Cheap Grace

Matthew 24:3 – As he sat on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately saying, “When will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”

Although the second part of the question seems strange to me (Jesus’ coming? He’s sitting in front of them. Close of the age?), they clearly ask this in response to Jesus’ telling them that the temple will one day be rubble. I’m not an expert on Jesus apocalyptic sayings, of which this is an example. Apocalyptic means “revealing.” The disciples are asking for inside info on the revealing; the sign of his coming and of the close of the age.

I suspect it’s not the disciples’ concern so much as it is the concern of Matthew’s readers. The earliest date scholars give for this gospel is 70 CE, the year of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Most scholars put it between 80 and 100 CE. That being the case, their concern is understandable. Jesus has been gone a long time and his prediction about the temple came true. They now want to know what signs they should be looking for so as to be ready for Jesus’ return. We have been asking this same question ever since.

Yet, for us, to be concerned only about Jesus coming back rather than following his actual commandments is a distraction. It’s a substitute designed to make people feel good without actually doing any of the things Jesus wants us to do. Having inside information makes us feel important and powerful. Helping our neighbor doesn’t give us that same rush of power, so we take the easy route of cheap grace.

Jesus told his followers they would be persecuted, which meant being thrown in jail and even crucified. Later, it meant being thrown to the beasts in the Colosseum. Yet today, we see white, Evangelical Christians crying persecution over the phrase “Merry Christmas,” over women having power, over the MeToo movement. Actual suffering and hardship on behalf of another is hard and painful, so they (we?) take the easy route of cheap grace.

Basing morality on sexual matters is another way to achieve that superior feeling and the illusion of power over others. Such rules as waiting until marriage to have sex, abstinence only education, teaching that sex outside marriage is dirty and shameful, teaching that not being straight is evil and dirty; all these attitudes toward sex serve to justify their holder in their own eyes and condemn others, perhaps for “sins” that don’t tempt them. There is nothing wrong with some of these attitudes, but using them as a proxy for loving others, especially those who may be our enemies, is cheap grace.

Cheap grace is a phrase Dietrich Bonhoeffer used to describe Christians who wanted the benefits without actually following Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbor. He was arrested in 1944 for participating in a plot to kill Hitler and died at Flossenburg concentration camp just before the end of the European war in WWII. He was in the US in 1939, but realized he needed to be with the German people in the fight against Hitler. He returned to Germany to take part in the resistance. Any grace he was given was not cheap grace.

What about you and me? Are we substituting easy paths for the path Jesus is asking us to walk?