AMAZING GRACE PLUS “WHAT A GOOD BOY AM I”
(AN ORIGINAL SERMON BY ED SKIDMORE) MAY 26, 2002)
TEXT: Mark 10:17 - 22
SCRIPTURE READING: Mark 10:17 - 22
INTRODUCTION:
Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said,
What a good boy am I!
You might wonder why I’m starting a sermon with a nursery rhyme. Well, depending on how you look at it, it could be kind of a “theological” nursery rhyme. In fact, it’s a kind of theology that’s being practiced in a lot of churches by a lot of people. It’s what I’m calling “Amazing Grace + ‘What a good boy am I.’”
A lot of Christians start out understanding that they are sinners, saved by grace. But as time goes by, and they start making progress in their Christian lives, they start thinking less about God’s grace and more about: “What a good boy am I!” Looking back on my own Christian life, I have to admit there have been times when I’ve had a mild case of the Little Jack Horner syndrome myself.
As a young 20-something graduate of Bible College I had a tendency to think that God must surely be lucky to have me as one of his servants. After all, I was talented and capable and had several churches looking me over for youth ministry positions. I had not yet lived through hard times or had to deal with difficult people or faced moral dilemmas so, as an untested young buck I saw myself in the best possible light. It took years of living, and a few failures in various arenas to realize that I wasn’t the prize I originally thought I was.
When I studied the book of Psalms I remembered noticing a difference between David’s early psalms written in his younger days when he seemed to have a very high opinion of himself (Psalm 17:1,
“Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer – it does not rise from deceitful lips.”) and his later psalms, written after his sin with Bathsheeba, when he begged for God’s mercy and had a decidedly different opinion of himself (Psalm 32:5, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.”)
The Bible shows us another young man who had the Little Jack Horner syndrome. Mark 10:17 – 22
When the rich young ruler appeared before Jesus with the question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus reminded him of the 10 commandments. At that moment, beaming with pride he said, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” I don’t think he was conceited; just convinced. I believe that he probably was a good boy. Chances are that he was a first-born, more compliant child who tended to do what ever he was told. No doubt, his mother was probably proud of him.
The rich young man came to Jesus saying What a good boy am I! He wanted to hear Jesus confirm, Indeed, what a good boy are you! Instead Jesus did him a big favor. He showed the young man his area of weakness and potential for sin. The boy must have come from a wealthy family, and unfortunately, not only did he have great wealth, his great wealth seemed to have a hold on him. In advising the rich Jewish Gen-X-er to give away his wealth to the poor he showed the young man that he stood desperately in need of God’s Amazing GRACE.
And that’s where all of us stand today. We are all in need of God’s amazing grace. When David White was here he often quoted from Brennan Manning’s book, Ragamuffin Gospel. I bought it at the Half Price book store a while back (for $4.98), but it sat in my briefcase for months. Finally I started reading it two weeks ago and finished it this week. Manning’s book had such an impact on me that it inspired me to preach on grace.
It occurs to me that the What a good boy am I kind of thinking causes us to fall into dangerous traps.
1. We waste our time trying to look “good” to others.
Manning wrote in his book, “Put bluntly; the American Church today accepts grace in theory but denies it in practice… Though lip service is paid to the gospel of grace, many Christians live as if only personal discipline and self-denial will mold the perfect me. The emphasis is on what I do rather than what God is doing. In this curious process God is the benign old spectator in the bleachers who cheers when I show up for morning quiet time…. Sooner or later we are confronted with the painful truth of our inadequacy and insufficiency… We discover our inability to add even a single inch to our spiritual stature.”
We need to come to the place where we really get it: God’s Amazing Grace plus NOTHING is all we need. That’s when we are freed from the bondage of trying to impress and please others. We can finally be ourselves; being genuine; not trying to hide our human foibles.
Many years ago I learned the lesson that people in church who make a point of showing off their own goodness and righteousness are the kind of people you have to be careful of. In the end, they can be the most dangerous people in church, often stabbing others, especially leaders, in the back.
I also learned the lesson that truly godly and righteous people don’t have to speak a word about their own righteousness because their consistent and joyful lives will shout out in their behalf.
2. We look down on others who are not so good.
When a religious person decides, “What a good boy am I” he is prone to look around at others and declare, “I am better than …” Jesus addressed that issue in his parable about the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:10-14) where the Pharisee had the audacity to thank God that he was better than everyone he could see around himself. Meanwhile the Publican was beating his breast and pleading with God. “Be merciful to me, the sinner!” Jesus reminded us that the humble Publican was the one who went home justified that day.
Brennan Manning boldly asserts that in all actuality we are all “ragamuffins” in comparison to God’s perfection. That was the term he settled on. Others may prefer “riff- raff” low-lifes, trailer-trash, dweebs, nerds, loosers, choose the term of derision you prefer.
Going back to our theological nursery rhyme, it turns out that Little Jack Horner was anything but a good boy. You see, the old rhymes tended to be based on actual events.
Tradition has it that in the 1530’s a man named Jack Horner was steward to Richard Whiting, the last of the Abbots of Glastonbury. It is said that the Abbot sent Jack Horner to King Henry VIII with a Christmas gift --- a pie in which were hidden the title deeds to twelve manorial estates. (Hiding objects in pies was a common practice in those days. One recipe even called for blackbirds…)
On his way to the king, Jack popped open the pie and stole the deed to the Manor of Mells, a real “plum” of an estate. To this day, the Horner family resides there… But his descendants claim the rhyme is a slander.
Once we finally realize that we fit in on the side of the ragamuffins we are freed from the temptation to evaluate others around ourselves and to make improper comparisons designed to elevate self by demeaning everyone else. The ragamuffin gospel not only makes grace to shine brightly, but it makes it clear that everyone is eligible for that same grace.
3. We lose the joy of our salvation.
We are told that the rich young man went away sad. But the truth is that he didn’t have to leave at all. Mark’s version of the account says that Jesus looked on him and loved him. I also believe that his invitation to the boy to give away his wealth and come follow Jesus was legitimate. Jesus was actually inviting the boy to become one of his men. Oh what a difference that would have made! Not only did the boy not have to walk away sad, he didn’t have to walk away at all.
If the boy had given up his attempt to prove “what a good boy am I” and had followed Jesus as a disciple he would have discovered the happy truth that real joy comes from receiving the grace that comes from the gift that only Jesus can give us. On the cross, Jesus took away our sin, giving us his righteousness in its place. His goodness was imputed into our account making us look sinless in the eyes of God. By means of amazing grace apart from our works, God took away the need to figure out a way, from human effort, to be able to finally say, “What a good boy am I.”
Now we can truthfully and joyfully say, “I’m just a ragamuffin, like everyone else, gloriously saved by amazing grace through the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. But because God sees me through the lens of his Son’s righteousness he is able to say of me, as he has already said of his Son, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” That beats, “What a good boy am I” any day.
CONCLUSION:
It was good that I was reading the Ragamuffin Gospel because I had a tremendous opportunity recently to testify of God’s grace in a chance encounter.
Coming out of a fast-food restaurant I noticed a young girl sitting on the curb who looked up at me and asked politely, “Sir, I don’t mean to disturb you, but I’m hungry and broke. Could you help me with a dollar so I could get a taco or something to eat?
I stopped, pulled out my wallet and said, “A buck won’t go very far. Here’s two.”
She smiled and said, “ Thank you sir. And because of your kind deed may you have good karma come from this. You do believe in karma don’t you?”
I responded. “I know a lot about karma. I’ve been to India several times and I’ve discovered that karma can be cruel. It tends to pay you back for some rotton thing you’ve done in a past life that you can’t even remember ever doing.
But I know something better than karma. What’s better is grace. While karma pays you back for some deed you’ve done, grace gives you something you need but will never deserve through human deeds. Grace comes from God through the finished work of Christ.
While you may wish me good karma, my wish for you is for God’s grace. That’s much better than anything karma will ever do for you.
Tears came to her eyes, and she shook my hand and said, I want to think about what you said. I have a Bible and now I want to read it.
Folks, we’re all ragamuffins. That’s the best we’ll ever do. And that is why God provided amazing grace. And it takes a ragamuffin to understand the value of that grace. He has quit trying to find a way to say, “What a good boy am I” and simply basks in the beauty and joy of the grace freely given through the finished work of Christ. Have you discovered that amazing grace?
