Children’s Message, Sunday, December 16, 2007--Grace

Raise your hand if you have treats in your house. Now, raise your hand if you need to finish your dinner or eat your veggies, or try one bite of everything on your plate if you want to get your hands on those treats.

In our house—that is the rule—no treats until you eat dinner.

Let’s call that “treats through works”. A good solid idea. You’ve got to fill your stomach with things that are full of nutrients and vitamins, and things your body needs to grow big and strong before you get the especially yummy, but not particularly wholesome, treat.

Treats through works is the rule in our house—except for one area.

The chocolate Advent calendar. Granny Veitch sends our daughters each an Advent calendar every November. And starting on December 1, each day you open a little door and get a piece of chocolate and read a little snippet of the Christmas story.

Now here is the tough part for me as a mom. When you haven’t eaten a thing on your plate, should you get the chocolate heart?

And this is the one area of our family life where the rule is not “treats through works” but is instead, “treats through grace”.

You all have heard the word “grace”. It is a lovely name for a girl. It is what we call the prayer before a meal, but at its heart, grace is the belief that good things that come to us come not because of anything we have done or anything we earned—but come out of God’s love for us.

Grace is like getting a chocolate when you haven’t eaten a thing on your plate. You have no idea why you are getting this gift that you so obviously do not deserve given the huge pile of untouched casserole on your plate.

I would be in big trouble with the other moms if I didn’t point out that works have their benefits. It makes us healthy and strong when we eat nutritious food. It makes us feel great when we share what we have with others. It makes all the difference when we are kind to others.

But even beyond those things that we can earn, are those things that we are lovingly given. The good things that God gives us are things that we don’t really deserve-things that we could never in a million years earn.

So work like it all depends on you, pray like it all depends on God and enjoy every bit of grace that comes your way.

Let’s pray: Loving God
We haven’t earned it
We don’t even deserve it
But we are thankful every day
For the love you give us. Amen.