Grace for Everyone
Today we continue our talk about grace, speaking about the grace that loves all, cares for all, and deprives no one of its help.
Grace for Everyone
Divine grace seeks every person… There is no human being in the world who has not received their share of it. It deals with everyone on the principle of equal opportunity. So no one dares to complain, saying that they were deprived of grace…
I will give you examples of how grace cares for everyone.
Examples:
One of the gentle examples of grace’s care for all is that of the sower who went out to sow — you read simply that some seeds fell by the wayside, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some on good soil… But from the viewpoint of grace, we find a deeper meaning and ask the Lord:
“Lord, You knew that this rocky ground could not produce plants, that there was no place for Your seed there. Why, then, did You cast seed upon it?”
The Lord answers: Even the rocky ground I do not deprive of My grace.
The rocky ground must have its chance just like the good soil, and the thorny ground must also be visited by My grace — even if its plants appear a little and then wither.
I scatter My seed everywhere, even if the birds eat it. I pour out My grace upon everyone and leave the rest to their freedom.
In choosing the disciples, grace was not limited to the ideal ones; it gave a chance to a doubting man like Thomas, to an impulsive man like Peter. It gave opportunity to the foolish and weak of the world, to the despised and the non-existent — and even visited a betrayer like Judas.
As for prophecy, grace visited a greedy man like Balaam, who loved money, and yet he prophesied true prophecies about Christ. It also visited King Saul, who was rejected, and yet it was said of him: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Regarding the grace of ministry, grace came to Demas, who became one of Saint Paul’s disciples and one of his best co-workers, and surely many believed through him.
Even though he later left the ministry or faith and “loved this present world,” that does not mean he did not receive his share of grace.
Demas cannot say, “Grace left me and did not visit me.” No, he received a rich portion of it.
But grace, in its work, does not cancel human freedom.
The grace of priesthood also visited Nestorius, Arius, Eutyches, and others who later fell into heresy.
It is the principle of equal opportunity — by which grace gave prophecy to Balaam and Saul, called Demas to discipleship, and Nicholas to service — so that no one may argue that they did not receive a chance from grace.
Even inanimate and irrational creatures:
I once wondered how Joseph the Righteous was able to store, during the seven plentiful years, enough wheat for the seven years of famine. I saw in this a marvel of grace and said to myself:
How could the stored wheat last seven years or more without becoming worm-eaten? Is this not a work of grace?
It is grace that preserved the wheat from decay, as it preserved the three youths in the fiery furnace, and as it preserves the bodies of some saints from corruption for hundreds of years or more.
It is grace that visited the earth and blessed the yield of the sixth year, so that by grace it sufficed for two years — just as the Lord said: “Blessed shall be the fruit of your land; blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl” (Deut. 28).
It is the same grace that blessed the jar of oil and the bin of flour in the days of Elijah the prophet, so that they did not run out during the famine.
And so many of the common people call bread “grace”!
God’s grace even visits the little sparrows — “not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father.” He gives them food, though they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns.
The Lord’s grace even cares for the worm under the stone, for the butterfly flying above, giving it beautiful, harmonious colors; and for the flowers, granting them beauty, so that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of them. Truly, grace cares for all — every human being has received grace in their life.
Whoever did not receive spiritual gifts from grace may have received beauty, intelligence, strength, or a talent of some kind.
Is not intelligence a gift from God? Some may use it wrongly, yet it remains grace. Beauty, too, is a grace, even if it is sometimes misused.
How beautiful are the words of Scripture about the generosity of God’s grace: “He makes His sun rise on the good and the evil and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”
God’s grace goes about doing good and is not bound by people’s merits. If grace were given according to merit, it would be a wage, not grace.
A wage is what a person earns — it is ruled by justice. But when a person receives something undeserved, that is grace, ruled by God’s generosity, goodness, and love. Grace is a gift, a present. And to us, the undeserving, God has shown His grace.
What shall I say further? I dare say even the devil himself was not left without some of God’s grace. It is enough that he was granted the grace to exist until now, and the grace of freedom — for he still acts and roars like a lion.
In the story of Job, we see the devil granted the grace to stand among the sons of God before the Lord, to speak with God, and even to have his requests permitted — yet he remained treacherous to grace, still resisting it.
God gives His grace to all, for He is the Father of all creation.
We mention grace often in our prayers — in the Thanksgiving Prayer, in the final blessing, and in many of the epistles of Saint Paul and Saint Peter: “Grace to you and peace,” “May grace be multiplied to you,” “Grow in grace.” The Scripture says: “The Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” and “grace upon grace.”
And there is also the grace that God gives us in the eyes of people.
The person who truly perceives God’s grace lives constantly in gratitude, in peace, and in assurance. They do not live under the law but in love.
They feel that God deals with them not formally but lovingly — and they return His love with love. They thank Him for all His gracious works. Remembering grace’s past acts in their life, they are confident of its care in the future.
Grace is the teacher that God has left to care for His children on earth. It visits us when we stand — encouraging us — and when we fall — guiding us.
And as we receive grace on earth, we shall also receive in heaven a higher, supernatural grace, when God lifts us above the level of flesh and blood.
It is a great grace we will receive above, when we become like the angels of God in heaven. What can we say about “what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man”? Is this not also the work of grace?
Even redemption itself is a work of grace, for we did not deserve it.
It is the free salvation of which Scripture says: “Being justified freely by His grace.” Likewise, the holy sacraments are grace from God — grace upon grace.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine, Fifth Year – (Issue No. 47), November 21, 1975.
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