Grace Abounds
Sermon text for August 30, 2009:
Romans 3:22
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Lakewood, Colorado
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” With these words, the Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Church at Rome. Grace is so important in Romans that some call it the gospel of grace. “Grace to you …” says Paul. And with these words he offers something that he believes is more than just a word; it is a gift that is real and tangible. For him grace can never be theoretical and it is our job to understand grace as the very real gift of God to all who believe.
2009 is the 500th birthday of John Calvin who reclaimed the word and experience of grace for the Church. The medieval Catholic Church had all but forgotten about grace, opting instead for a “works righteousness” theology, which is the idea of paying for God’s love by giving money or doing good deeds. But Paul and Calvin believed that God’s love comes to believers, simply because God wants to love us. It is totally independent of anything that we might do. And that is grace!
A few years ago a brilliant young American woman opted to go to work in one of the black townships in South Africa after she graduated from college. She was one of those bright and shining stars who was so talented that she had myriad options available to her as she finished her undergraduate education. He parents were understandably very proud. But they were also very concerned when she announced she was going to work in South Africa. It was so far from home and once there, their daughter would be beyond their help.
One day the parents’ worst nightmares became reality. A group of young men who lived in the township where their daughter worked got drunk and murdered her. Imagine the anger or even the hatred that the parents must have felt. When the young men went on trial the parents were in the courtroom and surprised everyone by testifying for the defense. Their daughter’s life, they said was all about peace and love and she would not want her murderers to die for their crimes. She would not even want them to remain in prison for the rest of their lives.
That is grace. Totally unexpected, unimaginable, unwarranted good will.
A few years ago a man took over a one room schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, and ultimately killed five Amish children. Coming on the heels of Columbine, all of America was up in arms. People uniformly called for harsh penalties for the perpetrator of this horrible crime. He did not deserve to live. But to everyone’s surprise the Amish parents announced that they had already forgiven the man who so coldly murdered their children.
That’s grace! Totally unexpected, unimaginable, unwarranted good will.
Sometimes grace comes from the most unexpected places, and even from people whom we judge to be evil. Until President Clinton brought reporters Una Lee and Laura Ling home from North Korea no one would have believed that grace could come from the likes of North Korean Leader Kim Il Jong, a man maligned as a comic dictator and a murderer of his own people. It is a script that only God could write and it matters not at all if Mr. Jong received something in return for granting amnesty. The American women who were afraid they might never see their families again were granted amnesty and set free through no act of their own.
That’s grace. Totally unexpected favor.
These stories seem extreme and leave us in utter disbelief. How could parents forgive the ones who murdered their children? How could parents of a murdered daughter testify for the defense? How could someone who threatens the stability of the entire world be gracious? But these situations are only surprising if we have failed to understand our own nature and our relationship with God. From a biblical perspective we cannot be surprised. For God, this is just business as usual. God has a way of doing the unexpected. God consistently picks the wrong people for the job and shows love to those who are unworthy.
That’s grace! Totally unexpected, unimaginable, unwarranted good will.
When we talk seriously about grace we discover that few people believe in it. It is beyond the comprehension of most of us. When we talk about grace, people generally fall into one of two groups. One group feels so superior that grace, the unmerited positive favor of God – is unnecessary. Put simply, these people don’t believe in grace, because they believe that they deserve whatever good thing God offers.
Those in the other group don’t really believe in grace either. They don’t believe in getting something for nothing. They want to earn, or pay for God’s positive regard because that way they control the outcome.
One of the problems with stories of unexpected good favor is that we are unsure how they apply to us. We are good people and nothing like murderers, or thieves. If God is gracious to us it is because we deserve a break. We deserve to be loved. Those other people – and here you can fill in the blank – don’t deserve God’s favor and forgiveness like we do. We have never done anything “that bad.” We try to convince ourselves that we try to be good and are completely unlike those other people who need God’s favor as a gift. And according to any human measure, these feelings are correct. Most of us here are indeed good people. But if we allow God to have a voice in this discussion, his words are jarring and force us into an alternate reality.
Listen again to what God says in Romans. Paul writes, “for there is no distinction since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “All have sinned”. “There is no distinction.” All have “fallen short of the glory of God.” If there is no distinction between people in God’s eyes, then the myth that one is better than another is destroyed.
On the other hand if each one is justified – that is, made right with God – as a gift through the atoning love of Jesus, we might feel confused. You and I are used to earning our way, but grace is always an unmerited gift. We can’t earn it and we can’t buy it. We are made right with God just because God wants to be in a right relationship with us. If there are times when we deserve God’s wrath instead of love we would be happy writing a check to take care of things. Or we will do penance by volunteering for some job in the church in order to pay our debt. I am sure that God appreciates all that we do for the kingdom, but grace stands on it’s own as God’s gift.
Some years ago a Catholic woman attended one of my new member classes. She was completely baffled when I explained to the class that because of the grace of Jesus – His unmerited favor - we do not have to perform acts of penance in order to be forgiven. She believed that some kind of penance or payment was necessary to earn God’s forgiveness. Her church background taught her that forgiveness was always dependent in part on what she did to earn God’s favor instead of relying completely on the amazing grace of Jesus.
Because of people like John Calvin, Presbyterians believe that God put Jesus forward as a sacrifice of atonement and we are forgiven even before we ask. That is grace, God’s unwarranted, unwinnable, positive regard. We believe that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we are set free to be gracious to others.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ fill your life today and always.
Copyright © 2009 by Dwight R. Blackstock
Romans 3:22
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Lakewood, Colorado
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” With these words, the Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Church at Rome. Grace is so important in Romans that some call it the gospel of grace. “Grace to you …” says Paul. And with these words he offers something that he believes is more than just a word; it is a gift that is real and tangible. For him grace can never be theoretical and it is our job to understand grace as the very real gift of God to all who believe.
2009 is the 500th birthday of John Calvin who reclaimed the word and experience of grace for the Church. The medieval Catholic Church had all but forgotten about grace, opting instead for a “works righteousness” theology, which is the idea of paying for God’s love by giving money or doing good deeds. But Paul and Calvin believed that God’s love comes to believers, simply because God wants to love us. It is totally independent of anything that we might do. And that is grace!
A few years ago a brilliant young American woman opted to go to work in one of the black townships in South Africa after she graduated from college. She was one of those bright and shining stars who was so talented that she had myriad options available to her as she finished her undergraduate education. He parents were understandably very proud. But they were also very concerned when she announced she was going to work in South Africa. It was so far from home and once there, their daughter would be beyond their help.
One day the parents’ worst nightmares became reality. A group of young men who lived in the township where their daughter worked got drunk and murdered her. Imagine the anger or even the hatred that the parents must have felt. When the young men went on trial the parents were in the courtroom and surprised everyone by testifying for the defense. Their daughter’s life, they said was all about peace and love and she would not want her murderers to die for their crimes. She would not even want them to remain in prison for the rest of their lives.
That is grace. Totally unexpected, unimaginable, unwarranted good will.
A few years ago a man took over a one room schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, and ultimately killed five Amish children. Coming on the heels of Columbine, all of America was up in arms. People uniformly called for harsh penalties for the perpetrator of this horrible crime. He did not deserve to live. But to everyone’s surprise the Amish parents announced that they had already forgiven the man who so coldly murdered their children.
That’s grace! Totally unexpected, unimaginable, unwarranted good will.
Sometimes grace comes from the most unexpected places, and even from people whom we judge to be evil. Until President Clinton brought reporters Una Lee and Laura Ling home from North Korea no one would have believed that grace could come from the likes of North Korean Leader Kim Il Jong, a man maligned as a comic dictator and a murderer of his own people. It is a script that only God could write and it matters not at all if Mr. Jong received something in return for granting amnesty. The American women who were afraid they might never see their families again were granted amnesty and set free through no act of their own.
That’s grace. Totally unexpected favor.
These stories seem extreme and leave us in utter disbelief. How could parents forgive the ones who murdered their children? How could parents of a murdered daughter testify for the defense? How could someone who threatens the stability of the entire world be gracious? But these situations are only surprising if we have failed to understand our own nature and our relationship with God. From a biblical perspective we cannot be surprised. For God, this is just business as usual. God has a way of doing the unexpected. God consistently picks the wrong people for the job and shows love to those who are unworthy.
That’s grace! Totally unexpected, unimaginable, unwarranted good will.
When we talk seriously about grace we discover that few people believe in it. It is beyond the comprehension of most of us. When we talk about grace, people generally fall into one of two groups. One group feels so superior that grace, the unmerited positive favor of God – is unnecessary. Put simply, these people don’t believe in grace, because they believe that they deserve whatever good thing God offers.
Those in the other group don’t really believe in grace either. They don’t believe in getting something for nothing. They want to earn, or pay for God’s positive regard because that way they control the outcome.
One of the problems with stories of unexpected good favor is that we are unsure how they apply to us. We are good people and nothing like murderers, or thieves. If God is gracious to us it is because we deserve a break. We deserve to be loved. Those other people – and here you can fill in the blank – don’t deserve God’s favor and forgiveness like we do. We have never done anything “that bad.” We try to convince ourselves that we try to be good and are completely unlike those other people who need God’s favor as a gift. And according to any human measure, these feelings are correct. Most of us here are indeed good people. But if we allow God to have a voice in this discussion, his words are jarring and force us into an alternate reality.
Listen again to what God says in Romans. Paul writes, “for there is no distinction since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “All have sinned”. “There is no distinction.” All have “fallen short of the glory of God.” If there is no distinction between people in God’s eyes, then the myth that one is better than another is destroyed.
On the other hand if each one is justified – that is, made right with God – as a gift through the atoning love of Jesus, we might feel confused. You and I are used to earning our way, but grace is always an unmerited gift. We can’t earn it and we can’t buy it. We are made right with God just because God wants to be in a right relationship with us. If there are times when we deserve God’s wrath instead of love we would be happy writing a check to take care of things. Or we will do penance by volunteering for some job in the church in order to pay our debt. I am sure that God appreciates all that we do for the kingdom, but grace stands on it’s own as God’s gift.
Some years ago a Catholic woman attended one of my new member classes. She was completely baffled when I explained to the class that because of the grace of Jesus – His unmerited favor - we do not have to perform acts of penance in order to be forgiven. She believed that some kind of penance or payment was necessary to earn God’s forgiveness. Her church background taught her that forgiveness was always dependent in part on what she did to earn God’s favor instead of relying completely on the amazing grace of Jesus.
Because of people like John Calvin, Presbyterians believe that God put Jesus forward as a sacrifice of atonement and we are forgiven even before we ask. That is grace, God’s unwarranted, unwinnable, positive regard. We believe that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we are set free to be gracious to others.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ fill your life today and always.
Copyright © 2009 by Dwight R. Blackstock
posted by Dwight Blackstock | 10:32 AM
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