Bad Posture: When You Don't Understand Grace

I had something happen in my office the other day that has never to my knowledge happened before. At the time it was very unsettling. But now that I have really pondered it, my heart is really troubled for something like this to happen just a few short days after Christmas.

A young pregnant woman was seated in my lobby. Apparently she was nodding off in the chair. From her appearance, one might make certain assumptions about her character or the reason she was overly lethargic.  Another young woman filmed her nodding off on her cell phone and then posted the video on social media accompanied with derogatory commentary. A mutual acquaintance saw it and immediately informed the first individual who came back into the office in tears. She was distraught and overcome with shame because she felt the weight of judgement.  I pulled the young lady who posted the film aside and explained this was a violation of privacy, and that all of our patients are given the same level of respect and courtesy. I kindly asked her not to do things like this again in our office. Her response was to immediately fill out transfer paperwork to see a different doctor.

It reminded me of Jesus with the woman caught in adultery in John 8. A bunch of accusers bring the woman to Jesus with the intention of stoning her and tricking Jesus. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the sand with his finger.  When they kept on questioning him he stood up and said to them, "Let any of you who is without sin cast the first stone at her." Then he stooped back down and wrote on the ground. This is a familiar bible story, but what I want to highlight in the narrative is Jesus' posture.


The word grace comes from a root word that means stooping down from a position of royalty.
Grace is God's unmerited favor. It is the complete opposite of karma, which is getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don't deserve and not getting what you do deserve. The bible tells us we are all sinners and the price to be paid for that debt is death. Jesus condescended himself to Earth so that we might be saved from this rightful penalty. Christmas is to remind us this is purely a gift. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:9)  The ground at the foot of the cross is level. You won't be able to stand there and compare yourself to others hoping that your good outweighing your bad will save you. The only thing that saves is personal acceptance of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross as his overwhelming gift of grace to redeem you from your sins. Once you do, and comprehend the magnitude of what it took to accomplish this, a heart change automatically occurs where your only response is to show that same grace to others. Once you understand the grace that has been shown to you, you will look to extend it. Instead of looking at others with disappointment, you will see an opportunity for compassion.  This is easier to do when you meet people face to face on their level.

 When the woman is brought to him, Jesus stoops down to the ground. His posture is grace.

 Her accusers want to shame and kill her. We may not have this as a form of judgement in our American society but social media and gossip can be just as damaging. Casting a stone publicly and asking others to join in shows a complete lack of understanding for God's grace. But when the others continue to chime in, Jesus stands up. Now his posture is judgement; not towards the woman but towards her accusers. Does this mean the woman was innocent? No, not at all. But as scripture tells us, "a broken and contrite heart you will not despise." And when that is our posture, God will always choose mercy. "Because mercy triumphs over judgment."(James 2:13)
Many people speculate what Jesus was writing in the sand. Some people suggest maybe the less 'visible' sins of her accusers. As each one read the words in the sand, they walked away... one by one. The posture of Jesus is important here. Grace flows to each of us from the understanding first that you don't deserve it; none of us do. It starts with asking for help and knowing that you need it. You can't save yourself; you need a Savior.   When all her accusers are gone, Jesus again stooped down to the woman.

I am realizing following Jesus isn't just a walk. It is also a cadence and a posture. That is why I 'stood up' and confronted the woman who shamed my other patient. Truthfully, in that moment, I understood that she herself didn't comprehend grace, which actually made me sad for both ladies. But in the end, I will strive for my  posture as a Christian and a physician to be the same as Jesus when people asked him why he associated with "sinners and tax collectors (people of ill repute)"  On hearing this Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sick."( Mark 2) And we do that with a posture of grace.