The idea of grace comes to us from the ancient Greeks, it is not exclusively a Christian concept. Grace is a concept that has gone through both evolution and transformation. It is one of the greatest and best ideas in the world, and it finds its ultimate flowering in the Christian teaching about grace; how so?
In Greek mythology we find grace typified by the figures of The Three Graces. They are not only classical, they are also archetypical. The notion of grace goes through an evolution as well. It would be a good study just to search this out. Perhaps this post will inspire you to look a bit deeper into the etymology of this wonderful word.
In Greek mythology we find grace typified by the figures of The Three Graces. They are not only classical, they are also archetypical. The notion of grace goes through an evolution as well. It would be a good study just to search this out. Perhaps this post will inspire you to look a bit deeper into the etymology of this wonderful word.
In very early Greek mythology, there were only two female graces, but a third was added as mythology evolved. The development of mythological stories is very helpful in a number of ways, mostly because it is through the myths of a culture that we find ourselves directed toward universal truths and values that guide our attitudes and actions in the beneficial ways. Myths teach us how to live.
Christians seem to forget, at times, that very great civilizations existed and functioned well for thousands of years before Jesus walked the earth. This is a testimony, as several Apostles point out, to the good things God built into human beings. Human kind is the offspring of the Divine, and for this reason, human culture has cohesion. All human culture has certain components that promote the survival of society. One of those good things is the consciousness of the value of morality, justice and goodness. These are hardwired into every culture. The Three Graces echo this phenomenon.
What do the Three Graces represent?
There are numerous explanations and descriptions. Various writers represent them differently. This is not meant to confuse us, it is a good thing. Just as some would describe a blazing sunrise as beautiful, others might describe it as majestic, or inspiring, or exhilarating. These descriptors serve to expand our understanding because no single adjective can encompass the whole experience of such an event. The same is true about The Three Graces. They represent a larger story.
I suppose, if one could distill all the statements about the graces into three terms that could sum them up, one might end up with something like my description: UNRIVALED BEAUTY / PUREST VIRTUE / OVERWHELMING JOY. This is pretty good stuff.
Christians seem to forget, at times, that very great civilizations existed and functioned well for thousands of years before Jesus walked the earth. This is a testimony, as several Apostles point out, to the good things God built into human beings. Human kind is the offspring of the Divine, and for this reason, human culture has cohesion. All human culture has certain components that promote the survival of society. One of those good things is the consciousness of the value of morality, justice and goodness. These are hardwired into every culture. The Three Graces echo this phenomenon.
What do the Three Graces represent?
There are numerous explanations and descriptions. Various writers represent them differently. This is not meant to confuse us, it is a good thing. Just as some would describe a blazing sunrise as beautiful, others might describe it as majestic, or inspiring, or exhilarating. These descriptors serve to expand our understanding because no single adjective can encompass the whole experience of such an event. The same is true about The Three Graces. They represent a larger story.
I suppose, if one could distill all the statements about the graces into three terms that could sum them up, one might end up with something like my description: UNRIVALED BEAUTY / PUREST VIRTUE / OVERWHELMING JOY. This is pretty good stuff.
Who could be against such wonderful attributes, regardless what culture they come from? In every case, these qualities resonate in the human psyche as "good" things. That is why they are called "graces," they are good. This reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said about the Fruit of the Spirit (not unlike the three graces), "who would make laws against such things?" Of course, no one.
In antiquity the graces were portrayed in the nude
. . . or wearing transparent clothing. They were depicted as either standing together, or dancing. They are sometimes holding or exchanging golden orbs from hand to hand, they are sometimes shown with sober expressions and other times exuberant with jubilant laughter, as in Jean Baptiste Carpeaux's sculptural rendition of 1874. All of these depictions feature vital and revealing aspects of their pure characters. The graces are not merely naive or innocent, they are pure, unblemished and unjaded by any form of carnal corruption. Regarded as the children of the gods, The Three Graces were never reported as being involved in any form of violence or in any of the naughty sexual intrigues of which the gods themselves were so frequently guilty. This is unusual in Greek mythology. The graces alone remain unreprovable.
In Botticelli's depiction of The Three Graces (in his painting, La Primavera, shown above), he represents them wearing transparent clothing rather than nude, as say, we see in Rubens' portrayal of the same graces – but, why are the graces shown either nude or as wearing transparent gowns?
The transparent garments (as well as nudity) indicate something very high about them. These are not merely sexy women having a party, in fact, they are not supposed to represent sexiness at all. Quite the contrary. They are intended to inspire in us the highest desires for goodness and purity. Our vision of their lovely forms show us that the graces are without pretense, they wear no mask, they are guilty of no falsehood, they are guilty of no deception. What you see is what they are in fact. They are as genuine as light itself; authentic, and without guile or fraud; pure, as they say, as the new driven snow.
What do the golden orbs represent?
The orbs represent their gifts - I mean, what they are, what they offer us. They also represent to us the entire necessity of giving, receiving and returning the grace that's been bestowed on us. What graces have you received? Think about it. We all have received "grace upon grace" as we shall see later.
Sometimes people say that grace is free, but this is not so. Grace is always "freely given" but it is not free, that is, it is not without responsibility. The reception of grace, rather, demands greater accountability, not less. The gifts of The Graces require something more of us than what was required before its reception. What is required? . . . to do as they do, to be as they are, to imitate them in our own lives by giving grace to others after we have humbly received the graces given. In the gospels Jesus revealed to us that the only real sin is the sin of refusing the grace being offered, for without grace, there is no hope of formation or transformation, and without these there is no hope of salvation. Nothing is more terrifying than to be left alone, with no hope of improvement. But grace forms and transforms. No matter how darkened may be the soul of the one receiving grace, God's radiant beauty, his virtue and his joy will heal and transform it and fill it with light.
The giving of The Three Graces teaches us at least three things:
The giving of The Three Graces teaches us at least three things:
1) Given – generosity – A gracious person is compelled by love to be generous 2) Received – humility – A gracious person is humble enough to receive with thanks 3) Given back – reciprocation – A gracious person includes others in their blessings
Why are they depicted as dancing?
. . . because this giving and receiving is the GREAT DANCE OF GRACE. They are exhilarated by their giving and receiving, and giving again, and they invite us into this magnificent eternal dance. It is as if they say, "DANCE WITH US!" If we do, we are transformed. If we do not join the dance, the graces reveal us as unworthy, we are the losers, but the graces dance on, bestowing benefit and wealth to all who will receive them. Our failure or refusal to join the dance of grace shows us to be either in the darkness of ignorance, or the possessors of an evil selfish heart. I have heard people say, "I feel no need to accept grace. I am happy as I am." This is the voice of a darkened mind, and yet these are the very people to whom grace seeks to bestow their sweetest gifts. Once received, their blessings illumine and alter the course of those lives forever.
This is a brilliant subject, however, one thing is lacking in the Greek and Roman descriptions of the three graces, wonderful as they are. What is missing? Truth.
The Apostle John's introduction of Jesus is so revealing
The absolutely wonderful thing he reveals about Jesus is that Christ is FULL OF GRACE , and that through Jesus the world has now, at long last been treated to a pure vision of grace in the actual incarnation of beauty, virtue and joy -- but he adds the element of truth. He addresses what the Greeks left out. John says that, through Jesus, God demonstrated both grace and truth. In Christ, grace and truth have found a dwelling place, a home, a pedestal of display, and a location in which all may engage the dance of grace. Consider what John says in these verses.
John 1:14, 16-18 – ESV
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Thank God that he revealed his Law to us through Moses!
This is a great gift to us, for we never need to guess about what pleases him. He tells us plainly in the Torah. The Torah contains not only the Jewish religious ordinances, but it includes the heart of the Christian scriptures as well. But this is only one side of the coin, there was more to come - just as was promised in the Law itself . What was promised, God promised that the Messiah would bring us special things, and that is exactly what Jesus brings to us.
In Jesus we find not merely another iteration of the Law, though that is there in the Sermon on the Mount, but Jesus provides something the Law could not - not because there was anything wrong with the Law, or that there was anything unworthy about what Moses did, but because the Law was the shadow being cast by the one who was coming into the world. Jesus was the substance who would bring us what the Law could not; the grace to live a life pleasing to God - the ability to become what God desires us to be.
When John says of Jesus that he brought to us GRACE & TRUTH he means that Jesus brings us God's gifts of ability, virtue, mercy, power, goodness, and all the rest that is revealed of God's grace in the New Testament. This comes to us through Jesus alone and it comes straight to us from God's own fullness, from Christ's fullness of grace. He possesses all grace, not merely one attribute of grace but grace that is full, complete, overflowing and beyond all you could ever imagine or ask for. Peter speaks of it as the multi-faceted grace of God. It has many aspects to it, not just unmerited favor, but endless and nuanced shades of endowment. God does not just attribute grace to us in some legal sense, he infuses us with the riches of his gracious endowments. Its forms are endless.
The grace of Jesus does not evolve, as do the descriptions of attributes of our figures in the Greek myths, his is complete from beginning to end. As the last verse in that classic hymn, "Jesus Lover of My Soul," by Charles Wesley affirms, Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art, Freely let me take of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart; Rise to all eternity.
Many different kinds of tales were told of mythological figures
. . . this was convenient for the tellers, for they could manipulate the meanings of the myths to suit their purposes because the myths are just that, myths, and though they might at times point to wonderful truths, they are not the truth itself. But in Christ, his grace is coupled with the fact that he himself is also the truth. The truth incarnated in him does not change and cannot be manipulated by crafty people who would use Christ to serve their own designs, no matter how vigorously they try. In the end the TRUTH itself will be known, for the truth that remains is not a set of propositional statements about facts or ideas, but it is a MAN; a real live human being who is the absolute embodiment of grace and truth.
It is not too much to say that Jesus IS GRACE & TRUTH
We can claim nothing of ourselves, but point only to the unrivaled beauty, purest virtue and overwhelming joy that Jesus himself is. He doesn't just give us grace as a thing, he gives us grace as himself. This is what he calls all people to partake of - to partake of himself, not religion, not good works, not morality, not self-sacrifice, not social action devoid of his love. Our participation in this grace is complete when we enter the dance by receiving in humility the gift of God, Jesus, and in gratitude extending God's grace to others.
How do we extend the grace of God to others?
We do this by giving freely to others that which has been given freely to us in Christ, which is everything in our lives. The joy of God's grace remains ours only so long as we enter that dance with Christ and give the grace of God away. Grace is freely-given, but it is not free. Grace requires that we include others, that we keep receiving and giving away the gift of grace again and again and again. This is a cyclical dance. To gobble up the grace of God for our own enjoyment alone, rather than feasting on it in humility for the sake of all those involved in the dance of grace, severs the process of grace in our lives and creates a stagnant stinking pool of putrid religion in our heart that can do nothing but poison both us and those with whom we come in contact. It interrupts the flow of grace and what once was living grace becomes to us only a memory and a fading shadow. Rather than transforming us into the likeness of Christ, it reveals us as unworthy of the grace that was given. We must keep that channel open and let God's grace keep flowing outward. That is the only way healing can come to this poor sick world.
Finally
We really do need to see ourselves as the offspring of grace, because he who is grace and truth brought us into newness of life through our humble reception of himself.
As we dance the dance of grace with him, we become beautiful through our participation. We become virtuous as he extends his life into ours. We experience overwhelming joy in the midst of our transparency as believers in Jesus. As a result the whole world is transformed by grace and truth. This is NOT about doing religious stuff. This is about an existential dance with the grace of God. If you do not know what that means find someone who has experienced the grace of God through Jesus, and ask them to pray with you, to instruct you, to walk with you until you too come to know the grace of God in truth.
If you understand what's being said in this blog post, know that your calling to participate with Jesus in the grace of God (especially as he extend grace to others through you) is the truest happiness and the highest calling in life.
The next time you think about The Three Graces, remember how wonderful an idea grace is, but even more so, remind yourself that there is infinitely more to be known about the "manifold grace of God" through Jesus.
This week, intentionally invite others into this amazing dance of grace; invite someone you care about into a life of grace and truth, in Jesus. This can begin with something simple like inviting someone to coffee and reaching out to them through beauty, virtue and joy.
________________________________________
Final considerations:
Being intentional about extending grace to others changes and benefits YOU in the following ways:
It causes one to pray & act for others rather than being diminished through one's own selfishness
Why are they depicted as dancing?
. . . because this giving and receiving is the GREAT DANCE OF GRACE. They are exhilarated by their giving and receiving, and giving again, and they invite us into this magnificent eternal dance. It is as if they say, "DANCE WITH US!" If we do, we are transformed. If we do not join the dance, the graces reveal us as unworthy, we are the losers, but the graces dance on, bestowing benefit and wealth to all who will receive them. Our failure or refusal to join the dance of grace shows us to be either in the darkness of ignorance, or the possessors of an evil selfish heart. I have heard people say, "I feel no need to accept grace. I am happy as I am." This is the voice of a darkened mind, and yet these are the very people to whom grace seeks to bestow their sweetest gifts. Once received, their blessings illumine and alter the course of those lives forever.
This is a brilliant subject, however, one thing is lacking in the Greek and Roman descriptions of the three graces, wonderful as they are. What is missing? Truth.
The Apostle John's introduction of Jesus is so revealing
The absolutely wonderful thing he reveals about Jesus is that Christ is FULL OF GRACE , and that through Jesus the world has now, at long last been treated to a pure vision of grace in the actual incarnation of beauty, virtue and joy -- but he adds the element of truth. He addresses what the Greeks left out. John says that, through Jesus, God demonstrated both grace and truth. In Christ, grace and truth have found a dwelling place, a home, a pedestal of display, and a location in which all may engage the dance of grace. Consider what John says in these verses.
John 1:14, 16-18 – ESV
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Thank God that he revealed his Law to us through Moses!
This is a great gift to us, for we never need to guess about what pleases him. He tells us plainly in the Torah. The Torah contains not only the Jewish religious ordinances, but it includes the heart of the Christian scriptures as well. But this is only one side of the coin, there was more to come - just as was promised in the Law itself . What was promised, God promised that the Messiah would bring us special things, and that is exactly what Jesus brings to us.
In Jesus we find not merely another iteration of the Law, though that is there in the Sermon on the Mount, but Jesus provides something the Law could not - not because there was anything wrong with the Law, or that there was anything unworthy about what Moses did, but because the Law was the shadow being cast by the one who was coming into the world. Jesus was the substance who would bring us what the Law could not; the grace to live a life pleasing to God - the ability to become what God desires us to be.
When John says of Jesus that he brought to us GRACE & TRUTH he means that Jesus brings us God's gifts of ability, virtue, mercy, power, goodness, and all the rest that is revealed of God's grace in the New Testament. This comes to us through Jesus alone and it comes straight to us from God's own fullness, from Christ's fullness of grace. He possesses all grace, not merely one attribute of grace but grace that is full, complete, overflowing and beyond all you could ever imagine or ask for. Peter speaks of it as the multi-faceted grace of God. It has many aspects to it, not just unmerited favor, but endless and nuanced shades of endowment. God does not just attribute grace to us in some legal sense, he infuses us with the riches of his gracious endowments. Its forms are endless.
The grace of Jesus does not evolve, as do the descriptions of attributes of our figures in the Greek myths, his is complete from beginning to end. As the last verse in that classic hymn, "Jesus Lover of My Soul," by Charles Wesley affirms, Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art, Freely let me take of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart; Rise to all eternity.
Many different kinds of tales were told of mythological figures
. . . this was convenient for the tellers, for they could manipulate the meanings of the myths to suit their purposes because the myths are just that, myths, and though they might at times point to wonderful truths, they are not the truth itself. But in Christ, his grace is coupled with the fact that he himself is also the truth. The truth incarnated in him does not change and cannot be manipulated by crafty people who would use Christ to serve their own designs, no matter how vigorously they try. In the end the TRUTH itself will be known, for the truth that remains is not a set of propositional statements about facts or ideas, but it is a MAN; a real live human being who is the absolute embodiment of grace and truth.
It is not too much to say that Jesus IS GRACE & TRUTH
We can claim nothing of ourselves, but point only to the unrivaled beauty, purest virtue and overwhelming joy that Jesus himself is. He doesn't just give us grace as a thing, he gives us grace as himself. This is what he calls all people to partake of - to partake of himself, not religion, not good works, not morality, not self-sacrifice, not social action devoid of his love. Our participation in this grace is complete when we enter the dance by receiving in humility the gift of God, Jesus, and in gratitude extending God's grace to others.
How do we extend the grace of God to others?
We do this by giving freely to others that which has been given freely to us in Christ, which is everything in our lives. The joy of God's grace remains ours only so long as we enter that dance with Christ and give the grace of God away. Grace is freely-given, but it is not free. Grace requires that we include others, that we keep receiving and giving away the gift of grace again and again and again. This is a cyclical dance. To gobble up the grace of God for our own enjoyment alone, rather than feasting on it in humility for the sake of all those involved in the dance of grace, severs the process of grace in our lives and creates a stagnant stinking pool of putrid religion in our heart that can do nothing but poison both us and those with whom we come in contact. It interrupts the flow of grace and what once was living grace becomes to us only a memory and a fading shadow. Rather than transforming us into the likeness of Christ, it reveals us as unworthy of the grace that was given. We must keep that channel open and let God's grace keep flowing outward. That is the only way healing can come to this poor sick world.
Finally
We really do need to see ourselves as the offspring of grace, because he who is grace and truth brought us into newness of life through our humble reception of himself.
As we dance the dance of grace with him, we become beautiful through our participation. We become virtuous as he extends his life into ours. We experience overwhelming joy in the midst of our transparency as believers in Jesus. As a result the whole world is transformed by grace and truth. This is NOT about doing religious stuff. This is about an existential dance with the grace of God. If you do not know what that means find someone who has experienced the grace of God through Jesus, and ask them to pray with you, to instruct you, to walk with you until you too come to know the grace of God in truth.
If you understand what's being said in this blog post, know that your calling to participate with Jesus in the grace of God (especially as he extend grace to others through you) is the truest happiness and the highest calling in life.
The next time you think about The Three Graces, remember how wonderful an idea grace is, but even more so, remind yourself that there is infinitely more to be known about the "manifold grace of God" through Jesus.
This week, intentionally invite others into this amazing dance of grace; invite someone you care about into a life of grace and truth, in Jesus. This can begin with something simple like inviting someone to coffee and reaching out to them through beauty, virtue and joy.
________________________________________
Final considerations:
Being intentional about extending grace to others changes and benefits YOU in the following ways:
It causes one to pray & act for others rather than being diminished through one's own selfishness
It inspires you to turn from your own ways and seek God on behalf of others.
It provokes a gracious inspection of one's own life with a view to one's improvement.
It prompts one to be free from the sins that cause obstacles that hinder others.
It makes one live for things greater than one's self.
It builds healthy relationships, community and friendships
It encourages one to incline their ear to the gracious voice of the God of all grace.
It promotes the liberality of God's Kingdom rather than grasping self-interest
It demonstrates grateful acknowledgement of the manifold graces one has received.
It glorifies God (i.e. shows the reality of God's existence).
It displays God's Character and Beauty through one's actions.
It produces joy in your inner being, and fuels the grace that is yet to come from your life.
It transforms one into Christ-likeness.
It rejoices the heart of God.
It provokes a gracious inspection of one's own life with a view to one's improvement.
It prompts one to be free from the sins that cause obstacles that hinder others.
It makes one live for things greater than one's self.
It builds healthy relationships, community and friendships
It encourages one to incline their ear to the gracious voice of the God of all grace.
It promotes the liberality of God's Kingdom rather than grasping self-interest
It demonstrates grateful acknowledgement of the manifold graces one has received.
It glorifies God (i.e. shows the reality of God's existence).
It displays God's Character and Beauty through one's actions.
It produces joy in your inner being, and fuels the grace that is yet to come from your life.
It transforms one into Christ-likeness.
It rejoices the heart of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment