Richard Littledale's
Views on the News: November 2010

Austere grace?

With classic British self-deprecating wit, somebody wrote the following on Twitter the day after the comprehensive spending review: "If you are unaffected by yesterday's cuts, spare a thought for your butler - he's probably distinctly miffed!". The 'butler' will not be the only one. The swingeing cuts will affect healthcare, education, public services, armed services and many others in every area of public life. We should not think, either, that the church will be safe behind her ecclesiastical walls. The cuts will affect many members, which will affect giving and so on...

Take another look at the words above, though. They no more belong together than "dark light" or "generous miser". Just imagine what it would be like if God brought in a package of austerity measures and cut back on what He offers to us. What would it be like if he only offered us long life instead of eternal life? What if we only had two persons to the Trinity, and had to manage without the sweet breath of the Holy Spirit? What if he offered us forgiveness or hope but not both? When the possibilities of the world seem to shrink around us, thank God that his grace is expanding rather than shrinking.

When Jesus performed his first miracle it was at a wedding reception - not traditionally a place where frugality and austerity go down well! Not only did he turn water into wine - but into dozens & dozens of bottles of the finest wine anybody had ever tasted. Such is the generosity of God.

In dark times the smallest light shines brightest. Christians, bound as they are to a God of unparalleled generosity, may find that the opportunities to be generous with time, service, compassion...and even money - are greater in these difficult times.