Cheap grace

Duckie reminds me of a question from my other blog:

Isn't that a philosophical failing of the "grace of god," though? If one believes in divine forgiveness, that a god will give a person grace for any action, no matter how repugnant, where is the moral/ethical door that bangs shut before one sins boldly? Christianity sometimes appears to let people off the hook for the consequences of their action (unless you're only reading Old Testament, that is, then there's a whole lotta smiting going on).

Thank you for a very thought-provoking question. I'll start by making a quick distinction: there is a difference between experiencing/accepting the consequences of doing something wrong, and the experience of forgiveness and reconnection with God. For example, just because I've asked for and received forgiveness from God doesn't mean I shouldn't go to jail for stealing a car. Part of the tradition (albeit sometimes under-emphasized) is making right what you have done wrong in some way. Not that that somehow earns the forgiveness, but it is part of the process.

And there is a different limit on forgiveness that I personally find very challenging--that if we expect forgiveness from God, we also need to forgive other people for what they do to us.

But your larger question about the grace of God ultimately reminds me of a story from the Old Testament--the book of Jonah. It starts when God calls Jonah to go and warn the people of Ninevah about the impending divine smackdown. But Jonah doesn't want to go because Ninevah is the conquering oppressor and is a mortal enemy of Israel. The best analogy I can come up with at the moment is if one of Sadaam Hussein's Baathist followers were to start praying for mercy and blessings for Washington, DC.

Jonah gets the call, leaves his house, and starts moving...in the opposite direction from Ninevah. The part of the story you're probably familiar with happens now. Jonah catches a boat to the western end of the world, but God kicks up a huge storm. Jonah admits he's the cause of it, and tells the sailors to throw him overboard, which they do. The storm clears immediately, and Jonah is swallowed by a giant fish of some kind that takes him back east. There he is vomited up on shore in a most dignified manner.

So Jonah goes to Ninevah, walks for a whole day to get into the center of the city, and says one sentence: "God's coming after you for all your sins!" and walks out again to sit on a hill and watch the destruction. The people of Ninevah hear what he says, and they take it to heart. Everyone dresses in repentance clothing: sackcloth and ashes (even the animals) and the lowliest to the highest lie around weeping and fasting and begging God for mercy.

God hears this and takes pity on the city of Ninevah, and decides not to smite them after all. Which pisses Jonah off, no end, since A. he hates the Ninevites, and B. this means his prophecy is now not true, and his prophetic reputation is shredded.

So God has a little volunteer tree/weed thing grow up overnight to shade Jonah from the hot sun while he's sitting on the hill. Which Jonah likes very much. And then the next day, God sends a little worm to eat at the root of the plant to kill it. Which again pisses Jonah off. He yells at God "Why don't you just kill me now?" To which God replies: "Look at you! You're getting all worked up over a little plant that grew up in a single day. Don't I have a right to be gracious to the hundred thousand people in Ninevah, not to mention all the plants and animals there?"