Villages Community Chapel

     I was moved in Spirit by a booklet I read by Andy Stanley called “Since Nobody’s Perfect, How Good is Good Enough.” In it, Mr. Stanley discusses a series of things people believe are necessary to get into Heaven. For instance, if your inner sense of right and wrong (your conscience) had the ability to reassure you when things were right between you and God, there would be no need for religion. We would know exactly where we stand. We wouldn’t need other men and women telling us what we should, and should not do; it would be intuitive. And there would be agreement across cultural and generational lines regarding what is right, and what is wrong. But, we are not “saved” by being virtuous and right living people. Our path to Heaven has already been promised by our Savior, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself to forgive our sins.

     The author uses a personal story to make his point. He writes:

     “When my children were very young, I bought a new car. It was the nicest car I ever owned. It was beautiful, and I intended to keep it that way. One Saturday morning, as I was taking out the trash, I noticed something on the hood of my car. I walked over for a closer look and to my utter dismay discovered someone had scratched the letter “A” into the paint.

     I was furious. Within seconds, my two sons were standing beside me as I demanded to know who scratched up my car. For a moment there was silence. Then my 5-year-old son Garret piped up – ‘Allie did it!’ Allie my youngest child, and only daughter was a whopping 3 ½ years old. I called out to her and said, ‘Allie did you do that?’ She sheepishly looked up at me and said, “Yes sir, Daddy.’

     What was I going to do? There was no way in the world for me to explain to Allie the significance of what she had done. There was no point in telling her that now I was going to have to take the car to the shop, rent a car, and pay for the repair as well as the rental car. She had no context for understanding any of that. So what do you do in that kind of situation? Sever the relationship? Demand payment? Rant and rave? Of course not.

     I did the only thing I could do for someone I loved as much as I loved her. I knelt down and said ‘Allie, please don’t do that anymore.’ She said, ‘Yes sir, Daddy,’ then she hugged me and went back inside. I continued to love her as much as ever, and took care of the repair. I wasn’t concerned about fairness. What was most appropriate was grace and mercy.”

     God sees your sin as a debt you can’t pay. To think that being good will somehow make you square with God, would be like Allie promising to clean up her room to compensate for all the trouble she caused. Christianity teaches that when man sinned, God opted for forgiveness rather than fairness. He opted for grace and mercy rather than justice.

You can learn more about grace and mercy and the loving kindness of our Father God by attending the Villages Community Chapel this coming Sunday. We are pleased to again have Reverend Mike Anderson as our guest speaker while we await the return of Pastor Bill. The Worship service begins at 10 a.m. in Cribari Auditorium. If you have any questions, please call the chapel office at 408-238-3079.