June 2, 2002
Second Sunday After Pentecost
"The Gift Of Grace"
(Romans 1:16-17, 22b-28)
Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn
[16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
[17] For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."
[21] But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets,
[22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, [23] since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
[24] they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
[25] whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;
[26] it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
[27] Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith.
[28] For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
[NRSV]
I don't know about you, but I hate telemarketer's. They always call at the least opportune time. I have three ways of dealing with them. The first is to politely say, "I'm not interested, thank you." And hang up.
The second is to be rude, "You can't even pronounce my name correctly and you want me to buy something from you? You must really think I'm a moron." And then hang up.
The third is to have some fun with them. Having fun is much more rewarding than being rude. And if you keep them busy for awhile, you've successfully kept them from calling at one other person. (Which in my opinion can be seen as a public service.)
I have fun several different ways. Sometimes you'll get those real polite people and you don't want to crush their egos by being rude. So I just start asking questions. They'll say, "Hi, Mr. Strayhorn, this is Karen from . . ." I'll interrupt and say, "Well, Hi Karen. How are you today?" She'll go on and I'll interrupt again and say something to the effect, "Well, where are you calling form Karen?" They'll tell me and then go on with the spiel and I'll ask, "So, how's the weather there?"
They'll get flustered and find their way back to the script. And I'll let them rattle on for a second and then ask, "So, Karen, how's your Mom?" Or "So, Karen, are you married?" Or any number of personal questions. It usually only takes two or three of those questions before they get the message and say, "You're not really interested are you?"
The one that always gets the best response though and usually results in them hanging up is, "Karen, let me ask you a question. Are you saved?" Be careful if you ask that question, you have to be ready to witness to the person on the other end. Or you have to be ready to hear them give testimony to their own faith. I had one young lady tell all about how God has changed her life since she accepted Christ. I still didn't buy anything, though.
Mary and I effectively got credit card companies to quit calling us because of the number of times I said something to the effect of, "Honey, they want to give us a new credit card. Now we can get that big screen TV and the bankruptcy court won't even have to know."
The one's I hate the most, though, are the ones who start off by butchering your name and then telling you they have a free gift for you.
"Good evening Mr. Springhorn, uh, Strawhand, uh I mean Mr. Strawborn. Uh, Good evening Billy. This is Karen and I'm calling from Lifetime Books and Bug You Service Club, and we'd like to thank you for your loyalty as a customer by sending you an exciting new free gift.
"It is a Music CD. A compilation of celebrity shower songs. That's right, we've picked some of the best tunes from the 60's, 70's and 80's and recorded your favorite celebretities singing them while in the shower. The acoustics in some of the celebrity showers is awesome.
"You'll hear Jay Leno, Fergie, Mr. T., Jerry Springer, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jerry Jones singing your favorites. We'll send you this free gift along with two free tickets to the International Yodeling Competition and a 4 day 2 night stay in lovely Wolf Point, Montana.
"All you have to do is review the CD agree to purchase it and 11 others over the course of the next 16 weeks . . . ."
By that time you realize that "Free Gift" has taken on a whole new meaning. There's nothing "Free" about this so called "Gift".
And because of that technique, we've become skeptical about anything that is marketed as being "Free". We immediately start looking for the strings attached.
And believe it or not, that's what Paul is talking about here in his letter to the Church in Rome. Here he talks about the Law and Grace. And that's what I want us to look at today. The LAW and GRACE.
A. Just before Christmas I received a flier from "Steak and Ale" which stated "Steak And Ale Brings Temptation Back To Town." The flier talked about all the new "tempting" menu items that "Steak and Ale" had developed. And of course, the flier was sent to entice and tempt us into choosing to eat there.
Temptation is very real. But "Steak and Ale" didn't bring it town. Temptation has been around from the beginning of time. Ever since God set the very first rule in the Garden, there has been temptation. And once we fell, once we gave into to that first temptation, it's been downhill ever since. That's why Paul writes in verse 23, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
But how do we know that it's Sin? That's easy because of the Law.
The Law of God establishes what is right and what is wrong. The Law sets up the moral, ethical and religious boundaries for our actions. The Law tells us what to do and what not to do.
The Law demands and commands what is expected. The problem is once you write one law, you have to write a second to interpret it.
Just look at the law today. We started with two unwritten laws, laws that should be written on the heart and in the soul: "Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself."
We went from those two being the guiding force in the lives of the faithful, to the Ten Commandments which interpreted how we were supposed to love God and our neighbor. And those Ten Commandments got translated into 613 binding laws by the time of Jesus. And now there's million's of laws, just in this country alone.
The Law tells us what to do, it establishes the boundaries and fills us with the fear of punishment if we break the Law.
B. But the Law doesn't save us from the times we mess up and fail to DO what is good and right and perfect. The Law can't save us or even forgive us for our failures and our sin. All it can really do is convict us of that Sin.
During staff meeting this week, Kay Laws told us about a dream her hair dresser had and shared with her. He said he dreamt about a woman in a kitchen. She was cooking a meal. She had a pot in her hand and went to the sink, turned on the water, put the pan under the faucet, then went to the stove, placed the pot on the burner, and started stirring like crazy. She did this several times and then he noticed something. Whenever she turned on the faucet, no water came out. And when she put the pot on the stove there was no fire under the pot.
Over and over again she went through the motions of cooking and preparing a meal. But there was not water and there was no fire. The woman was working herself to death but never accomplishing anything. No meal was ever prepared.
This gentleman said he thought the dream was a vision for his church. That they are sort of in that mode. They are going through the motions of doing work for God but there's no fire under them and there's no waters of life filling them. Their just going through the motions.
For me, the story relates to the law. You see, the Law can set us in motion and make us do all those things that look like cooking. But without Grace, no one is ever fed and no work ever gets done.
Grace is the fire under the pan, the fire in our hearts that inspires us and moves us. And the waters of our baptism, the waters of life that come through Christ Jesus, spring up to quench our thirsting in the face of temptation.
And not only that, Grace is Truly a Free Gift. It is a gift that takes a lifetime to unwrap. I say that because Grace is unlike any other gift that we'll ever receive. Those gifts we open, use for awhile and then set aside either because they are worn out or we've gotten bored with them.
But Grace just keeps one giving. And each time we open the gift of Grace, we find another level of surprise. We find another well of joy. The fires of our hearts are rekindled and we are able to drink deep from the well of life.
Grace is like this heart shaped present here. We don't know what's inside until we open it up. And like all gifts, when we them, sometimes we have no clue what the gift really is.
(Use Christmas Story Telling Bag)
But the wonderful thing about Grace is that more you experience, the more you examine it, the more you find. It really is the gift that takes a lifetime to unwrap.
This gift looks like just a little bag. And it is but inside there's more. Like Grace, inside this bag is something that gives us the warm fuzzies. (Show bunny silk) Grace is like that. It makes us feel good because it erases all the hurt we've experienced in life. It erases all those things that separate us from God.
And as we examine it more, as we experience it more, we find that Grace reminds us that we are a Child of God. When we give our hearts to God through Christ, then we become Royalty. (Show King of Hearts Silk) When Jesus is the King of our hearts, then we are made heirs of His Kingdom, brothers and sisters with Him. That's a pretty wonderful gift, don't you think?
If we experience and explore God's Grace in our lives, then we discover the joy of life. We are able to feel like everyday is Christmas. (Show Christmas silk). And we can celebrate the gift of life and faith.
But that's not all. Grace allows us to develop the Thankful Spirit. (Show Thank You silk). That spirit of thanksgiving is born within us when we first experience God's Grace. And the more we experience of God's, the more thankful we become.
And it's all because at the heart of God's Grace, is the Sacrificial love of Jesus. (Show Jesus silk). Jesus is the very core of God's Grace. You see, God is the author of Grace. And Jesus is the one through whom we receive God's Grace. His Life, Death and Resurrection and the ingredients of Grace.
It can't be earned. It can't be bought or sold. It can't be taken. It can only be given. And it is given through Christ.
It's through the very Grace of God as offered through Christ that takes away the stink and smell of our sin and disobedience. It's Grace that offers new life and forgiveness. It's through Grace that Christ Jesus is able to stand as our advocate before the Judgment seat and plead our case. It is through Grace that God pronounces us forgiven.
There's an old story about a woman who, with great sincerity and dedication, was leading a Vacation Bible School class. A young boy had recently moved to the community and he began to attend Vacation Bible School.
The teacher noticed that this boy only had one arm. The teacher tried her very best to be sure all her comments and activities wouldn't bring undue attention to the boy's handicap. The focus that day was on the church. Without even thinking she said: "Let's all make our own little churches. Do you know how to do that?"
She said, "Put your hands together like this. Next your index fingers to make the steeple. Next our thumbs for the doors . . ." That was when she looked at the young boy and realized that the very thing she hoped not to do, she had done. The boy was standing awkwardly, not able to participate.
The teacher froze. However, one of the other boys in the class said: "Josh, take my hand and let's make the church together." (1)
That's Grace. That's what God does for us. The Law tells us what to do. It tells us what is good and perfect in God's eyes. But as it has grown from God's original intent, it has become impossible to keep as a way of salvation. Because it calls us to do the impossible. We're left standing trying to make the church with only one hand.
Grace offers us the other hand, through Christ. Christ reaches out to each and everyone of us and says, "Take my hand and let's make the church together."
And the Good News is that there is no catch. You don't have to buy 11 more CD's to qualify.
And the one who makes this offer not only knows your name, but knows you intimately. He gave His life for you. All He wants is to give you the gift of salvation and life eternal. And all you have to do is accept the free gift of God's Gift by taking His hand.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Apr/May/Jun 2002 Vol XVII, No. 2. (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN) p. 50, adapted.
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www.SermonWriter.com (Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 2000)
www.SermonMall.com
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Preaching Magazine (Preaching Resources, Jackson, TN)
Circuit Rider, (The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN)
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The New Interpreter's Bible, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1995)
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