A Fallen World

This week, a rather good week on the whole, has been shattered quite unexpectedly. The tale is old, involves church leaders, an affair, seriously shaken marriages, children with broken hearts, and a disrupted congregation.

The news for me is only three hours old, so I'm still processing this. But one of the first things that struck me was how complex grace is in all this & how much has been utterly, utterly wasted.

Complex grace? Because even though they have sinned in ways which are too painful to completely think through - damaging their respective spouses, their children, themselves and our congregation - God still holds out his abundant grace to them in Christ. His love for them hasn't flickered a beat, because of the work that Jesus had done through his death and resurrection already for that sin. Yet, the communication of that to them is complicated. There will be a substantial barrier of hurt and confusion separating them from a clear communication of acceptance by the congregation, not to mention their families. I don't think that the congregation will be nasty to them, just that the whole thing will be so clouded. I don't know what I'd say if I ran into them. I don't know what grace looks like in this situation. I'm still thinking about it all.

And waste. The investment of resources - physical and emotional - which went into those marriages, those families, even that ministry training - to come to this mutilated mess. Can anything be salvaged from it all? But it is such a demonstration of what sin does - takes what is good and wholesome and useful, and shreds it. Anything that is left is unalterably affected by what has happened. I suppose in some sense that answers the question of grace - grace is what builds on this wasteland, acknowledging its difference but retrieving as much good as possible. Under God, any good that comes of this nightmare will be hammered out by his grace in Christ. But so much is gone in a moment, which took a lifetime to build. It's a bit like us losing the Garden of Eden so long ago.