Rob Bell describes interacting with scripture like this: there’s the black ink (what’s written on the page), then there’s the white space around it (where we dance with what’s written). In Episode 185, Susan and Cynthia take on what Latter-day Saints commonly call the Parable of the Talents, from Matthew 25. It’s a conversation about grace out of hand, covenant relationship, and how we may have come to think about things the way we do. If you’re a fan of the #gracepeddlers, you won’t want to miss it!
Notes & Quotes:
Does That Scripture Mean What You Think it Means? | A Dance with the 10 Virgins, ALSSI Ep. 140
The Parable of the Laborers—Grace in Action, ALSSI Ep. 74
We Don’t Believe Our Own Stuff—Grace Edition, ALSSI Ep. 16
Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus, by Robert Farrar Capon
Cynthia’s “Grace out of hand” Instagram post (Rachel Held Evans quote)
How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers―and Why That’s Great News, by Peter Enns
Grace, LDS Bible Dictionary
You and Your Bags of Gold, Rob Bell, The RobCast, Ep. 180
“As the parable of the Ten Virgins was about the happiness of the bridegroom at his wedding, so this one is about the ebullience of the lord’s joy at throwing his money around. It is the theme of the divine party again, the party that lurks beneath the surface of history and calls only for a recognition by faith. It is the fatted calf served up for a prodigal who did nothing but come home in faith. It is the free champagne and caviar for wedding guests who did nothing but trust the king’s insistence on providing fancy costumes and party hats. It is the full pay for next-to-no-work-at-all given to grape pickers who just said yes to a last-minute promise.” —Robert Farrar Capon (p. 503)
“Grace is already out of hand when God said forgive them for they know not what they do.” —Rachel Held Evans
“Is this really the best Jesus can do? Sanctified motivational speaking?” —Rob Bell
“Parables are meant to have an afterlife, to be flexible, adaptable over time to new circumstances. Parables are how wise teachers incite change, not just for the moment, but at all times and in all places. Including ours.” —Pete Enns
“I didn’t ask you to make money, I asked you to do business….to exercise a little pragmatic trust that I meant you well and that I wouldn’t mind if you took some risks with my gift of a lifetime. But what did you do? You decided you had to be more afraid of me than of the risks. You decided. You played it safe because of some imaginary fear.” —RFC
“The outrage of the law violated is nothing compared to the white-hot fury of grace spurned.” —RFC
“The only reason that judgment comes into it at all is the sad fact that there will always be dummies who refuse to trust a good thing when it’s handed to them on a platter. That is indeed a grim prospect. And it is grim because, if we have any knowledge of our own intractable stupidity, we know that those dummies could just as well be ourselves. But for all that, it is still about joy rather than fear.” —RFC
“Trust the Lord in his grace and let the results be whatever we can manage to make them. Good, bad, or indifferent, we are home free, just for the believing.” —RFC
“Grace is about being alive, it’s about the next breath, it’s about having some skin in the game. It’s not winning the game, it’s participation.” —Rob Bell
