Expertise

I like that word because it basically means somebody really does know what they are talking about.

I grew up hearing an old phrase that sometimes feels like a description of my life: Jack of all trades, master of none. Simply put, some people know a little bit about a lot of different things and not a lot about many.

Have you ever felt that way when it comes to something very important? Maybe you just didn’t grasp all you needed to?

I am thankful to have friends/family with expertise. I know who to call to find answers to legal questions. I know who to talk to when I break my pinkie toe (which I did last week and decided not to bug my expertise friend with something so silly as a broken toe).

Expertise is a wonderful thing particularly for those of us who need it and can see it in others!

I am glad that neither of us are the recognized expert when it comes the matter of grace. I want to be. And sometimes I try real hard, but sooner or later my grace is taken over by a begrudging attitude and selfishness–if not an outright rejection of the whole spirit of grace itself.

I am thankful for the expertise of Jesus especially when it comes to grace.

• John 1:14, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
  
• John 1:16-17, From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
  
• Ephesians 2:1-10, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Need a little grace (or a lot in my case)? See Jesus. He’s the expert. Getting grace makes giving grace a much easier thing to do!
See you Sunday.

Les, Jr.

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