Spoken Word: Grace

Today was worship chapel at my college and I have to say that it was done quite well. Everyone was appearing to be in the spirit of worship and zoned into what was going on. Of course, you have the section of the room where everyone who was a little less caring about faith or religion (stereotypically athletes) were sitting, (Stereotypically in the far back left corner of the auditorium) who were occupying the time by talking, but it only affected the RA's sitting back there with them since the music drowned them out. Unexpectedly, however, one of the athletes from campus who is known for being the most spiritual and religiously outspoken Christian of all the students on campus (at least in my opinion) stepped up onto the stage. The musicians took their seats...and the athlete began to speak.

The auditorium came to a complete silence...every ear was drawn to the attention of the young man on the stage as he began telling his testimony in a poetic form (much like that of a Spoken Word video). He told of his sins...his brokenness and his pain. He told of his addiction to weed and to drinking and of the atrocities that had been done to him as a child that left him both confused and scarred. Then he spoke about the light that shined in him and the grace that overcame his life and the freedom he found through Christ.

<=== Feel free to watch and listen to the poem yourself. This video was taken by a fellow student (One of the RA's) and was posted to Youtube.com for your listening pleasure.

It's stories like this that remind me of the greatness of our God and gives old hymn like "Amazing Grace" a fresh new meaning in my life. Our school is focusing on the topic of confession in light of our upcoming Day of Prayer and this was a beautiful start to our time of concentration on the subject, and I found myself spending time in a room that had been set up for the purpose of confession and prayer.

Great is the Lord and worth praise...worthy is that Lamb that was slain. For what was ours to pay was paid for us....for the suffering we are meant to endure was bore on the Cross...for "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." I pray that grace would echo throughout the entirety of my life...that as Jesus says somewhere in the book of Matthew, "For you have been given without paying, therefore give without being paid." None of us deserve grace, and yet we receive it still...God have mercy on His children of grace that refuse to show grace themselves.