If we are going to have a series on everyday grace, I suppose it is important to agree on some sort of a definition of what grace actually is.  Because I was raised in a Christian church I have some definitions that have been in my head from childhood.  One I remember is God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense.  As clever as that phrase is, I’ve never gotten more than a blank stare any time I have tried to use it.

The definition that I most recall however is “unmerited favor.”  I have some problems with that one too.  It sort of conjures up a mental image of some 17th century guy in a powdered wig bowing before his lady at the ball and saying “Would you favor me with this dance?”  Do you know what I mean?  The definition smells a little musty.

I read a good book on grace once and the author defined grace as “one way love.”  I know what he means when he says that.  Grace is a love that doesn’t depend in any way on the worthiness or actions of the recipient.  A grace-filled love flows with no expectation or demand for something in return.  There is no “I am showing you love, now what are you going to do for me?”  But grace always gets some sort of response, and often that response is love in reply.  So with that caveat, I’d accept this definition.  But I’d rather say something like “grace is love in action that neither requires or demands love in return.”  Still, that is a little clunky too.  What do you think?  Do you have any good definitions for grace?

But, definition aside, I’ve come to see that there are examples of grace in places we never expect and they teach us well, if we see them.  The more we train ourselves to see them, the easier it becomes for us to be agents of grace and respond in grace-filled ways to the events of our lives.  Perhaps you have seen an example of grace in action, a sort of living example of grace.  Some time ago I found an interesting example of grace in, of all places, a Disney Channel movie.

Ok, ok, I know what you are thinking.  What am I doing watching the Disney Channel?  You might be concerned that I am descending into a sort of senility that resembles a second childhood.  Well, perhaps I am.  Go right ahead and keep an eye on me for that and report your concerns to Peggy.  But my reasoning is simple.  The Disney Channel does avoid many things that I am not comfortable with in media so I can relax and just watch it.  They also present an interesting study in what the world considers “good values;” ideas we may agree or disagree with.  In other words it is easy fun and a learning experience on the values of our culture at the same time.

In the movie the teenage princess of a tiny island nation (Apparently, in the world of TV there are a lot of unknown tiny nations.) is in danger of being overthrown and imprisoned by an evil general.  This being Disney and aimed at preteens, the man is more of a clown than frighteningly evil, but nevertheless our heroine is in danger.  But fear not, she is rescued at the last second by Major Mason, an American dad who works for an organization that protects the world’s princesses.  Just how he got that job is left unanswered.  While he and his friends work to restore the princess to her throne they decide it is a good idea if she lives, incognito, with him and shares a room with his teenage tomboy daughter.

Shockingly, the two girls clash like oil and water at first.  Apparently, nobody in the organization saw that coming.  But, as it turns out, through a series of misadventures the girls manage to see that, no matter how different they are, they can be best friends and a good lesson is learned about getting along with people different than us.

As the climax of the movie comes, the princess in disguise is named homecoming queen at the local high school and gives her acceptance speech.  It goes something like this:  “Since coming here I have learned…that friendship and loyalty and trust are not things that are just given, but things we must earn.  I’d like to thank Carter Mason for teaching me these things and for being my friend.”

That sounds good and sincere, right?  Well, it is.  But the key word is “earn.”  The speech expresses our desire to earn love and friendship and our society’s acceptance that we must earn recognition.  However, in the meantime, her friend Carter is nowhere to be seen.  Why?  It seems our evil general has found where our heroine is hiding and has come to take her back to prison.  Carter, like most teenagers, is easily able to outwit adults and dupes him into taking her instead.  She is sacrificing her freedom for her friend.  But fear not, her intrepid dad, though basically clueless, is brave and saves the day at the last possible moment.  The evil general is thwarted and carted off to jail.  As the two friends hug at the end the princess says through tears “I can’t believe you would do this for me.”

And that, my friends, is grace.  Thinking she has earned friendship she has in fact received self-sacrificing love.  The former had made her happy, the latter leaves her amazed.  The picture is beautiful because this is exactly what God has done for us.  Our response to God should come from amazed hearts, not heads filled with “ought to” lists.  Go ahead and ponder it for a minute and see if you don’t feel like saying to God “I can’t believe you would do this for me.”