The Necessity of Grace

District Diaries August 2025 Edition
by Marvin Penner

This past Sunday I worshiped at Knox church. A song, a parable and a conversation mixed together in a way that I’m still thinking about days later. The song was “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher. The words, “Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more. Where grace is found is where You are.” have stuck with me. Is it true that grace is more? Does my life reflect this belief? The parable was, “unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies it produces much grain.” It seems obvious that for Jesus this meant the cross, but how does it become a reality in my life and yours? The conversation had to do with the realization that because of the conditions under which we live in this world we sometimes find ourselves in situations where there doesn’t seem to be any path forward that does not involve doing wrong.

The account of Moses’ childhood comes to mind. His parents were in an impossible predicament. If they did not protect their child from Pharaoh, they would be irresponsible and if they made a reed basket and left him to the river they were also acting irresponsibly. They put their “kernel of wheat”, Moses, into the basket and hoped for the grace of God.

In a more challenging story Jephthah vows to offer to God as a sacrifice the first thing to come out of his tent if God gives him the victory (Judges 11). When his daughter emerged from the tent to greet him, he immediately enters a moral dilemma. Does he sin by breaking his vow or does he do wrong by keeping it? While you and I might disagree with the choice he made it seem that the grace of God was more!

All of this so far is hypothetical for me. What about real life? I remember a decision I had to make. If it went one way it would be difficult for members of my family and if it went the other way it would be difficult for members of the church. As pastor I have responsibilities to protect both. Either way I seemed to be wrong. What do I do?

When faced with such a situation where he believed every possible course of action involved sinning Detrich Bonhoeffer did not justify his action but accepted that he was taking guilt upon himself as he wrote, "when a man takes guilt upon himself in responsibility, he imputes his guilt to himself and no one else. He answers for it... Before other men he is justified by dire necessity; before himself he is acquitted by his conscience, but before God he hopes only for grace."

While this is all challenging enough, the real test comes when the wrong is against me. When other people are faced with a complex situation in which there seems to be no action that does not involve wrong, and the choice they believe to be wisest hurts me, I am faced with the reality of Jesus’ words, “unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies it produces much grain.”. Will my pride, my will and my preferred outcome die so that where sin runs deep, God’s grace is more through my actions and attitude?