Fallen from grace?

It will have escaped few people’s attention over this past week that another figure in the public eye has been shamed by his own actions and ‘fallen from grace’: a seemingly small indiscretion which then revealed family betrayal and a display of double-standards to a watching world. The old smoothly-shaken cocktail of money, sex and power in varying proportions is an age-old tripping-rope which can seldom be eluded in this camera-present world.

In uttering the phrase ‘fallen from grace,’ two assumptions seem to be evident: firstly, that grace has been the code of life by which we live normatively, and secondly that grace is something from which we fall. In addressing the first idea, here is a reminder that there is a givenness to life, that we come into the world with nothing and to nothing we return, and the life that is given to us is through the handiwork of God and Spirit-breathed, and not something that should be taken for granted. The very word ‘grace’ – meaning, ‘undeserved love’- is itself suggestive of a Being who acts beneficently, who wants to bestow good gifts on humankind, but redolent of the fact that we as homo sapiens are not in ultimate control – something which has been a painful lesson over this pandemic. For some, whose sole compass in life is a secular mindset, then the concept of grace is anathema: we simply make of the ‘stuff of life’ what we will and any moral bearings that we acquire are learnt responses to improve the lot of the species. For such, grace has no place.

However, we now turn to the second concept that someone can ‘fall from grace.’ We are all aware of reputations that can be shattered, trust broken, and perceptions altered of those we formerly held in higher esteem. Notwithstanding the fact that we all make mistakes which are pardonable and so-say, ‘acceptable,’ society appears to have a collective pool of moral obligations by which it judges people, and if that code of behaviour is breached then it is regarded as a ‘fall from grace’: a person was something and now he or she is not. But whilst one is not advocating a compromise of standards, and that there is a place for punishment and a ‘cooling-off period’ where those holding responsible positions should have time to reflect and show genuine remorse (and not just for being found out) how does grace operate if not in forgiveness and with the hope of redemption?

The message of the Christian faith is that ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory (or standards) of God’ – no-one can stand blameless before a perfect God; but St Paul continues in the following verse in Romans chapter 3: ‘and are justified (put right ‘just-as-if-I’d never-sinned’) freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ With Christ, there is no concept such as ‘falling from grace’: this is a human construct, for with Him, whilst there is no dumbing down of sin and wrongdoing (since all have fallen because of a bias in our human nature), nevertheless, there is hope because of the underserved love shown by Jesus through his cross in offering total and complete pardon, forgiveness, mercy and redemption. The message of the Christian faith is that if we choose to accept it, there is always hope and the offer of a new start, because there is always grace.

(With much thanks to Revd Alex Aldous, chaplain at Prestfelde School)