Grace.  For some, it's a name; for others, it's a feeling; for others, it is the face of God.  So does the apostle Paul write to his colleague Titus, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people" (Titus 2:11).  In Jesus, Paul is saying, we see the visible expression of God's grace.  In Jesus, he is telling his readers, we see the physical manifestation of God's favor toward us.  In Jesus, God's grace bursts theological rhetoric and doctrinal dogma:  it is made palpably real.  Jesus presents the fullest possible picture of God's kindness and benevolence, his enduring compassion for his human creation.  Jesus' appearance tells us that, above all, God loves us, and wants to us to know him, fully and intimately.  Jesus is the grace of God.
      We grant each other grace every day, as we should.  Yet it is God's grace that enables us to see and understand that amidst the frequent senselessness of the world in which we live, there is a grace of hope, a grace of hope that transcends what we see, a grace of hope that frames and orders and gives meaning, now and eternally, to our lives.  Jesus' appearance tells us that whatever else we may think about God, what we ought to think most about him is this:  God is for us. God is for us today, tomorrow, and forever.  The creator of the universe is on our side.
     As we enter into this third week of Advent, rejoice in the grace of hope, this perduring picture of divine favor.  Then ask yourself:  God is on your side, yes, but are you on his?