Manna and Mercy

God wants to transform us. To heal our brokenness. To cleanse us from sin. To redeem us. To restore the image of God within us. To give us the same mind as Christ Jesus.

And the means of grace are the way he has chosen to do that.

The means of grace are those signs, words, and actions that God uses as channels through which to pour grace in our lives. I have been writing a column series on the means of grace in the United Methodist Reporter. I began the column series with an overview of the means of grace, dividing them as Wesley did - into works of piety and works of mercy. Then in the second installment, I focused on works of piety - those acts of worship and compassion which draw us closer into the life of God.

Hand in hand with works of piety are works of mercy. I write on this topic in this week's column. These are those acts of justice and compassion that express our love of neighbor. When we engage in works of mercy, we are both reflecting God's loving mercy for us and extending that mercy to others. Works of mercy are a form of the church's witness to the world. And that is crucially important. But they do something more - they work to sanctify us as we engage in them. Like works of piety, the works of mercy help us to receive God's grace. They thus shape our character and transform us into the people God wants us to be.

God has extended manna and mercy to us. He asks us to give that gift on to others. And when we do, we show the world what it means to live as members of God's own kingdom - in the here and now!