Economists like to say that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Political conservatives remind the world that somebody has to pay for it.
Imagine with me, though, a world in which a free lunch exists.
Imagine that there were lunch…a fancy five course affair…an all-you-can-eat-buffet…that was actually free.
It didn’t cost anyone anything to make.
Even so, I would have no right to demand that I receive such a lunch. I would have no claim with which to petition the owner of such a restaurant.
So he wouldn’t lose anything in giving it to me? He still would have no obligation to give it to me.
Even if there were a free lunch, I could not petition to receive it on my own merit. I could only petition the kindness and the pity of the host.
But the economists are right. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Which makes my petition all the more worthless.
If someone else has paid a great price to procure and prepare this feast, how could I convince him that I deserve a free invitation?
Again, and all the more so, I must throw myself at the mercy of the host. The only case I can make for myself is His kindness, His beneficence.
And so it is in this economy of grace.
A great feast–even Christ Himself–is laid before us.
A great price–even Christ Himself–has been paid to procure it.
I cannot attempt to earn entrance to this feast, have no right to claim it as my own.
I can only fall upon the grace of the Feast-Giver.
“Because of Your grace, admit me. In accordance with Your unfailing love, grant me favor.”
And in His unfailing love, He opens wide the doors and sets a place for me at the table.
A costly feast.
Completely undeserved.
A free lunch.
In the economy of grace.
Oh Girl…you nailed it. When I was teaching Jr.Hi. some of my little buggers would dump their fresh lunches just to show they could. I’d say, “Thank you for wasting my money!”…They’d tell me they got free lunch. I’d say, “Nothing is FREE…someone paid for your lunch…it came from TAXPAYER dollars…and I’m a taxpayer, sweetie…NOW, if you’re not gonna eat your lunch then have a seat and zip your lips!” Of course, the spiritual implications of there is nothing that is FREE…and salvation surely isn’t…goes much deeper!
Just a sidenote, I don’t like it when people talk about “this economy”, as if the economy was different than it has been for hundreds of years. It is merely the uncertainty or instability right now that they refer to, not the economy itself.
Joshua-I’ve never really thought about that before, but you’re right. They should say “the economy as it currently exists” rather than “this economy”. I, on the other hand, was referring to a completely different economy–a spiritual economy in which God freely bestows gifts on the undeserving, solely out of His own love and beneficence.