A Church Built on Grace

I don’t know a Christian who doesn’t believe that it is by “…grace you have been saved through faith…” (v8) I know many who live as if they don’t or treat themselves as if they didn’t. We live either under law or under grace. Whatever we believe many Christians revert in their thinking to legalism. If I do my quiet time every day God will love me/use me/protect me. If I don’t he won’t.

Or of course there is an extreme alternative. God loves me what ever I do. The assurance of his love becoming a license to sin. I shall sin more so that grace will abound. Both are wrong approaches. Legalism often prevails and anything else other than perfection therefore leads to a sense of guilt, condemnation, and to that typical cry of “I’m not really a very good Christian”. In short that leads to Christians not willing to step out in faith. Ineffective, fruitless, un confident-and the enemy has you where he wants you. Job done!
“Grace,” said someone, is the key to revival. I believe that.

Grace for me must be one of the most beautiful words in the entire English language.
What does it mean?

G = God’s
R = Riches
A = At
C = Christ’s
E = Expense

It means not what you deserve but what you are given as a gift. It is kindness beyond what you could ever merit. It’s kindness when you positively do not deserve it. It is foolish in the world’s eyes and often in ours as well. In fact it so offends our sense of right and wrong that we often cannot accept it for ourselves. Grace is an injustice. But a positive one in our favour and the only person who pays is the giver. And God has given it to us and the cost was a crucified Son. You see what I mean by injustice?

Here is a parable of grace. Matthew 20:1-16 (labourers in the vineyard), at least it might look like Grace. The labourers at the end of the day seem to get more than they deserve. But they have made something of a contribution towards their pay. Grace does nothing to deserve it’s reward.

Imagine now that you are John the Baptist standing on the day of judgement before God. You wore sackcloth and ate locusts and honey. You were arrested by Herod. You were beheaded as part of a perverse party trick. Here you are before God reunited hopefully with your head! Your reward for your suffering and hardship is eternal life. But next to you is a thief whose only qualification for heaven was that on his death bed (otherwise known as a Roman instrument of torture and execution in the form of a cross) he said to Jesus “Lord, remember me when you come in to your kingdom”. Reward=eternal life.

Grace doesn’t follow the laws of human justice. It’s not fair! It is not about what you can do but about what God has done. (2 Samuel 9 - Mephibosheth) He always ate at the kings table.

Joab with his might
Soloman with his wisdom
Bathsheba with her beauty
David-the man after God’s heart
Mephibosheth a man who received grace (translated as kindness in the NIV)

Now turn with me to Luke 18 beginning at verse 9-14. Let me try again to offend you.
This is not a parable about humility. Isn’t the tax collector so humble? No this is a parable about the futility of religion. It is Jesus telling us in the most graphic form that there is no merit you can produce to put yourself right with God. It is in the words of Robert Farrar Capon “not a recommendation to adopt a humble religious stance rather than a proud one; rather it is a warning to stop all religious stances-and all moral and ethical ones too-when you try to grasp your justification before God”. You see in verse 1 of Ephesians 2 it tells us we were dead in our sins. Dead people cannot do anything to save themselves. That is what this parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is about. It takes us right back to the heart of the gospel about the God, our God, who raises the dead.

So hear are these two men. One a religious professional. He wears the right religious gear, knows what to do at worship. There every Sabbath and much more. Do not write him off as a pretender, insincere, even a hypocrite. There is much merit to this man. He is not a criminal, or a womaniser. There were even some called the bleeding Pharisees so called because every time a woman approached in the street they never lusted because they kept their heads down always to avoid such a possibility. In so doing they walked in to things - the bleeding Pharisees - serious about God’s commandments. He is true in business, faithful in marriage, a honourable man outstanding you might say.

And then there is this other man a real crook, the kind of man you don’t rush up to in the peace. He is a mafia style enforcer worker for the Roman government of the day. He has got rich has this tax collector on the ill gotten gains he has creamed off his own people. Mr Dispicable is his name.

Which one do you want as your prayer partner, spiritual mentor or friend in your Branch Group?

Mr Right Always Right or Mr Dispicable? Mr fast twice a week, tithe ten per cent off the top to God
OR
The other low life?

Mr Right always right right right is confident before God and man. Just look at his life. But Luke in his version of this parable says Jesus told it to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Jesus tells us about this religiously impeccable man that he is the one sent away. Offended yet? I would love this man as one of my church wardens (no offense). He could sign a covenant form anytime. But the other guy is a crook. He could even be a crack dealer or a pimp or a paedophile. Unlike Mr right right right who could pray “God I thank you I am not like other men”. Mr Dispicable could only say “God have mercy on me a sinner”. If I was like Mr Dispicable and my sermon was God have mercy on me a sinner and I told you why, you would write to the Bishop and get me sacked. Oh yes you would. Even if I knew my need of God and confessed it. But if I told you how good I was, and it was true, you might secretly think arrogant man but you would not write to the Bishop. Never. But Jesus disagrees about who the spiritually healthy one is.

Imagine the scene.
God is sitting there in the temple, busy holding creation in being-thinking it all in to existence, concentrating on making the hairs on your head jump out of nothing, preserving the seat of my pants, reconciling the street walkers in Trafalgar Square, the losers in the casino, the generals in Whitehall, and all the worms underflat rocks in Brazil. And in come these two characters.
The Pharisee walks straight over, pulls up a chair to God’s table, and whips out a pack of cards. He fans them, bridges them, does a couple of one handed cuts and an accordian shuffle, slides the pack over to God, and says “Cut. I’m in the middle of a winning streak.” And God looks at him with a sad smile, gently pushes the deck away, and says, “Maybe you’re not. Maybe it’s just run out.”

So the Pharisee picks up the deck again and starts the game himself. “Acey-Ducey, okay?” And he deals God a two of fasting and a king of no adultery. And God says “Look I told you. Maybe this is not your game. I don’t want to take your money.” “Oh, come on,” says the Pharisee. “How about a seven-card stud, tens wild? I’ve been really lucky with tens wild lately.” And God looks a little annoyed and says, “Look, I meant it. Don’t play me. The odds are always on my side. Besides, you haven’t got a full deck. You’d be smarter to be like the other guy over there who came in with you. He lost his cards before he got here. Why don’t you both just have a drink on the house and go home?” (Illustration from The Parables of Grace by Robert Farrar Capon, published by Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

Do you see the meaning of the parable? Jesus is saying that as far as the Pharisees ability to win a game of justification with God is concerned, he is no better off than the guy who stood at a distance and cried out for mercy. In fact he is worse off because at least the other guy knows that he is a loser! Merit never saves only Jesus does because we were dead.
Now follow the publican sent away and follow him through his week. It is pretty impressive. Don’t you want to be generous with him when he returns to the temple the next week? Even with the same speech.

Now follow the tax collector through his despicable week, with no sign of repentance.
The next week they come back with the same two speeches. Aren’t you tempted to throw the tax collector out? The least he could do would be to change. Well yes repentance is required isn’t it? But it is the right speech. “Lord have mercy on me a sinner” BUT God will not mend his ways any more than the tax collector.

So do we sin more that grace may abound? No. That is another sermon. But if we know deep down that it is about grace a few things happen.

-we get free from the guilt of failing to be perfect
-we know the joy of no condemnation
-we become thankful, so grateful, that God treats us with grace and not by
the standards of the law
-we realise that God kept the whole law for us
-we realise he paid the price on the cross
-freely we have received now we can give!
-we become free, liberated, joyful
-we learn to love ourselves
-This is good news and we want to share it.

It is by grace you are saved (offensive though it is) Now Ephesians 2:10…
Only do this when we escape the clutches of law, condemnation and the sense of a failure. Then we fall in love with the grace giver. Mr Grace is for Mr despicable and so I want to follow him all the days of my life.

Amen.