A Grace-Needing World
Date: May 20,2012
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:9, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 1 Peter 4:10
If you have seen paintings depicting people/late 17th cen.
• You may remember that they seemed to always have a pale, chalky complexion.
• When you look at pics/Queen Elizabeth you may wonder?
• What did Sir Walter Raliegh see in her?
• She was sooooooo pale.
And movies/portraying events of this time period showed people who looked anemic and sickly.
• They sounded that way too.
• Almost anyone who was anyone carried a handkerchief in their hands at all times.
• Some men had them attached to the cuffs of their shirt sleeves.
• People coughed into these hankies all the time.
• Have you ever questioned why people looked and acted this way in the 1600's.
Well, in the 17th Cen/tuberculosis/plagued the monarchy.
• The upper class..the elite of society.
• This lung ailment caused them to cough all the time.
• It also made their skin have an anemic, chalky look.
Well, it became the opinion of the people of that day that this disease only affected the rich....the intelligent, sophisticated upper class.
• Since everyone wanted everyone else to think they were rich and intelligent,
• They covered their healthy pink- skinned faces with powder and carried hankies and coughed.
• Tuberculosis actually started a fashion trend in the 1600's which proves that some pretty odd things can motivate people to behave in peculiar ways!
And you know, some very odd things can motivate or drive Churches to behave in peculiar ways..
A. Some churches are driven by tradition.
The goal of a tradition-driven church is to simply perpetuate the past.
• Bound together/rules/regulations/rituals.
• Tradition-driven churches are not at all flexible...in fact
• They are resistant to change.
B. Other churches are motivated or driven by personality
There is one central figure...usually the pastor...who is the sole source of motivation and everything revolves around his will.
• This leadership style is very dictatorial.
• Every decision is made by him.
• He approves every expenditure.
C. And then, some churches do what they do because they are driven by finances.
The question/forefront/everyone's mind/finance-driven church is, How much will it cost?
Now good stewardship/cash flow are essential for a healthy church but finances must never be the controlling issue.
The bottom line in any church should not be, HOW MUCH DID WE SAVE? but WHO WAS SAVED?'
D. Several other odd things have been known to drive churches:
• Programs...buildings...events...and, while they are good things, they are not good things to motivate a church.
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In I Corinthians 3:13-14 God used the Apostle Paul to teach us that He will judge whatever we do on the basis of whether it will last.
Listen to His words, Fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
• So the thing that motivates a local church
• the thing that drives the body of Christ
• must be an eternal thing
• Not something as temporary as finances, or buildings, or traditions, or personalities.
• And, understanding a church's motivation or purpose is very important.
• People need to know why they do what they do.
Proverbs 29:18 says, Where there is no vision....or purpose....the people perish…where there is no vision, People leave for another church.
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Sermon
For a long time now I have been praying that God would help us to understand what uniquely motivates us here at Shell Point.
• Your church council has joined me in this prayer.
• What should drive us to do what we do and be who we are in this community?
And after much prayer I believe to hear God saying that the thing that should motivate and drive us is GRACE.
• I believe that: God wants SPBC to be a GRACE-driven church.....for a grace-needing world.
• Have you taken a look/dynamic shift in this church lately?
• Can you feel the grace of God among us?
• In the people/ministries
Shell Point is a Grace driven church…..nothing elaborate/extravagant/just grace.
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Remember this when there in this mission field God has given us,
• When there are committee’s to be filled.
• When there are volunteers needed to help the less fortunate
• When the congregation seeks your fellowship/sun/wed night
• When there are above/beyond offerings.
Let us strive to behave in such a way…..
That as we go about our ministry/in/outside/these walls we will leave no doubt that Shell Point does what it does because of grace.
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But you know, it is not enough for us to know what drives us.
• We must also know how it drives us.
• Here at Shell Point, we must come to a mature understanding of this thing called GRACE.
Our Heavenly Father has given His children here at Shell Point something:
• a purpose to drive us to go where He wants us to go
• It is not enough for us to know what motivates us to do what we do.
• God also wants us/understand this thing that makes us go...
• This thing called GRACE....
• What it is...how it motivates us.
This understanding will help us maintain the proper functioning of this church and if we have problems, we will know better how to fix things.
• Today I want us to begin this process.
• Think of this as a sermon on the basic mechanics of grace and kingdom building.
In the coming weeks we'll delve deeper into this subject but today I want us to look at the basics so we will all begin to understand what we mean when we say that this is a grace place.
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Okay, What is Grace?
• The Bible teaches/GRACE/God's absolutely unmerited favor.
• It is His giving good to us that we could never hope to deserve or earn.
• He showed His grace in sending His only Son to die for us.
• Remember the words of Romans 5:8 ?
• God demonstrates His own love for us-His absolutely unmerited favor -- in this:
• While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• And God continues to bestow His grace on us each and every day
• He gives us other things we could never deserve or earn:
• His guidance in life-decisions
• His forgiveness when we disobey Him.
• His strength when we try to do His will.
• His healing power when we are sick....and I could go on and on.
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Grace is God's unmerited favor.
Now you/I have heard/Sunday School/sermons all our lives.
• We probably have GRACE/definition committed to memory.
• It is nothing new to us.
• But do we really understand what it means when we say that God is a God of grace?
• Well, we begin to grasp this concept when we understand that grace simply means
• That bound up in our Heavenly Father is an inclination to bestow benefits on undeserving people.
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Now, a good human might want to bestow a benefit on a deserving person.
For example
• Known as a hardworking-employee
• your boss -- out of the goodness of his heart
• may give you the afternoon off or some added incentive
If you are a good student, your teacher may give you a couple extra days to finish a term paper.
Or if your grand mom loves you....
• She might buy you an ice-cream cone even if you didn't clean your plate at supper just because she is a giving person.
• There is nothing unusual about this type of behavior.
• You see this kind of grace all the time.
• But God's grace is far above this human version.
• God's grace is as extraordinary as human grace is ordinary.
• He gives good things even to UNDESERVING people.
• It is His nature to do so.
Now, we could talk for hours about the many facets of God's extraordinary grace but this morning I want us touch the basics.
Today let us consider together four rudimentary truths about God's GRACE.
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1. First of all, God's GRACE IS OLD....
Grace was not a provision that God made after the law had failed.
You know, some people think God tried the ten commandments and the rest of the law and when that didn't work He came up with Plan B: The GRACE plan.
• No, grace was God's original plan
• Set into motion long before the law was revealed to Moses.
• Actually grace was offered before man/created.
I Peter 1:18-20 says, You were redeemed from your empty way of life with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world.
• In fact, even before sin entered the world
• Adam and Eve experienced God's grace.
• Think about it.
• They didn't deserve to be put into a lavish garden where all their needs were met by a loving Father.
• They had done nothing to earn God's intimate fellowship in that wonderful place.
• So, even before they sinned, Adam and Eve lived on grace.
So grace is old...older than all creation....but it is more than that...
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2. Grace is also BIG....
How big? Well, it is big enough to wipe out the sins of the entire world.
Romans 3:23-24 says…
Do you remember the words of John the Baptist in John 1:29 ? He saw Jesus approaching and said to all his listeners, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the WORLD.
So God's grace is big....big enough to cover the sins of every human that has ever been born or ever will be born.
• And it is also so big that it is limitless in supply.
• God never runs out of grace
• God doesn't give us a portion of grace when we become Christians and say
• This is all you get....ration it out day by day...
• Don’t run out because when you do, there is no more....
No, He gives grace after grace after grace in unending supply.
As it says in John 1:16, From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.
• God's grace is BIG.
• This also means/big enough to wipe out/biggest sinful act.
• No sin –
• No matter how horrible is too big/grace of God to cover.
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Most of you have heard of Jeffrey Dahmer....
• Convicted of the mass murder of 17 men
• Many of whom he abused and then cannibalized.
• No words can describe this tradegy.
• He redefined the boundary for brutality.
Interviewer asked Dahmer how he could possibly do/things he did
He said that at the time he didn't believe in God, so he felt accountable to no one.
• He began with petty crimes
• experimented with small acts of cruelty
• Then just kept going/going further/further into depravity.
• Isn’t that the way sin usually works?
Dahmer went to prison for his crimes where he himself was eventually murdered by another prisoner.
• Months before/death Dahmer repented/ sin/ became/Christian.
• People who knew him in prison said that when this happened his total demeanor changed.
• Dahmer became one of the most faithful worshipers at the prison chapel....
• Active in Bible study...A prolific reader of Christian books.
And in all honesty, it is hard for me to believe that God would let him off that easy.
• You and I are like that.
• We think that God's grace is sufficient for average sinners
• But not BIG enough for deviants like this guy.
• But it is.
• Jeffrey Dahmer's heart was not too vile for the grace of God.
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As it says in the old gospel hymn, Calvary covers it all.
God's grace is so big that no sin is too great to be forgiven.
Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make Him love us any less.
3. Then, another basic truth about GRACE is this....It is not FAIR...
• Because of GRACE, repentant sinners do not get what fairness they deserve.
• To understand this aspect of grace we must compare it to justice and mercy.
• Allow me to give you an example.
Let's say you wake up one morning and, as is your custom, you throw on your robe and go outside to get the morning paper.
As you do, you hear/screech/rubber/look up to see the teen who lives down the street from you driving his father's car.
• You know he is only 14....
• Not old enough to have a driver's license.
• He is barely tall enough to see over the steering wheel and he is driving the car literally all over the street.
• He careens from side to side,
• Out of control and finally he crashes into your yard....
• Barely missing you....
• and totally destroying your mailbox,
• part of the hedge you put in last year,
• And your brand-new picket fence.
• You run to the car, discover that the boy is okay, and then, at this point you have three choices:
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(A) Your first choice is to treat this teen with justice.
This means you give him exactly what he deserves.
• You call the police knowing that he/given/ticket for driving w/o a license.
• You call his parents to tell them what happened -- knowing he will be grounded until he is 39 years old.
• And, you force the boy to get a job to pay for your mailbox, fence, and hedge.
Now, exercising this option does not make you a bad person.
You are simply giving the boy exactly what he deserves -- no more -- no less. You are being fair or just.
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(B) Your second option would be to treat this wayward adolescent with mercy.
• Mercy is giving someone a little bit less than he or she deserves....
• Adding a little compassion to your judgment of his behavior.
If you choose this option, you might say,
• I'm not going to call the police
• but I am going to call your parents
• and we are going to sit down and agree on the cost of the mailbox, hedge, and fence
• and you will have to work out some way to re-pay me.
This should make the teen very happy and thankful because he is getting less than he deserves.
• You are being merciful to him.
• But there is a third option.
• It doesn't square with human common sense.
• It is risky.
• It could blow up in your face.
• Some might even call it scandalous.
• Your third option is this:
• Instead of treating the boy with justice, or mercy....
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(C) You might choose to treat the kid with grace.
And here's what that would look like.
You help the boy out of the car and say something like, You messed up young man.
• You destroyed my mailbox....flattened my fence.
• I saved two years for this fence and it was installed just a week ago.
• You also took out my hedge.
• I just trimmed that hedge and take great pride in keeping it looking sharp.
• I don't know if I'll ever be able to get it to match up again.
• You also nearly killed me.
• But I'm not going to call the police.
• I'm not even sure I want to get you in a whole lot of trouble with your family.
• I can fix the mailbox and the fence and even the hedge -- and I will.
Why don't you and I get in my car and go find a place where we can get a burger and sit down and talk.
Then I can find out a little bit more about who you are and what's going on in your life.
• There's only one condition -- I'll drive!
• What is your reaction to that last choice?
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You might say, That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of in my entire life!
All this delinquent is going to do is take another joyride tomorrow and plow into someone else's mailbox.
• And you know, he might just do that.
• That is the risk and scandal of grace.
Also possible/your graceful choice/touch the boy at the deepest part of his soul.
Your interest/his welfare/future might be the one thing that will unlock potential that he has long since forgotten.
• Your action may lead to the transformation of his life.
• This might be the turning point for this young man.
• This is grace.....an absolutely undeserved, unfair gift.
• And this is so hard for us to comprehend.
• The most difficult spiritual truth for us to embrace.
• Justice is easier for us to understand than grace.
When we are incensed by the crimes of others, horrified by the evil that stalks our world we all want a God of justice.
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• After World War II, we heard the horror stories of the concentration camp survivors.
• We were sickened and demanded JUSTICE.
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• After watching peaceful civil rights demonstrations in the 60's broken up by water cannons and vicious police dogs
• We were ashamed - and demanded JUSTICE.
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• After/terrorist bombing/Oklahoma City, we viewed the carnage and the wreckage and we were terrified
• And demanded JUSTICE.
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• After seeing her weep crocodile tears for her kidnapped children and then learn that Susan Smith herself had drowned her two young boys
• We were enraged - and demanded JUSTICE.
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But if any of us were to die tonight, which would we want to prevail - God's justice -- or His grace?
• If God is truly a God of only perfect JUSTICE and not loving grace,
• Then nothing will protect us from His divine judgment.
If this were true/we would all be/a lot of trouble because as it says in the 3rd chapter of Romans,
• There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God....
• And the wages of sin....
• The just and fair thing that we all deserve....is DEATH.
• We demand a God of justice.
• But we ALL need a God of mercy and grace.
This brings us to one final basic truth that I want us to consider.
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4. ...Because of God' GRACE, our salvation is free.
We don't contribute anything to our redemption.
Even that first nudging of faith that lead's a person to God is His gracious gift to us.
• In John 6:44 Jesus says
• No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him...
• In fact the only thing we contribute to our salvation is our sin.
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As it says in Romans 3:24, we are ...justified FREELY by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
• God offers His gift of forgiveness to us absolutely free.
• It is not a trick-it is not a lure-it is a free gift.
• Romans 3:23 says, ...the FREE gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• If any person wants to be forgiven...
• To have an intimate relationship with God, they can.
• We can stand before Him, absolutely clean
• Knowing that our sins have been completely erased forever.
• We can spend eternity as residents of heaven never separated from His presence.
• And this free gift is available to anyone.
• The only requirement is to ask for it.
• if you do ask for this FREE gift, there are two things you should be aware of:
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1. Asking/God's free gift/forgiveness/ADMISSION OF GUILT.
A pastor was once speaking to a children's Sunday School class, and he asked the question, What must one do to be forgiven of sin? One little boy answered, Well, first of all, you have to sin.
An admission to guilt….;
• You are saying, I have sinned.
• I need Your forgiveness, God.
• In fact, the admission of guilt goes a step further.
• You are not just admitting that you have made some bad choices in the past.
• You are confessing, I am a sinner....I live in a state of sin separated from God's holiness. Also...
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2. Asking/God's free gift/forgiveness/admission of helplessness.
You are saying, There is nothing I can do to earn or deserve the mercy I am asking for.
• It is only God's goodness that makes this possible.
• There is no room for personal pride anywhere in the salvation process.
• When we come to God we admit that there is no chance that we can ever be able to do anything to deserve the gift that we are asking for.
Do you remember the words God gave Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9?
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.
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Invitation
We can never deserve God's gift of eternal life.
We can never make ourselves good enough for God's love.
Grace is grace precisely because, though wholly concerned with moral goodness, it does not at all depend on how moral we are.
You and I will never be able to do anything to deserve God's forgiving grace...but we can receive it.
All we have to do is ask.
God's grace is OLD....it is BIG....Praise the Lord, it is NOT FAIR...and this priceless gift we could never even dream to afford is FREE...
