A Ramble About the Force

“The Force?”

“The Force is an energy field produced by all living things. It binds us, and penetrates us, and holds the galaxy together.”
…

“You mean it controls your actions?”
“Partially, but it also obeys your commands.”

From the dialogue in “Star Wars: A New Hope” between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker

We have to use a lot of analogies in describing spiritual realities. Some analogies are better than others. Some analogies come closer to the truth than others. And where someone may understand the truth trying to be conveyed by one analogy, the same analogy may be unintelligible to the next person.

Grace is one such concept which is difficult to explain. It is made even more difficult because of the theological confusion which has been introduced by Protestant theology. As a backlash against the Catholic Church, rather than relying on the teaching of the Church prior to the Reformation, a much different, weakened understanding of it based on the literal meaning of the Greek word has rendered it to mean little more than God's favor or good will towards man. (This is largely due to the sincere, but misguided dogma of the Reformation known as “Sola Scriptura” or “Scripture Only”.)

In the teaching of the Church, Grace means far more than this, but explaining it, and how it operates isn't the easiest of things. When explained in the wrong way, it sounds like you're trying to earn or merit it based on your own good works, and thus trying to earn your own salvation, which is impossible.

As simply put as possible, the Fathers of the Church describe Grace as a part of the “uncreated energies of God,” and the “presence of God outside of His persons.” St. Maximos describes these energies as “eternally existent, proceeding from the eternally existing God.” St. Gregory Palamas writes “Thus God possesses both essence and that which is not essence, even if it should not be called an accident, namely, the divine will and energy.” The essence of God is that which is transcendent and unapproachable whereas the energies of God are immanent and approachable.

St. Gregory also says, “Because both the divine essence and the divine energy are everywhere inseparably present, God's energy is accessible to us creatures... Thus St. John Chrysostom says, 'A drop of Grace filled all things with knowledge; through it miracles were wrought and sins forgiven.' Here, while indicating that this drop of grace is uncreated, he hastens to make clear that it is an energy of God but not his essence. Further, in order to show how the divine energy differs from both the divine essence and from the hypostasis of the Spirit, he adds, 'I mean a part of the energy, for the Paraclete is not divided.' Therefore God's grace and energy is accessible to each one of us, since it is divided indivisibly. But since God's essence is in every way indivisible, how could it be accessible to any created being? … Three realities pertain to God: essence, energy, and the triad of divine hypostases. As we have seen, those privileged to be united to God so as to become one spirit with Him … are not united to God with respect to His essence, since all the theologians testify what with respect to His essence God suffers no participation. … Thus those privileged to attain union with God are united to Him with respect to His energy; and the 'spirit', according to which they who cleave to God are one with Him, is and is called the uncreated energy of the Holy Spirit, but not the essence of God...” (Quoted from St. Gregory Palamas, “Topics of Natural and Theological Science”, The Philokalia, vol. IV, trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kalistos Ware; Faber and Faber, Ltd, 1995)

The final goal of the Christian life is deification (in Greek, “theosis”, sometimes called “divinization”, in Protestant Evangelical circles called “glorification”), the total union with God, and full participation in His nature outside of His essence. The Fathers say to this effect, “God became man so that man might become god.” St. Irenaeus writes, “Our Lord Jesus Christ, through His transcendent love, became what we are, so that He might bring us to be even what He Himself is.” The illustration used is that of a piece of metal, when it is put into a fire takes on the properties of the fire, the heat and the light, even glowing much like it, while still retaining it's identity as metal. Grace is the energy of God which accomplishes deification.

That's the beginning of the explanation. The next part of it is where we run into all kinds of trouble, accusations, and theological ruts. That's because, while Grace is freely given by God, it doesn't generally come while we are just doing our own thing. Grace in some respects is like electricity in that you must be plugged in for it to flow.

Jesus essentially spelled it out in John 15:4-7. He said, “Remain in me, and I in you … without me you can do nothing … if anyone doesn't remain in me he is cast out as a branch, withers, and is thrown into the fire … if you remain in me and my word remains in you you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” So, in order for Grace to flow, you have to be plugged into Jesus. If you're unplugged, and stay unplugged through your own choices, not only will Grace not flow, but you get tossed out like a bunch of dead branches. But, if you're plugged in and stay plugged in, remembering what He taught and said, anything is possible for you.

So, how do we stay plugged in? The short answer is obedience to what Jesus taught, prayer (discursive and contemplative), and participation in the Sacraments, especially Baptism and Holy Eucharist. It's not a matter of earning or meriting Grace, but staying plugged in. And as we adhere to these things in humility, self-control, and renunciation (yes, this matters as Jesus taught), Grace, the uncreated energy of God, flows through us allowing us to progress even more in prayer, obedience, and the Sacraments in a self-perpetuating cycle which is only broken as we leave off and go our own way, or in other words, the only way Grace won't flow is if we willingly unplug from Jesus and ignore it.

What are commonly called the “Spiritual Gifts” are also powered by Grace. The closer you draw to Jesus, the longer you remain consistently plugged in, the more evident they become. This is born out even by the Greek word for them, “charismata”, which literally could be translated “grace ability”. Without Grace, they simply won't function, similar to an unplugged lamp. This is why so many “Christians” rely on their own natural abilities and try to pass off things like teaching ability, public speaking, or natural “charisma” as a spiritual gift. They have no experience with the real thing because even after baptism they choose to pursue their own things and remain unplugged from Jesus, often not being taught otherwise by their respective local churches. You can't walk in the Spirit if you're indulging in the flesh (sensual desires, avarice, self-esteem, etc.). The two are opposed to each other and if one is in control, the other can't be (see Gal. 5:16-23), the Buddha said something similar as well, “There is self, and there is truth. Where self is, truth is not. Where truth is, self is not.”).

This leads us back to my quotation from Star Wars at the beginning of this ramble. A good analogy I have found for Grace is “the Force” (yes, it sounds at best creepy, but hear me out). The Force is the source of a Jedi's power and abilities, and without it he is unable to do anything, much like Grace to the Christian. The impossible jumps, the pulling x-wings out of swamps, the holding boulders high above the head by a teeny tiny green Jedi Master, all of these are impossible without the Jedi being plugged into the Force, and in the same way the replication of the life, power, and person of Jesus Christ within the Christian, in other words the process of “deification”, is impossible without being plugged into Him with His Grace flowing through that person as a result of being plugged into Him. Like the Force as well, we must cooperate with Grace. God will not force us to do anything which we will not agree to any more than the Force will force a Jedi to jump twenty feet in the air without his permission. The Grace of God binds us, it penetrates us and holds everything together.

Our salvation is accomplished truly by Grace through Faith. It is the gift of God so that no one can brag that he earned it. Salvation is impossible without the Grace of God, and is energized and effected by it. Holy Scripture is clear about this. But Holy Scripture is equally clear that just saying you have faith is not enough. You must act on that faith, or else it isn't true faith but is mere words, and words alone are meaningless without the actions to back them up. Grace won't flow until faith itself is realized by action.

[For a better explanation of Grace and deification, check out “The Orthodox Way” by Kallistos (Timothy) Ware. He is an Orthodox Bishop who explains these concepts much more eloquently and clearly than I ever could.]