Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/583785
ENGAGE 23 I spent a day alone with a Christian leader I'd not met before. He belonged to a part of the Christian movement with which I was not well acquainted. Soon, I picked up signals of sadness in him and commented on them. "It's a difficult day for me," he acknowledged. "A year ago this morning, I lost my wife." When I asked how she'd died, he answered, "She died because of a surgeon's mistake." I asked if lawyers had gotten involved. "No," he said. "Certain family members wanted me to take legal action, but I said a flat no." "Can I ask why?" "We represent a gospel of grace, you and I," he said. "Jesus gave us redeeming grace at the cross, and He called us to give restorative grace to others … even to surgeons who make mistakes." He continued: "I've spent my life trying to emulate Jesus and His gracious ways. I've preached grace endlessly. I often call grace the Christian trademark. So when my wife died in the operating room, I determined that I wasn't going to abandon a way of believing and acting that has defined me all these years." There was a silent moment between us, and then this: "Gordon, sooner or later, certain bedrock beliefs like grace are tested in real-world situations. Christ-followers have to make a choice. Should we be vengeful? Should we feel free to destroy another person? Or … or … should we liberate both the offender and ourselves by saying, 'I forgive.'" I've never forgotten that exchange. I return to it each time someone does or says something that generates a belligerent reaction within me. I whisper to no one in particular, "If he could be that gracious, so can I." Our faculty teaches that kind of grace at Denver Seminary. BENEDICTION Gordon MacDonald CHANCELLOR "The Incarnation gives the stunning backdrop to our salvation. [God] knows it all and was not ashamed to make the first move into our stories—yours and mine." Dr. Don Payne "From the creation to the consummation of human history and the redemption of the cosmos, God is actively engaged with the history of humankind through His redemptive work." Dr. Alemayehu Mekonnen "Jesus can empathize with the lonely, the abandoned, and the suffering. More than that, He can and does offer true hope in the midst of alienation and pain." Elodie Ballantine Emig "And then there's King Jesus, not demanding or pushy, and not resorting to violence to coerce obedience. He invites His followers to humble service, following His example no matter the cost to themselves." Dr. William Klein "God so loved the world—even in its rebelliously lost and desperately sinful condition— that He showered it with His grace in Christ. Without question, that is good news!" Dr. Scott Wenig "In order to engage this generation, we need to meet them in their questions, engage their doubt, and allow faith to be messy, grey, and risky. … We need to be willing to step into difficult questions of cultural relevance, morality, and social justice without pat 'Sunday school' answers." Dr. Elisabeth Nesbit Sbanotto WORD FOR WORD