Left to Write: Only Grace
05-08-2006
by Brenten Gilbert

There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me, it's enough
- Matthew West "Only Grace"

May 1st, 2006. Will this year's May Day be remembered in future history books as the day when America was forced to reform her policies as related to the rights of immigrants, legal and illegal? Many hoped so as hundreds of thousands of immigrants protested, marched and went on strike for the day. Efforts to measure the actual effects of these actions on the American economy are still inconclusive at this point, but the boycott certainly didn't fall on deaf ears.

Many observers, myself included, were confused, curious, or simply misinformed as to the meaning of the protest or the conditions that the participants are complaining about. I read or heard many complaints about how the boycott doesn't make any sense. On the surface, the whole notion of illegal immigrants - who are essentially breaking the law by working in this country - protesting their working conditions seems to be rather silly and easily dismissed. How do you go from having no right to work to not only working, but also rightfully complaining about your work environment?

Perhaps it was the harshness of some of the statements that I came across that initially brought me back to the reality of the situation. Some of the thoughts echoed in my head: "The boycott is stupid and pointless." "These people are wasting our time and resources" "They don't deserve a proper workplace." "They don't deserve to be in this country."

And so on, and so on...

And it struck me. The whole concept of whether or not we deserve what we have triggered within me an internal discussion about grace. It seemed fitting, since grace is something that we as Christians have received as well as something we rely heavily on for our salvation. "For we have been saved by grace through faith," the famous passage in Ephesians states (Eph. 2:8 emphasis mine). But it doesn't stop there. This grace is "the gift of God." It's not something that we've earned. It's not something that we've given ourselves. It's not something we deserve.

And suddenly this whole boycott and the backlash of comments reminded me of how the Jewish leaders and even some disciples reacted upon hearing that the Gospel message applied to "heathens" as well. See, it's easy for us to accept something that we don't deserve, but it's not as easy to see someone else accept something that they don't deserve. Somehow we feel as though we've been cheated when others are shown the same grace under which we live.

However, when Jesus taught about loving our neighbor, He crossed the lines of position, ethnicity, citizenship and attitude all in one by using a Samaritan as an example. In one sense, America proved to be something of a Christian nation by extending grace to the participants and simply allowing this protest to take place. Perhaps some changes need to be made in terms of allowing illegal immigrants to become legitimate members of the working class, but at least we've got that much right.

As Christians, we shouldn't be so hasty to deny others the very grace under which we live; we should be out there offering it to anyone who wants it. We aren't bouncers trying to keep people out of Heaven, we should be willing to help them become citizens and in turn, experience the fullness of God's grace and mercy and love.

Thanks for your time.

- bdg.