall back on should their
circumstances become difficult. (cf. Luke 15:11-24)

NOTE: During the +/- 27 years I've been active on nigh unto 50 internet
forums, I've seen quite a number of debates and discussions relative to
something called OSAS, to wit: Once Saved, Always Saved. Well; some folks
really ought to get off that tiresome treadmill and consider switching to
OAAA, to wit: Once Adopted, Always Adopted because Eph 1:4-5 is an
astonishing degree of generosity rarely mentioned; especially the part about
legitimate placement in God's genealogy, which is almost too remarkable to
believe could ever be true.
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