The Tale of Two Virtues
July 26th, 2008 — Nick Shelton
Once upon a time, there was a grasshopper who loved to show off his strong legs by jumping over the homes of his insect friends. After a long day of jumping and playing, the grasshopper would grow very hungry. But on this day, there was no food to be found because a winter storm had blanketed the ground with a thin layer of snow. Having no other options, the grasshopper went to his friend Mr. Ant and knelt down on his strong hind legs and begged his friend for some food.
The ant thought to himself, I worked all summer and fall gathering food so that our colony would have all we needed. While I was carrying food twice my weight, this grasshopper was jumping and dancing in the meadow. Why should I give him any food? Why does he deserve it?
This story is a moral question that many psychologists and social scientists have used to examine what kind of morals a person has. What would you do if you were in Mr. Ant’s shoes?
In this version of the story, Mr. Ant decided to help the grasshopper. The ant provided food that the starving grasshopper needed. The ant went out of his way, traveling several feet below the ground to retrieve stored food for the grasshopper.
“Here you go, Mr. Hopper,” said Mr. Ant.
“Thanks, but this is such a small amount of food. I’m a lot bigger than you. I need a lot more food than you.”
“I can only get this much at a time,” said Mr. Ant. “The ant who guards our food storage will only allow me to get so much extra.”
“There’s no way you can get more?”
“Well, I guess I could share the small bit of food that I’m given each day.”
For the next few days, Mr. Ant shared his small rations of food with the grasshopper. As the winter progressed, the grasshopper kept taking larger and larger food portions from the ant. Both of them were almost starving themselves to death. One day, Mr. Ant finally said, “Mr. Hopper, the lack of food has completely changed you. Your hind legs do not look like they’ll be able to jump any more. Why don’t you take all my food so you can survive until the spring.” The selfish grasshopper took the food and enjoyed every bite.
The following day, the ant died in the snow trying to find more food for the hungry grasshopper. The ant gave his all in order that the grasshopper could live.
The ant did not have to do anything for the grasshopper – he did not deserve it. He showed him mercy. The ant did not have to give the grasshopper his own food – it was gift of gratitude. He showed him grace.
Grace and mercy are the two fundamental concepts on which Christianity is built. We are just like the grasshopper in many ways. We come seeking want we do not deserve, and we get something that we cannot obtain on our own.
We deserve punishment for all of our sins. Whether we are a murderer on death row, or a priest– we deserve hell. However, God does not leave us out in the cold, starving to death. He loves us and welcomes us into His warm embrace and invites us to His banqueting table in Heaven.
God not only cancels the debt of millions that we owe to Him, but He also gives us millions that we could never accomplish on our own. HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!



