Just another little story about grace...
There is a story about a group of High School kids in a rural community in the Deep South I would like to share with you. It takes place in the late 1970s. As it turns out there was one boy who found himself at odds with a group of other kids who decided that they just didn’t like him. Nobody really knows why. Maybe it’s because the boy didn’t cut up and talk back to the teachers they way the group did. Maybe he didn’t talk enough trash. Maybe they were just testing him to see how far they could go before they got a reaction. As I said, nobody really knows why he was singled out. So let’s move on.
Now this boy was no coward by any means. He just didn’t believe in being goaded into something stupid (like a fight just for the sake of fighting) by a bunch of guys who were clearly in school for some reason other than getting an education. Well one day, in gym class, a few of these troublesome kids were talking big and trying their best to start a fight with the young man in question. He stood up, looked them in the eye, stood his ground and refused to take the bait. Then something totally unexpected happened. After a couple of minutes another kid from another class on the other side of the gym walked over, stood between the boy and his antagonists - facing the troublemakers - and said in a strong, clear and unmistakably determined voice: “Now I’m here. What do you want to do now?” Folks - you never saw a group of kids back down so quickly in your life. From that day on, the trouble seemed to stop. But what, you ask, is so special about that? Well, as I said, this was in the 1970s in the Deep South and the young man who was being goaded was white…AND the kid who intervened was black! Remember, this was during a time when - at least at this particular school - the only thing the white and black kids felt toward each other was contempt. For one to cross the man-made racial barrier and stick up for someone of the opposite race was a real “jaw-dropper!”
To this day I don’t know the name of the young African –American who stood up for me that day. But I do know this: As we enter a time of Thanksgiving I am thankful to God for what he did and what he taught me. He taught me that God’s grace comes at the most unexpected time in the most unexpected way. And as we enter a time of preparation for the greatest example of God’s grace ever – the birth of the Messiah – I reflect on this story and as a reminder that Jesus came to teach us all – white, black, red, yellow and brown – that we are all eternally bound together in God’s wondrous arms of love. Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! And may God bless you all!
Grace and peace,
