The place was Heaven, 100 East Golden Brick Street. This year’s conference theme: “God’s Great Grace.” The enormous room of the Glory Conference Center was packed. Standing room only. All had come to hear what the keynote speakers, Apostles Peter and Paul, had to present on the topic of grace. The house lights lowered. The pre-session chatter crawled to a silent halt. A hush fell over the crowd. The lights on the podium brightened. Up popped the first PowerPoint slide. The session began. Peter explained a few bullet points with beautiful eloquence. Then Paul spoke for a while. Back and forth, they shared the platform as they presented grace from their own unique and grand perspectives.
The Interruption
A third of the way through the presentation, a commotion began at the back of the room. More and more people joined the chorus of murmurs as a man made his way down the center aisle. “What’s that guy doing?” people asked as they watched in utter amazement. “How dare this ‘nobody’ interrupt great men of God like Peter and Paul? After all, the topic is God’s grace. And these presenters are widely published! Best sellers!”
The ordinary looking man was now the center of the crowd’s attention. Not dressed very well. He didn’t have a “Hi, my name is…” badge around his neck, nor the fluorescent green meal ticket bracelet everyone else was wearing. His face wasn’t repulsive, but it wasn’t memorable either. He did, however, possess a look of compassion. He seemed to know exactly where he was headed: the platform.
The presenters eventually saw what was happening, paused their pontificating, and stared in amazement as the man walked slowly up the platform steps and reached the podium. By that time, a hush had again swept gently over the entire room. One could’ve heard a pin drop.
Quietly, and without presumption, the man stared out at the sea of faces. After a long pause of silence, he spoke:
“My name is John. I was the thief on the cross.”
That’s all he said. He took another long gaze at the motionless faces as his two sentences began settling into their collective consciousness. Finally, he pulled back respectfully from the podium and made his way down the platform steps, down the center aisle, and out the door. The seminar was over. Grace didn’t need a PowerPoint presentation, not a set of bullet points, not an eloquent word of explanation. All it needed was an example.
The Good News
Feel like a “John Q.” among a sea of faces? Driven to become a great author, speaker, or presenter before God will love you? Believe you’ve slipped below the radar of God’s great grace? If so, I have good news…
If a nameless guilty thief, being rightfully punished for a crime he admittedly committed, can become the only person in history to enter Paradise the same day as Jesus, you and I have hope. Grace is not a treasure in a chest waiting to be unlocked until the right combination is figured out. Grace is not being withheld until you get that master’s degree, preach that perfect sermon, meet all the needs of your span of care, fix every social ill of your community, or attend all the best conferences.
Grace. It entered as a completely helpless child among an overwhelming stench of ordinary animal dung. And…
…Grace continues to be totally free,
…Grace continues to be totally uninterrupted,
…Grace continues to be totally unconditional…
