In his recently revised classic, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey tells the story of Peter Greave. Greave contracted leprosy while stationed in India.
“He returned to England, half-blind and partially paralyzed, to live on a compound run by a group of Anglican sisters. Unable to work, and outcast from society, he turned bitter. He thought of suicide. He made elaborate plans to escape the compound but always backed out because he had nowhere to go.
Graced
“One morning, uncharacteristically, he got up very early and strolled the grounds. Hearing a buzzing noise, he followed it to the chapel, where sisters were praying for the patients whose names were written on its walls. Among the names, he found his own. Somehow that experience of connection, of linking, changed the course of his life. He felt wanted. He felt graced.”
Chances are high, you know someone who feels like an outcast. Certain experiences in life have turned your friend or loved one bitter. They may dream of escaping but honestly have nowhere to go. Perhaps this person is you.
Available
Whoever the exiled soul may be, the most remarkable feature of God’s love is how available it is for any of us: paupers and presidents, pop stars and plumbers. Often unmerited love sneaks up on us. We’re not expecting something so pure, so disarming, so…free. We assume we must pay for it, deserve it, earn it.
But grace can’t breathe in the smog of self-righteousness. It only wafts our way on unwarranted winds. To our utter surprise, our names are not merely written on a chapel wall. They are etched into the hands of God.
Runs Deeper
That’s grace. We are loved, not because of the things we have done or the things we will do. It runs much deeper than that. We are loved because we have been created by a loving God who refuses to forget us or give up on us – even when we give up on ourselves.
The supreme example of God’s relentless love came in Jesus’s willing sacrifice for our sins, so we could be redeemed and restored.
Always Hoped
Once touched by this amazing grace, it changes us. It creates connections linking us to something we always hoped but never thought could be true.
No matter where we have been, what we have done, or what has been done to us, we really are wanted and loved by God.
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Isaiah 49:16 (NIV)
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Roger Ross
A native of Cambridge, Illinois, Roger has served as a pastor in Texas, the British Channel Island of Guernsey, and Illinois. While in Illinois, he led teams that planted two new churches and served for 10 years as the lead pastor of one of the largest United Methodist Churches in the Midwest. It was his privilege to serve as the Director of Congregational Excellence in the Missouri Conference before coming into his current role with Spiritual Leadership, Inc (SLI).
Roger now comes alongside pastors, non-profit leaders and their leadership teams as an executive coach, specializing in leadership that inspires change. As a side gig, he loves teaching evangelism and church planting as an adjunct professor at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas.
Other passions of his include SCUBA diving in warm blue water, Krispy Kremes, and board games with family and friends. He also has a weakness for golf.
Roger is the author of three books, Meet The Goodpeople: Wesley’s 7 Ways to Share Faith, Come Back: Returning to the Life You Were Made For, and Come Back Participant Guide, all through Abingdon Press.
Now for the best part. Roger is married to Leanne Klein Ross, and they live Bloomington, Illinois. God has blessed them with two adult children, a son-in-law, several tropical fish, and one adorable granddog.
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