Grace like Rain

Matthew 5.43-48 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors (white collar criminals!) do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Acts 14.15-17. We bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

God shows common or indiscriminate grace to all people – the evil and the good. Sunrise and rainfall demonstrate this. When the sun rises and warms the land, it does not do so only for those who trust God but it also rises on those who reject, disbelieve and even actively hate him. When the rain falls, it does not fall only on the land of the good, it falls indiscriminately upon every place. Good and evil both benefit.

Obviously, we know from experience that God’s common grace is not the only way he treats humanity. For wise purposes, he will permit natural disasters to come. Governments often break down and treat their people with injustice. People disobey the law of right and wrong written on their hearts to lie, steal, or make war. The reason for this is that God is not going to cover up the results of sin. If he did so, we would be caught unawares by death when it comes and not realise that we needed to make peace with him.

However, everyday, God treats humankind with common grace, such as: protection from accidents; medicines to put off diseases and delay death; technologies that will help people to work more efficiently; police to come and arrest the violent trouble-maker; a man diving into a river and saving a drowning child; a loved one traveling safely home from across the world; food in the cupboards to feed your children; an accident that prevents a robber from making it to your home; a well-run school that gives children a helpful education; … and it is God who gives to a writer or film-maker or philosopher the brief lightning flash insights into greater reality or the truth about the human condition. In all these ways, the good that is delivered to the world comes through God’s grace and often in spite of the blindness or rebellion of the instruments God uses. But God’s intent is the same: that we should know he is gracious and that he invites us to make peace with him through repentance.

But know this: common grace itself saves no one! It is merely an invitation or an awakening to trust God. It is not an end in itself. It is no good to have a happy, pain-free, convenient life for 40 or 60 years and then cave in through death and fall down into everlasting judgement for refusing to make peace with God. In fact, I imagine that the recollections of God’s common grace enjoyed briefly in this life, will be a fearful mental affliction on those come into the hell of God’s unending disapproval and judgement.

We must accept common (rainfall) grace in the right way. Take it as an invitation to be reconciled to God. Take it as an imperfect taste of the blessing he will lavish on you in Jesus Christ – an eternity of ever-increasing joy, satisfaction and love. Christian? Take it as an opportunity to crack on with your calling to fight evil and build the church. Don’t camp in the sunshine – plant, work, invest and harvest lives for God’s kingdom.