Monthly healing services and an increasing village response to the gospel stirred the resentment of local Buddhists. But Pastor Kevin fought the rock-throwing, church burning, and threats on his life with a forty-day fast. He hungered to pass on the aggressive grace he had experienced: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The pastor yearned to overcome the darkness he saw with the light and love of Jesus he knew.

Kevin, his wife Kalani, and their toddler celebrated the fast’s conclusion by visiting friends. As they arrived home, Kalani spied a village security officer speeding toward them with his gun blazing. She grabbed her son and cried out to Jesus before collapsing.

Three weeks later, Kalani awoke to a nightmare. She was a widow with a bullet in her spine, a nonfunctioning left arm, and a traumatized child. Although doctors doubted she would walk or use her arm again, she prayed God would enable her to take care of her son. 

Kalani Exercised Aggressive Grace

God answered Kalani’s prayers, and after ten months of rehabilitation, she and her son returned to the village to resume her husband’s ministry. Determined to live out God’s aggressive grace, she moved back into their now doorless and windowless home next to the church. Every day, as Kalani bicycled her little boy to school, she encountered the security officer responsible for her husband’s death and her disability. She could have allowed the daily reminder of her loss to nurture anger about the injustices and inconveniences she suffered. Yet, her immediate decision to forgive her attacker when she was shot freed her from a soul-eating craving for revenge. Kalani rejected the temptation to respond to evil with evil.

Kalani’s radical forgiveness reminded me of the prophet Hosea, who also expressed God’s sacrificial love.

Hosea’s Story

God said to Hosea, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD” (Hosea 1:2). The Talmud (ancient rabbinic teachings and commentaries on the Hebrew Scriptures) provides the backstory.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Hosea, “Your children have sinned.” To this, the prophet should have replied, “ – they are Your children, the children of your favoured ones, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Be merciful to them.” Not only did he not say this, but he actually said, “Lord of the universe, the whole world is yours. Exchange them for another nation.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “What shall I do with this old man? I will tell him to go and marry a prostitute and have children by her. Then I will tell him to send her away. If he can, then I too will send Israel away.”

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Jonathan Sacks, “Love as Law, Law as Love”

Hosea obeyed God and married Gomer. Although she persisted in her pursuit of immoral pleasures, the faithful prophet pursued her. He refused to divorce his wife regardless of the grief her recurring unfaithfulness caused. Instead, after still another betrayal, he redeemed her from what scholars believe was prostitution or the slave market  (Hosea 3:1-2). Like Kalani, Hosea exercised aggressive grace.

The Rest of the Story

Do You Need Aggressive Grace (Part 2) examines the connections between Hosea’s and Kalani’s stories and ours and how we can follow their lead to reflect God’s relentless love and care. Subscribe to my email list to receive a notification when new blogs are posted.

Hosea and Kalani responded to the unimaginable with aggressive grace. How do you react when the unthinkable invades your life? Where do you need aggressive grace today?

Do You Need Aggressive Grace? (Part 1) by @nlucenay on nancylucenay.com Share on X