Grace: Cheap or Costly?

If you know me, you’ll know there are few things in this material world that I treasure, you’ll know that I actually treasure my faith and working in ministry over many pleasures of this world.

On Tuesday, I went to my dentist office and after I had my cleaning and checkup my dentist and I were talking about Lent and he mentioned that his church, St. Therese in Mooresville, was having a Lenten retreat and that the Priest who was doing the retreat was amazing! Before I left, he told me “Hey, you should come down.” I attempted to make every excuse I could, but told him I would think about it. When I went to check out, I mentioned to his wife that he had told me about the Lenten retreat and she equally told me to come down to visit the church. Now, if you haven’t been following my blog long or maybe you just don’t know me, it may be fair to mention that I am a United Methodist. I often tell people that some of my favorite theological discussions have been between my dentist and myself. The best excuse I came up with was that my mom's recent health issues, have kept me pretty close to home. But all day I couldn't shake the feeling that I was to be at the Lenten Retreat; I walked in to the church and was greeted by my dentist’s wife. We walked into the sanctuary and my friend told me to go a head and sit down and she’d explain what was going on.

My friend leaned over and explained the altar setting, that the priest was going to come out and open the tabernacle, and place the Eucharist in the altar cross—signifying that Jesus is with us in the church that night while we worshiped. It was truly an act of beauty—and throughout the entire service, I felt the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. It was a peaceful feeling—something that I needed to feel, because it’s been a long time since I have felt that level of peace.

When Father Sutter started his sermon, I started taking notes. Evidently, I forgot how quiet a Catholic Church is because when Father Sutter said “Where is our zeal for the salvation of souls?” I said just above a whisper, “Amen!” I went to write down the question so that I’d remember to answer it later and as I looked in the opposite direct from my friends, some very kind folks were looking at me. However, what really got me, was looking at the crucifix. At first I thought “Why do the Catholics leave Jesus on the cross?” But I remember reading somewhere that a priest said it was because “The work of salvation isn’t complete.” So I went on a small search of my own, in my prayer time, I asked “Why do the Catholics leave Jesus on the cross?” And I started thinking during my prayer time what it meant when I looked at the crucifix, what did I feel?

Crucifix above the Altar at St. Therese Catholic Church
in Mooresville. Picture by Law's Stained Glass

That brings me to the main point of this blog…When I looked upon Jesus on the crucifix, I started thinking about how much Jesus loved me. He loved me so much that he was willing to take pain and death so that I could live. When I looked at the agony, the pain, the hands and feet where nails were piercing him, I wondered “was I really worth it and am I treating His grace as a cheap grace or a costly grace.”

So let me ask this, church entire, Catholic and Protestant, are we experiencing and pushing a cheap grace or a costly grace? As I have continued to read the articles about General Conference 2019 (#GC2019) I see that so many are embracing, desiring even, a cheap grace!

Maybe you are asking yourself, “What is a cheap grace?” According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Cheap grace is justification of sin, without the justification of the sinner. It’s the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
Bonhoeffer goes on to say, "Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite.”

In other words, cheap grace is a license to decide that you are forgiven, but willfully sinning anyway. When I think of cheap grace, I think of Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol. Marley is burdened by the chains he has linked through out his life, symbols of the sins he chose to commit, and his guilt. But Marley’s chains also have another symbol, a more costly symbol, one that helps change Ebenezer Scrooge—Redemption and Repentance—to choose costly grace.

Bonhoeffer explained Costly grace so well, I am going to give him the final word on the matter, “Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

So again, I have to ask, do you have a cheap grace? Or a costly grace? As for me, I am looking forward to a return visit to St. Therese Catholic Church for a Mass…until then, I continue to remember what grace really cost and how lucky, I am that Jesus paid that price for me.