For by grace are you saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
Finally it was time to take the test.
"Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has one
and I'll tell you to start," our prof instructed.
When we turned them over, every answer on the test was filled in! The
bottom of the last page said the following:
"This is the end of the Final Exam. All the answers on your test are
correct. You will receive an 'A' on the final exam. The reason you
passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you. All
the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the
A. You have just experienced...grAce."
He then went around the room and asked each student individually, "What
is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did
all your studying for this exam help you achieve your final grade?"
Now I am not a crier by any stretch of the imagination, but I had to
fight back tears when answering those questions and thinking about how
the Creator has passed the test for me.
Discussion afterward went like this: "I have tried to teach you all
semester that you are a recipient of grace. I've tried to communicate
to you that you need to demonstrate this gift as you work with young
people. Don't hammer them; they are not the enemy. Help them, for they
will carry on your ministry if it is full of GRACE!"
Talking about how some of us had probably studied hours and some just a
few minutes but had all received the same grade, he pointed to a story
Jesus told in Matthew 20. The owner of a vineyard hired people to work
in his field and agreed to pay them a certain amount. Several different
times during the day, he hired more workers. When it was time to pay
them, they all received the same amount. When the ones who had been
hired first thing in the morning began complaining, the boss said,
"Should you be angry because I am kind?" (Matthew 20:15).
The teacher said he had never done this kind of final before and
probably would never do it again, but because of the content of many of
our class discussions, he felt like we needed to experience grace.
Have you thanked your Creator today
because of the grace you have experienced?
I left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time right
before the final in my seminary Youth Issues class. When I got to
class, everybody was doing their last minute studying.
The teacher came in and said he would review with us
for just a little bit before the test. We went through the review,
most of it right on the study guide,
but there were some things he was reviewing that I had never heard of.
When questioned about it, he said that they were in the book and we were
responsible for everything in the book. We couldn't really argue with that.
"Amazing Grace"