GRACEOLOGY
Luke 15:11-32
March 10, 2019
In 1980, the movie Superman 2 came out. If you remember way back, Christopher Reeve was Superman.
Superman picked up where the first one left off. Lois Lane has discovered Superman is really Clark Kent and they are in love. But there is a small problem. Clark Kent is from Krypton, and in order to start his relationship with Lois Lane, Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers.
Superman must be purged of his superpower, to live as a mortal and despite the pleas of the spirit of his long-lost mother, he has his super-powers removed. But at the very same time, he is unaware that 3 criminals from Krypton have come to planet earth to destroy the planet as they are aided by the notorious Lex Luthor.
Superman was warned he can never ever get his powers back. Never. Never. Never. Still, he chooses to relinquish his powers and become just ordinary Clark Kent. More than ever, the world needs Superman, but it's too late!
A dejected Clark Kent hikes through a raging blizzard back to Superman's former fortress of solitude. It’s now in ruins. As Clark Kent walks through the rubble, he cries out, "Father, I have failed." The spirit of his father appears for one last time and lo and behold there is a green crystal on the ground, and this transforms Clark back into Superman.
He has miraculously regained his superpowers and he is back. Of course, you know how the story goes. Superman defeats the evil criminals from Krypton.
The writers of this film put themselves in a bit of a bind: They established a rule that if Superman surrenders his super powers he can never get them back. Then, he surrendered his super powers. If they stuck to the rule, then Superman could not have been the hero in the end. But - - the writers changed the rules in the middle of the story in order to get Superman off the hook.
We’re going to use this Superman story as a springboard for today. We’re starting a new series on Grace.
I’m calling it GRACEology. There’s really no such word, but if we were to do a study on the doctrine of Grace, then it very well could be called Graceology.
Over the next several weeks we’re going to look at different Bible stories which help us to see grace at work, and along the way, come to have a better understanding of what grace is. My hope is that this will help us to draw closer to God as we gain a better understanding of what Jesus did for us when he came into this world and ultimately died for us.
In one sense, the Old Testament teaches a way of righteousness we can never achieve. In the book of Micah, we read - -
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you . . .
. . . but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8
This is what the Lord requires of us. That’s pretty simple. We are to do justice. That means practice being just and fair, be impartial, never play favorites. We are to love kindness. That means practice kindness, be kind, be compassionate, not just to whom you choose, but to all people. Then we must walk humbly before our God. In simple terms, we practice the fact that God is God and we are not.
It’s all simple . . . right? NOPE!! How do we determine if we measure up to those lofty standards by God. Have you messed any of that up? Are you always just, always fair? Are you always kind and compassionate? Do you practice humility?
OK, this is not so simple, is it? None of us are.
Paul reminded us of that in Romans - -
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23
And so the Old Testament law puts us in a difficult position: it shows us the way to achieve righteousness, and it warns of dire consequences for those who don't measure up ... but none of us measure up.
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. There is none righteous, no not one. – Romans 3:10
So what did God do?
In a sense He did what the writers of Superman did, but God did it first. We didn’t know it, we didn’t get it back then, but in that same sense, God changed the rules in the middle of the story.
God understood that on our own we can never be good enough. We can never do enough good deeds or good works to get into heaven. That would take away faith and leave us with a works righteousness. The only way to gain salvation would be to earn it. And that doesn’t fly with God. Our salvation, Paul tells us - comes
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9
To show this a little more, I want to remind you of a story in the book of Luke. We call it the Story of the Prodigal Son. Let's take a look at it.
I’m going to recap the story and share the scripture of how it ends. There was a father who had 2 sons, and the younger son went to the father and asked for his inheritance. The boy would have received 1/3 of what the father had.
He took all that the father gave him and went on a huge vacation. He went to some distant land that sounded fun. He partied and lived the good life - until he had nothing left. He was out of cash. There was nowhere to turn. He couldn’t text his father, no email, no snapchat, to facebook, nothing . . .
He was out in the cold! Then he came to his senses and realized his father’s servants had leftovers, and here he was a Jewish kid, eating with the pigs. He worked up the courage to go home and confess to his father that he was not worthy to be his son. Just hire me as a servant and I’ll be thrilled. Let’s pick up the story from Luke 15 –
20 And he arose and came to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 But the father said to his servants,
‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. – Luke 15
The father did what no good middle eastern man would do . . . he ran after his son. Wealthy and older middle eastern men don’t pick up their robes and run. That wasn’t dignified. The dad ran out after his son, and literally “fell on his neck” as he embraced and welcomed him home, gave him a robe, sandals, the family ring, had a huge BBQ . . . and they began a huge celebration. His son who he thought was dead - - was home. It’s time to have a party!!
But the rule in life works differently doesn’t it? You wanted your inheritance. Then you lost it, and now you want me to let you back. Don’t you know how badly you’ve embarrassed me?
You’ve committed a crime? You’ve embarrassed the family.
You’re a drug addicted? You’re an alcoholic? You lost your job again? You can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?
We can come up with lots of reasons to say no to someone.
The father in the story changed the rules. Instead of casting his son away, he brought him back in and accepted him as his son once again.
This is what grace is: God rewrites the story so that you receive what you don’t deserve. That’s grace! Let me say it again - -
Grace means you receive what you don’t deserve!!
The son didn’t deserve another chance to be the father’s son, but the father gladly welcomed him back into the family.
It’s the same in the Superman movie. Superman didn’t deserve another chance. He said no to his super powers, but he received what he didn’t deserve.
Some people hear this and say, "Can it really be? It sounds too good. Will God really forgive me? Will God really wipe away the past? Will He really give me a fresh start, and a new life? Is it really possible?"
Other people say, "That's irresponsible religion. You can't just offer people forgiveness, grace and mercy ... they'll take advantage of it. Religion should be about reaping what you sow."
I read an article written by Terry Savage from the Chicago Sun Times. She was driving in an upscale neighborhood of Chicago with her brother and his fiancé. They have a rule in their house, when they see a lemonade stand, they stop and buy lemonade. That’s nice.
So, they stopped and her brother got out of the car and asked what they had.
The 3 girls said, "We have regular lemonade, raspberry lemonade, and chocolate bars.”
He asked how much for them - - - They responded “They’re all free.”
They wanted to help, and her brother repeated his statement that he wanted to pay, and the girls said NO! They insisted it was all free.
So, Terry, who has said in other articles, never yell at a child . . . stuck her head out of the car and proceeded to explain the laws of economics to them. She was satisfied with her explanation and sat back gloating.
Her brother ordered the raspberry lemonade and asked “now how much do I owe you?” The girls were undeterred - - “nothing, it’s free.”
Savage began to act like her last name . . . She ranted saying - - “America is getting it all wrong when it comes to government, and taxes, and policy” and that the “children of America” now “think there’s a free lunch waiting,” and now “our country has larger problems ahead.”
She could not comprehend that someone wanted to give something away for free. No strings attached. She does not believe this is the American way. Indeed, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Another writer from the Huffington Post picked up on this article and mocked her, writing -
Indeed, that these three children might grow up willing to give someone a lemonade is just terrible! The world is ruined! It makes me wonder what I was thinking, all those times I’ve used my own jumper cables to help people get their car started, for free. I could have been earning a living, I guess!
Any business person can tell you that she's correct. There's no such thing as free lemonade in the world of economics. It's a simple matter of accounting, so she has a point, albeit a cranky one.
The problem is that we try to carry this same method of accounting into our religious life. There are many who believe that our acceptance with God is determined by a set of scales - -
Our good deeds are weighed against our bad deeds, and to whichever side the scale tips, that's the side where we spend eternity.
That's not how it works ...and it's a good thing for us. Honestly, I don’t know who would find eternity with God if that was the way it worked. We have so many thoughts, so many things we do which are not good. And on a typical day, how many good deeds do we do. And are some good deeds better than others, and how do we really know if we’re on the positive side. That all leads to a works righteousness, an earning of our salvation.
In the end of the story of the prodigal son, the older son comes up and wonders what’s all the commotion about?
He finds out that his brother is home and there’s a huge party, he’s been fully welcomed back as a son. Well, the older brother doesn’t like the grace given to the younger brother. He doesn’t agree with the economics either.
The older brother was the legalist, he did everything the father asked him to do, but it was done out of obligation, not out of love. The older brother refused to go to the party, even after the father pled with him to go in.
The older brother represents what we might call "ungrace" - - - kind of a “you get what you deserve.” If you mess up, you deserve to pay the price, there are no second chances in his world. He represents the idea of religion based on the principles of accounting, that you should get what you deserve.
The older brother thinks he has a handle on everything. But he’s wrong! Isaiah reminds us of that truth as he spoke about the suffering Christ, writing - -
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. – Isaiah 53:6
God really needs a lesson in economics, since in that one statement He says, we’ve all strayed, none of us are righteous. Then in the same breath, it’s as if God says, “OK, I’ve get it, so I’m going to send my Son, and have your sinfulness laid on Him and He’ll suffer for you!”
That does not make sense either, not in Terry Savage’s world. But that’s who our God is. He has this amazing, powerful, almost reckless love for us, so He changes the story.
He offers redemption - - -
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – Ephesians 2:8
The truth is, in one way or another, we’re all prodigals. At one time or another, we’ve all left our father and wandered off.
Some of you are still there, and I want you to know that you can come home. And here's what I want you to remember about grace. Many of you think that when you come back to God, He'll have the attitude of the older brother - - "Well, look who decided to show up. I can't believe you have the nerve to show your face around here. Do you realize how much pain you’ve caused your father? You don't deserve to be here. I'm ashamed to know you."
But I want you to know this is not what the Father says when you come back to Him. When you come back home to God, do you know what happens?
While you're still a long way off, your Father sees you and is filled with love and compassion. He knows what you've done. He knows how bad you’ve been - and still he's filled with compassion for you. When He sees you - - He runs to you, He grabs you around the neck, almost knocking you down. He kisses you!
As you stand before Him, shocked and the reception . . . He offers you His best robe for you to wear. He gives you the family ring! Shoes to wear! And a huge feast, worthy of an honored son or king.
Do you deserve it? Absolutely not. But that's what grace is. God has given you what you don't deserve.
