While Christians may be aware of the fact that their faith should be carried out into actions of love and grace towards others, they find that actually doing so is much easier said than done. Where there is hurt or traumatic experiences involved, it becomes much more difficult for Christians to love and serve others with grace, and much easier to operate out of the world's "eye-for-an-eye" standards.
However, at Fuller Theological Seminary's recent forum, Walter Brueggemann, author of The Prophetic Imagination and Praying the Psalms, exhorted Christians into living out a lifestyle of grace and justice by citing examples of the grace that God has shown Israel in the Old Testament.
Brueggemann cited several passages in the Old Testament, including those in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Hosea.
"The Old Testament has all kinds of legalistic and moralistic language," Brueggemann said during one of the main sessions at the forum, which took place from April 30 to May 2.
Walter Brueggemann spoke at the recent Fuller Forum regarding how the grace of God compels Christians into a lifestyle of justice.
But, Brueggemann said, there are plenty of passages in which God shows compassion and grace, and his language toward Israel takes a "leap" from the legalistic standards of the law.
"There is a leap on God's part from the system of deeds and consequences, into a new world in which God says, 'I will buld you again,'" he said, as he pointed to Jeremiah 31, in which God says,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again, and you will be reubilt." (Jeremiah 31:3-4)
And he pointed to Ezekiel 18, in which God says,
"But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die ... Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?" (Ezekiel 18:21-23)
Though, in wickedness, Israel turned away from God and served idols, God chooses to show grace to Israel and forgive them--in some instances, by asking them to repent, and in other instances, completely unconditionally and unilaterally, with not even a request for repentance from Israel.
"There is graciousness in repentance, and there is unilateral forgiveness, both present in the Bible--revelatory and useful for us in different contexts," Brueggemann said.
"Israel pondered all of these modes of second chances that God has given, and thought more doxologically about the first chance," he continued. "They realized that God called the earth into existence, and it was an act of grace. The whole history of the world, of Israel, and of the church, is a narrative of grace."
"And the overwhelming narrative of God's grace empowers Israel to an alternative ethic to the world."
"God says that it's phony worship if you don't carry out justice," Brueggemann said referring to Isaiah 58. "And the incredible grace of God empowers, and is the launching pad, for a new life of justice in the world."
The recent Fuller Forum took place in Pasadena, CA, and featured over 30 different speakers involved in the work of justice, in accordance with the forum's theme, "Justice, Grace, and Law in the Mission of God." Some of those who spoke at the main and breakout sessions included Ken Fong, the senior pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church of Los Angeles; Bethany Hoang, a special advisor and founding director for International Justice Mission (IJM)'s Institute for Biblical Justice; Mike Feuer, Los Angeles City Attorney; and Judge Scott Gordon, from the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
