Second Sunday after Christmas
Grace upon Grace
“In our sleep, pain which we cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom, through the awful grace of God.” The Greek poet Aeschylus, who penned this line five centuries before Christ, speaks of wisdom that can rise from deep pain, even when one is too despondent to be seeking it. Centuries prior, the Hebrew people were acknowledging dreams and visions (not of one’s own doing) as sources of divine inspiration.
So too the Gospel of John evokes faith and trust in God that is beyond anyone’s circumstances, belief system, or moral code. John’s Gospel is a witness to the majesty, mystery, and remarkably transformative nature of God’s Spirit revealed in Jesus Christ. The Word brings life and light that the darkness cannot overcome. Full of grace and truth, the Word lived among us. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. It is God’s infinite, eternal, yet soul-embedded grace that we see in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s grace is not depleted when darkness, even despondency, overwhelms us.
I read the line from Aeschylus recently in An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin. She tells of Robert F. Kennedy taking on the responsibility to inform a large gathering of African Americans that Martin Luther King Jr. had been killed that very evening. While other cities had erupted in rage and agonizing destruction, that city remained orderly. In a brief talk, Kennedy referred to the agony he carried for the similar killing of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. Agony spoke to agony.
So it is that Jesus speaks to us from the cross, especially when pain upon pain overwhelms us. The Good News to all is that God always offers grace upon grace.
Jeff Coppage, retired pastor
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
