November 11, 2012
Grace - Part 1
Have you ever been stuck? Not just stuck for an answer, but really, really stuck. Maybe your vehicle is stuck. The people in this car tried to cross the border from Mexico to the U.S. illegally and didn’t quite make it.
Maybe you went off the road and you’re stuck in the mud or snow. You do know snow season is coming. Maybe you got in trouble . . . and now your stuck and you need someone to get you out or just help you in your time of need.
Maybe you were literally stuck. You got into something and couldn’t get out. Has that ever happened to you? Actually, most of us wouldn’t want to admit it.
Do you remember just two years ago when 33 Chilean miners were stuck 2,300 feet below ground in the mine they were working in? It took 69 days before they were able to be rescued. They survived on just a small amount of food. Yet, their spirits were good, even though they lost an average of 18 pounds per man. They even had a miner who served as their pastor. They had a daily Bible study. And I can imagine attendance was probably pretty good.
When we’re stuck like that, do you know what? Nobody responds with the answer, “I can handle this myself. Just give me time and I’ll get out of here. I’m just a day or two away and I’ll make it. Don’t worry, it’s not a problem.” Nobody tried to save themselves. They needed help from above. They needed someone from up there to come into their world to pull them out.
Maybe you’ve reached that conclusion, too. It’s not that this world is so bad, it’s just that we’ve come to the realization that we weren’t made for this world. Even though we have great moments of victory and celebration, this world is still filled with a great deal of darkness. We can do everything humanly possible to make our world better. We can buy and accumulate things, we can become bigger, stronger, faster, go on more diets, have plastic surgery, become more educated, get better jobs, bigger homes . . . and we weren’t meant to live in a world filled with despair, depression, death and decay. So, how do we get out of it?
God answers us with a simple word . . . Grace. We use that word quite a bit, don’t we? We talk as though we really know what grace means.
The bank gives us a grace period. People can fall from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe a dinner host as gracious. We proclaim a wonderful dancer is graceful. We use the word to name our daughters, and churches and we even ask to say grace before a meal. One of the most famous of all hymns is called Amazing Grace. But, really, how much of grace do we really understand? Lucado suggests, we have settled for a ‘wimpy grace.’ A grace which fits nicely in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign and never causes trouble or demands a response. After all, he concludes, when asked if you believe in grace? Who could say no?
So, when does grace actually appear in the Bible? Most people might say it was the apostle Paul, after all, nobody wrote about grace more than he did. But that’s not correct. You may say Jesus, He lived the grace-filled life; but it wasn’t Him. King David relied on God’s grace, but he wasn’t the first one. Okay, so when do we first hear about grace?
You may not be surprised, but grace occurs in the book of beginnings, in Genesis 6:8. We read, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Some versions of the Bible, use the word favor instead of grace. It’s interesting that the first time grace is used, is also when Noah’s name is first introduced to us. When we look at the verses right before this, we see they are not flattering words. They are words which brought sorrow to the heart of God.
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. – Genesis 6:5
Do you hear the harshness, can you feel the power and force of these words. There was great wickedness, every intent was only evil continually. This was real; and we know it’s real because in modern times we’ve read or even experienced the horror of terrible human depravity and wickedness. Places like concentration camps, Rwanda, Cambodian killing fields, terrorism. We realize it is possible that society can sink to the point where a society can sink so low that every thought is about evil, continually.
It happened in the days of Noah. It seemed to happen so quickly. After all, in Genesis 1, God created the world, and we hear it over and over again, that God created, and God said, “it is good.” And in the end, when God created man and woman in His own image, God said, “it is very good.” It was His best creation. God told His creation to go and play and live and enjoy the world they lived in. The lion and the lamb played together, there were no funerals, the skunk didn’t stink, the porcupine could sit on your lap . . . oh it was a great world that God created. All was perfect. There weren’t even shoes, because there were no thorns. There were no clothes, because there was nothing to hide. God would even take a walk with them in the cool of the night. All was great!! How can you mess this up?!
But into the night, came that slithering serpent we call satan. He looked at Adam and Eve and proclaimed to them, Has God indeed said, “you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1) Do you notice that this was not an outlandish question. He was not blasting that there is no God, he simply planted a seed of distrust in her heart. And isn’t that all it takes? What is God is really holding out on you? What if there’s really something better? Eve grew distrustful of God. So, Eve thought her plan would be better than God’s plan. So, she moved away from God and found that tree. Suddenly, satan invited all of his friends to the garden party. Soon, there was fear, there was anger, there was bitterness, there was pride; and every thing you can imagine.
Paradise became chaos. Their first born killed their second born. One wife wasn’t good enough. He had to have more. Blood was splattered all over their family tree. If we really looked at their family tree, we would hope that we weren’t related to them. By the time we reach Genesis 6, they had descended in 7 generations of hard heartedness.
When God saw what happened, He had enough. Listen to what God said, as we continue in Genesis 6:6-7 ~ 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
While we can’t see into the heart of one another, God can, and God had enough. He decided it would be best to call it a day. Nobody wanted to draw near to God, nobody was preaching about the need to turn back to God, nobody was longing for the good old days in the garden. Why should they, they were having too much fun with evil.
And then there was Noah. Some obscure guy we don’t know about comes to the forefront of the Bible. A name which is associated with destruction and redemption . . . all in one. God seemed to be going on about how bad things were, then it’s like He stopped and said, BUT, Noah! Aaah, Noah, He’s a good guy! There’s really still one out there who is trying to do good, who has a good heart! Yow-za!!
It’s interesting, we just don’t know what Noah did to receive this grace from God. Wouldn’t it be great if Noah or even God said, “let me tell all of you what Noah did, so you can do as he did.” We don’t know if he was kind, compassionate, a preacher, a missionary, or overly generous. Did he pray all the time? Did he fast? Did he pray fast?
We don’t know what Noah did to find grace. We do know that he built a really big boat, and saved the animals and saved humanity. He became a man of God whose faith is recorded in the book of Hebrew. Do you know why he is named Noah? It’s because we don’t NO-AH think about him.
What we do know, is he trusted God. So, when God dropped down a rescue capsule for Noah, he climbed in. Now, it’s interesting that when we hear about grace for the first time, there are no instructions on how we are to obtain it. It’s not only interesting, it’s frustrating, because most of us want that how to book. How to obtain grace in 12 easy lessons. Or you can buy grace in only 4 easy payments of $29.99, and if you call in the next 10 minutes, we’ll throw in an apple corer and reduce it 3 easy payments.
Maybe this is more of an appropriate announcement on our first Sunday of looking at grace.
Grace is not up to the one who receives it, but grace is up to the one who gives it. Maybe that’s part of what we miss.
The big message of grace is not what we do, but what God does. Grace doesn’t depend upon our accomplishments, or the accomplishments of the Noah’s. Because God knew we would just try to duplicate the works of Noah or others who we believe have received grace, so that by our works we would receive this gift.
Maybe the reason Noah emerges, is that the focus wouldn’t be on Noah, but would be on God. Noah found grace. Noah didn’t find a reward or recognition for what he did. Noah didn’t find an ability within himself, or the capacity to reach God. Instead he found a God who would find him. Grace is found in a God who reaches down and extends His hand into a sinful world. Noah found grace, because God found Noah.
Please, please understand this one point, if any points ~ Noah did not find grace because he built an ark, or because he corralled the animals 2 by 2. No way! Noah didn’t find grace because he worked, Noah found grace because God did.
And if you’ve ever become weary form working your way to God, then, that’s good news. Could you use this kind of grace. Could you use the kind of grace that doesn’t depend on goodness of the receiver, but on the goodness of the giver?
Could you use the kind of grace that doesn’t depend upon the perfection of the person, but on the faithfulness of God? Could you use the kind of grace that says, no matter how dark the world gets, wherever God finds a flicker of faith, He responds with a gift of grace.
I think we all could. I think we’d all agree, this world is not paradise. The world we read about in Genesis 1, is not the world we find ourselves in. Instead we find ourselves in a world filled with war, anger, bitterness, hunger, disease and death. And no matter how many times we paint the walls of the building, how many times we move the furniture around or buy a new toy, the world just doesn’t seem right. We know there’s a better world than this one. However, everyone tells us, if you dig you’ll get out. The message comes in different ways, dig, be better, behave, be good, be right. . . be . . . be . . . be. Be a killer be.
And in the midst of all this, comes this message of grace from God. Be still, be quiet, believe.
Is it possibly that simple? For the Chilean miners it was that simple. The only instructions they were given was ~ step into the capsule and you will be pulled out. They took that step of faith, and something amazing and wonderful happened.
I believe God gives us the same invitation. Sometimes that invitation falls on deaf ears, because we’re too stuck on controlling our world; sometimes that invitation falls on hungry ears, because we’re weary, and we’re ready.
So, our first point in our discussion on grace is this ~ ~ listen closely ~ ~
God is taking responsibility for pulling us out and something wonderful and powerful happens when we allow God to take over.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at grace from all angles. We’re going to look at various questions — like
Can I do whatever I want, and God is just going to forgive me? Well, somebody has to pay for our sins. And I’ll make sure you know who it was.
You don’t know all the things I’ve done in my life. You don’t know how hard my heart has been, you don’t know all the bad things I’ve said and done. Can God possibly have grace for me? If that’s your question, then you’re in the right place. You see, God wants to give you what He gave to us through Jesus Christ . . .
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. – John 1:16 (NKJV)
Could you use grace upon grace? It’s a gift from God to you.
