Grace and Mercy

There are many events in a person’s life that while at the time may seem insignificant, had a strong impact. One such incident happened to me.
A few years ago, I was in the fourth grade. Fourth grade was the first year that we switched teachers for some of the various core classes. Mrs. Book was one of the teachers that I had the pleasure of studying under. One of the classes that she taught me was science. Aside from the cool destruction of the aluminum gas can, Mrs. Book taught me one of the fundamental aspects of Christianity: grace and mercy.
One particular day, Chris Orr (yes that Chris Orr) and I had to take a make up science test. Mrs. Book handed us the tests and gave us some very explicit instructions. She stated, “You two go to the library and take this test. Do not sit near each other, do not talk to each other and do not cheat.”
Somehow in our one hundred foot journey to the library, our brains forgot what we were told to do. We immediately sat at the same table, right next to each other. We then began talking to each other, which led to the breaking of the other instruction. We cheated.
When finished with the test, we joyfully went back to class. We were very confident that we did well on the test. After all, we discussed every question in length to come up with the answer. We were also very sure that we got away with it.
The next day, we were sitting in Mrs. Brown’s class. There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Book stuck her head in the door and politely asked, “Pat, may I speak with Chris and Daniel, just for a couple of minutes?” Unsure what it was about, we happily got out of our seats and ventured into the hallway.
When we got out into the hall, I immediately knew we were in trouble. She was holding our tests in her hand. She asked us a simple question, her voice was not one with anger as much as it had disappointment in it, “Can you explain this to me?”
Neither one of us had a good explanation to her question, because neither one of us said anything. What she said then took me by absolute surprise. She said, “I know you two cheated and I should give you both zeroes for this test. However, I am not going to do that. I will let you keep this grade, if you promise to never do it again.”
There was the lesson: grace and mercy.
Grace is receiving something that you do not deserve. Mercy is not receiving what you do deserve. We did not deserve to keep that grade. She had every right to fail us. Instead, she showed us grace. We did deserve to fail. She had every right to fail us. Instead, she showed us mercy.
Our Father in heaven is the same way. The Bible states that the wages of sin is death and that all are sinners. However, the Bible also states that it is through the redemption of Jesus Christ that we receive forgiveness of our sins, but that it comes by God’s grace, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.” (Ephesians 1:7 NIV) Through Jesus Christ we will not receive death (mercy), but we will receive eternal life (grace).
I do not think at that time, Mrs. Book meant to give me a life lesson that I will never forget. She was just doing what she knew best, to bestow grace and mercy on one of her own.