I just got finished listening to "The Ragamuffin Gospel".
I realize that many who read Brennan Manning's keystone piece are skeptical. Manning simplifies our relationship with God as simply as an unconditional loving father like the father in the Prodigal Son parable. No matter how long or wrong we live, in the end God loves us so much he will accept us. He loves us too much to have any other choice. There is a long theological discussion about the Grace and Love of God that could be taken up where Manning leads his readers. I'm not sure where I end up yet as I ponder his point, but I'm willing to discuss it with anyone who's read this particular piece and wants to talk.
One story that Manning uses hit me square in the chest...
In the middle of the Great Depression, New York City mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, strived to live with the people. It was not unusual for him to ride with the firefighters, raid with the police, or take field trips with orphans. On a bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.
Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread.
She told the mayor that her daughter's husband had left, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. However, the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."
LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous hat, saying, "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. "Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
The following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the grocery store owner himself, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.True? No one knows. Even Snopes.com is on the fence and lead toward this particular account being legend. But...
LaGuardia or legend, I see a picture of the grace God has on us. We are all guilty with no defense. And as the Mayor says, the law makes no exceptions. But even as God was forced to pronounce judgement on us for our sin He gave His Son to cover our justly deserved penalty of separation from Him.
But the poor woman in the story isn't just set free with no penalty. She walks away from the bench with nearly $50 in her pocket. In the poorest area of depression era New York... that would have been an amazing gift.
Likewise, you and I are forgiven our sins. We are allowed entry into heaven. We are able to have a relationship with God. But God's generosity doesn't stop there. We are not merely occupants of the Kingdom of Heaven. Romans 8 says,
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.
And by him we cry,“Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
We are given more than we deserve in that Jesus died to pay our debt of sin. But we are blessed to receive heir-ship in the Kingdom. And that makes the Grace we receive from our Heavenly Father amazing.
