Last Fall, I had the thrill of seeing or, better yet, experiencing U2 in concert while in Chicago. The United Center pulsed in color and sound, and so did I. U2 filled the place with its sensual energy and thought-provoking lyrics from their latest album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Wow! What a ride! I came away with a raspy throat, a smile on my face, and a lyric ringing in my ears: Grace. It’s the name of a girl. It’s also an idea that changed the world.

Maybe it’s because I’m a spiritual seeker, but those lyrics have stuck with me. How does one dismantle an atomic bomb? Grace. It’s the name of a girl. It’s also an idea that changed the world. I don’t know if that is what Bono and the band were intending that night, but I do know it’s the personal and powerful nature of grace that really rocks the world.

When someone hurts me, treats me unfairly, or just behaves badly, my response is naturally revenge and dismissal. I’ve been personally attacked and so I feel justified in seeking justice without regard that my attacker is a person. In fact, my response of revenge is facilitated by my reduction of the attacker to the attack itself. The person becomes an object of my wrath labeled as an Imperialist, Terrorist, Pervert, Drunk, or whatever as a means of dismissing my attacker's humanity.

But grace responds differently. Grace is the name of a girl. Grace is personal. Grace doesn’t keep account of another’s wrongs as a means and justification of domination. It does not seek revenge. Rather, grace seeks to remember that both my attacker and I are now people in need of healing. We have this in common. Grace then seeks to respond in personal, life-giving, and humanizing ways that will promote this needed healing in both of us.

Grace does this not by spinelessly condoning or ignoring the abuse. Grace is, after all, also powerful. Rather, grace promotes healing by empowering justice with mercy. That is, it thirsts not for blood but for the truth that will bring healing and freedom to both my enemy and myself. Grace finds this healing and freedom through the enduring extension of acceptance and forgiveness. By so doing, grace empowers a process of reconciliation that humanizes both myself and my enemy and may even, one day, turn my enemy into my friend.

Grace is personal and powerful. Grace is an idea that changed the world. In case you were wondering where the idea came from, God is the one who first loved us with grace. And it has always been through grace that God has been changing the world. This is most clearly and profoundly seen in the life and death of Jesus. Jesus was the fullness of God’s grace in human form. Jesus loved all people.

Through the grace of Jesus, God does not keep an account of our sins against him. He does not seek revenge but a justice that heals and brings freedom to us-- his attacker, whom he now counts as his own family. When Jesus reached out his hands on the cross, God was reaching out to us with his gracious hands of acceptance and forgiveness. He was demonstrating how much he loves us and how much value we have to him. He was showing to what lengths his grace will go-- not to condone our sin, but to embrace us, the sinner. He thus empowers a reconciliation between us that heals and humanizes us. It's a grace that empowers us to likewise extend gracious hands to others without condoning another's offense against us.

Grace. It’s the name of a girl. It’s also an idea that changed the world.  God has gracious hands and he is extending them openly to you through Jesus. Do you live within the grasp of his gracious hands of forgiveness and acceptance? Are you extending gracious hands to others, including those who have hurt you?

In Jesus' Grasp,

Mark