Barabbas, An Undeserving Recipient Series

Do you know anybody who responds that way to God’s grace? They just say, “I couldn’t accept a gift like that.” I think there are some people who foolishly refuse God’s great gift for this reason: It seems too good to be true. Don’t you think that’s right? I mean, we’re kind of taught that you don’t get something for nothing and this whole thing of God’s free gift to us of salvation, it just seems…seems too good to be true.

I don’t know if you saw this interview or heard about the following situation. It was on The Today Show. Matt Lauer did this interview a few years ago. Here’s what happened. H&R Block, the tax firm, offered this promotion where customers could sign up for a drawing to win $1 million as they would come in to have their taxes done. There was one couple, Glenn and Gloria Simms, from Seal, New Jersey. They came in to have their taxes done, they signed up for this drawing, and they won! They won the $1 million! But when H&R Block called them to tell them this great news, they thought it was a scam and they hung up on them.

Well, over the next few weeks H&R Block continuously tried to contact these people and they called numerous times. They sent special notices in the mail. The Simms would hang up and they’d trash the special notices. Finally, a representative for H&R Block calls and says, “Listen, the deadline for accepting this $1 million prize is quickly approaching. There’s going to be a segment on The Today Show that tells the story of you refusing to accept this $1 million prize.” Well, at that point Mr. Simms decided, “Maybe I should investigate this.”.

So, he did. He investigated it and the next week he was on The Today Show explaining to Matt Lauer that he and his wife had gone in and received and accepted this $1 million prize from H&R Block. I want to read to you the last thing that he said on the show. He said, “‘From the time this has been going on,’ H&R Block explained to us, ‘we really wanted a happy ending to all of this.’ They were ecstatic that we finally accepted the prize.”.

Look, Jesus has purchased this incredible gift for you and for me, and He is just…patiently waiting for you to accept it. He has sent you messages, and I know that some of you have been given them and it’s not an accident that you’re here today. Maybe somebody has come back into your life, or maybe something has happened to you and He’s gotten your attention maybe for the first time in a long time. He just desperately wants you to accept this gift. If you would, He’ll just…be ecstatic.

I think some people refuse the gift because they feel too guilty. They’ve seen baptisms in church. Maybe you listen to the invitation every week and you hear the offer of forgiveness, and you think, “Well, yeah…but not for me, not after what I’ve done.”.

Some people, I think, refuse the offer because they feel pretty good about themselves. They compare themselves to people around them and say, “I don’t know. Do I really need a Savior? I’m doing pretty well.” It’s hard…it’s hard to save a person who doesn’t know they’re drowning. But many people foolishly refuse. I don’t know. Maybe that’s what Barabbas did.