Saved By Grace. Sunday 30th Of March 2003 St Andrews Church
Written By Shane J.Hodge
Disciple of Christ.
Scriptures: Ephesians 2.1-10
Numbers 21. 4-9
John 3. 14-21
For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves it is a gift from God, not by works so that no one can boast. For we are Gods workmanship created is Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
It is by Grace that we are saved?
Sounded like an easy sermon to write.So I studied, Bert even helped he gave me a great book to read, gee I thought, this is going to be easy, and then I opened the book..And then I started to read..And then the subject came to light…and then ..I Thought….This will be difficult.
Why? Because the more I read the more I learnt and the more I became troubled.
Grace in its Godly format is such a wonderful thing, I mean we can do anything and God will forgive us, no questions asked
So does that mean we can sin over and over again and we will be forgiven, Paul stated in Romans “That when sin increased grace increased more and more”.
Wow we might say, it’s a license to be naughty enjoy all the things in life we are told not to as Christians because we will be forgiven by Gods grace anyway. In fact some Christians throughout time have followed this rule, there is a story of a group of monks in the third century who had devoted all there lives to being strict in there living codes, but upon the eve of being arrested and facing death they would go on a rampage of drunkedness, sex and other things as they believed that gods grace would forgive them so what would one night of sinning matter.
I mean grace abuse is a real temptation, if it’s a matter of not paying a price for misgivings who are we to care, so guys you can go out and get drunk and come home late, ladies you can shop till you drop without giving any care to bills at the end of the month, kids can make a mess of the house invite there friends over and create virtual havoc, its all Ok because the more we do it the more God will love us, well according the Romans you would think that would be the case..Or is it?
Paul knew that when he wrote this passage that some would take it as a license to sin, so it’s cancelled out in Romans Chapter 6 , what should we say then? Shall we go on sinning so our grace may forever increase? And what is his answer , NO WAY.
Sorry About that folks, I must admit the thought of quoting Romans to MasterCard, as an excuse for not paying was appealing.
So knowing that we cannot sin and be excused for it, what is that God really wants us to know about Grace?
I feel that we should go back to Ephesians , when it states that we are Gods Workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. And is from this statement that I feel we can safely say that is if is godly to live by grace then it is most likely human to live in Ungrace. We are far to ready to let Ungrace rule our lives, yes we come here on Sundays and state and act the opposite but in reality our daily lives may be far from Gods Grace. To be blunt Christians are not doing a very good job of dispensing grace to the world.
But,Lets look at Jesus, he did not let any institution interfere with his love for any individual, Jewish racial and religious policies forbid him to speak with a Samaritan women let alone one that was a prostitute and she even became a missionary, his disciples included a tax collector who was viewed as a traitor by the Jews, a zealot who is those days were basically hired killers, fisherman who were famous for loving wine women and song, he loved John the Baptist while others thought he was a bit off the edge, he had dinner with a leper, a roman soldier, for Jesus the person was more important than any category or label.
Could you imagine if we had a sign out the front of this Church in big neon lights, and visitors labels to match, that said welcome to all Murderes, Prostitutes, AIDS Patients, Robbers, Thieves, Rapists and general crazies…how many of us would be hanging around for a cup of tea and a chat after the service? The bible shows that god has a marked preference for “general crazies” in Jesus own words, “ There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting, than over ninety nine righteous people who do not need to repent” Ah Yes Grace is certainly not an easy thing for us mere mortals.
Have you had an argument with your partner lately, and upon deciding to apply forgiveness started your speech with “ And let me tell you this before I say sorry” have you been upset by your children and told them “to go to bed and you’ll discuss it in the morning”
Have you had a disagreement with a friend, and told everybody else how you felt but not bothered to look the other person in the eye? Have you harbored in your heart, anger and pain for those that have done you wrong? Forgetting that Grace in its wonderful purest godly form is unconditional.
Ungrace can be so damaging, I read a story about a husband and wife who one night had a fight about all things, “ Toothpaste” it appears that the wife had forgotten to buy it in her weekly shopping outing, well the husband got so outraged he went out to his tool shed grabbed his hammer and nails and proceeded to create a dividing wall in the house and for 35 years the husband and wife lived in separate parts of the house created by a “Toothpaste” problem. When the husband died, his wife gracefully said that for 35 years she laid awake every night in her bed waiting for her husband to lay by her side,… to “say he was sorry”, then ungracefully ended the sentence with “ because I knew it was his fault”
For we are Gods workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
In one of his last acts before his death, Jesus forgave a thief hanging on another cross, knowing full well that the thief was converting out of fear, he said to Jesus, “ Remember me, and Jesus answered “ Today you will be with me in paradise”
The Apostle Paul was saved by Gods grace, and was preaching BOLDLY the word of God,yet three days prior as Saul, he was persecuting and Hunting down the Jewish people.
Neither the Thief nor Paul was asked to study the bible, attend theological college or make amends to all that they had wronged, they were not held in a state of “ Standby” whilst people considered there worthiness God forgave them instantly.
God gave us the gift of Evangelism so he could open the door for people to come into his grace, but sometimes we Christians make it so difficult for people to feel that they qualify to open the door, to feel his grace.
A prostitute who had been involved in acts that were terrible beyond belief and when she looked for help to get her out of her situation,was asked why she didn’t go to a church to seek help, she replied “ Church” why would I go there I was already feeling terrible about myself, they would just make me feel worse”!
There is a great website, Testimony.org, it has hundreds of Testimonies from people that have been shown Gods grace and then made tremendous impacts on the world, but sadly, many of these testimonies list the ungrace and actions of other People, people that would not allow them not to rise above the mess they were in, the troubles they had.
Church, we a responsibility to God to allow people to come and feel his grace, we have a responsibility to god to show people what grace is all about, we have a responsibility to God to demonstrate to people the power of gods grace, we have a responsibility to do good works…but do we…..are we scared to….do we do more harm than good…do we not practice what we preach…do we turn away from the sinner and send emails about the sin.
I like many others have horror stories about Christians and the Church lack of grace, I’ve had people tell me I wouldn’t go to heaven with my family unless I was a Christian, my illness or my family illness was gods wrath for my sin, I have sat in the congregation and been told that you show god how much you love him by the amount of money you give today, I have walked away from a church service or the cup of tea afterwards and felt so guilty about my life that I never wanted to go back Are you listening? We have a responsibility to show grace to demonstrate it, not to be bible bashing, you sinner you, you have to deserve the right to be here Christians.
By Gods grace we are forgiven not by the wants, desires or political process of an individual or building. Our actions will speak much louder than our words. Its AUTOMATIC, IT has NO Price Tag,It has NO Qualifyer.It is a FREE Gift from God, it is not a privilage from Man.
I was reminded of this fact a few weeks ago, I was arriving at the Hard Rock Café, a place where I “De-stress” sometimes, as I walked a friend of mine came up and told me that some people were arriving who I might not wish to see. Who were these three people? They were former partners of mine, three men that I loved yet who because of a bad business deal we all went through months of torture, physical, mental, legal it was without doubt one of the worst times of my life, I was sick it was terrible and every time somebody bought the subject up, I would claim grace on one hand but swear grievous bodily harm should I ever see them again on the other.
I decided to stay, all of my other friends were worried what I might do, well time past and the three musketeers walked in, HRC went a little quiet, so what did I do? I went over to them one by one, hugged them and whispered in there ears “ By Gods Grace We are Forgiven”
But to prove I’m not perfect, a week later I was reminded by a friend of my graceful act when I started to complain about a guy then never buys a beer but always drinks everybody else’s. A reminder about my actions.
Grace can be driven by a reminder, in Numbers 21 verse 8 it states, The Lord said to Moses, ‘ Make a Snake and put it on a pole anyone who is bitten can look at it and live” I feel God was telling the people that the snake was Ungraceful Attitudes and the Bronze snake was the reminder, in my case my friend at HRC was my bronze snake. So what can be your reminder your bronze snake, what can make you live in grace and not pass judgment, humiliate, upset.
It’s a pretty simple formula, Grace = Love and Love is the reminder.
In John 3 it states, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
If you want a guide to life a grace filled life just think love, because that is what God thinks about everything we do, no matter what he loves us, he gave us his most precious gift to prove it.
When you are struggling with what to say, or what to do just think LOVE, it will control your spite,anger,hatred and most importantly your never forgetting memory, think about it, when you first met your true love who you are with now, they could do anything and you would put up with it, the power of love made up for all there little nasty habits, they could wear there shoes inside, clean the golf clubs on the carpet, they could burp pick there nose and you would say Gee aren’t they Great.…what about now?
And think about that sixteen year old who has turned up with fifty friends eaten all the food in the fridge,drank all the beer had the music so loud the police didn’t have to be called they heard it from the station..think about the moment you first held them in your arms all bloody and wrinkled, think of the love you had for them then.
In both cases it’s an attitude of loving the Individual not the Problem, loving the sinner hating the sin.
A little girl was born to a family, she grew up to be extremely beautiful and like most girls wanted to go out with her friends and have fun, one day her parents tried to stop her, and maybe from anger or embarrassment, the family had a huge fight, the girl ended the conversation with “ I Hate You” and that night she ran away.
Days later she was walking around the “Big City” where she met a man who she thought was kind, he soon showed her a place where she could live and be happy, but this happiness had a price, soon this beautiful young girl was being sold to many old men, and when she complained she was introduced to something to calm her down, to make her feel good, Heroin. Years passed and the drugs had there effect and the girl was no longer young, nobody wanted her like before so she was out on the street, still selling her body, using more and more drugs until she looked so bad nobody wanted her. Then one day she made a choice, she took the money she had left and bough a bus ticket and made a phone call. She called her mom and dad, but sadly they weren’t home, but she left a message that she was coming home and she got on the bus.
All the way home, she was worrying, what if they didn’t get my message, what if they wont forgive me, what if nobody is there to meet me. The bus rolled into the station and she was amazed at what she saw out the window, there was over 200 people wearing party hats, and waving balloons and standing at the front of the crowd was her mother and father. She climbed off the bus, walked to her father and was about to say, I’m sorry and go into a story of how wrong she had been and how stupid, but her father placed his hands over her lips, kissed her cheek and told her not to waste time as there was party going on. If it was your child? Would you kiss her cheek First? Or Last? With God, there is always a Party with Hats in Heaven.Unconditional Grace.
Yes God will love us no matter what we do or say, but he will smile and rejoice if we do the same.
What is holding us back? Do you know somebody that is struggling with shame or guilt… are you, is there a struggle with Addictions like Drinking, or Pornography, maybe gambling, perhaps an affair or the thought of one. Have you made a mistake in the past that no human will ever let you forget.
Do you want that feeling gone, do you want to break away from the bondage of guilt and shame..Well good news is here, No need to seek permission, no need to humble yourself, no need for explanations or paying of penance
just ask god..right now..for his grace..and it will be so.
Church you may be asking why I am so passionate about this subject of Grace. I and you, and you have been subject to moments of UNGRACE, we have felt it sadness, we have endured the pain it can cause not one of us is here is immune. But the wonderfull thing is that Unconditional Godly grace can be so overwhelming that it will rewrite any pain of Ungrace.
I stand here preaching before you today, A man that only a short while ago was so far in his mind from Gods Grace, a man that truly believed that he would never receive this Amasing Grace…But I did…And so can you..No Matter what.
Let me close with what I feel is a great description of Grace. It comes from the movie Ironweed, which starred Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, in this scene the two of them come across an old Eskimo women lying in the snow, most likely drunk. The two debate what they should do with her.
Is she a drunk or a bum asks Nicholson.
Just a Bum, been one all her life replies Streep.
And Before that? Asks Nicholson
She was a Whore in Alaska replied Streep
She hasn’t been a whore all her life. What was she Before That, asks Nicholson
I dunno. Just a little Kid I guess. Streep states.
Well a little kids something, its not a bum and its not a whore,its something lets take her home.
The two were seeing the Eskimo women through the lens of grace.Where society saw only a bum and a whore grace saw a little kid, a person made in the image of God no matter how defaced that image had become.
Christianity has the principle of Hate the sin but love the sinner, which is more easily preached than practiced. If Christians could simply recover that practice modeled so brilliantly by Jesus, we would go a long way towards fulfilling our calling as dispensers of Gods Grace.
Amen.
Lets Pray.
