God's Mind-Blowing Grace

I cut my sermon off today because I felt like the message had been delivered. Having said that, the end of my planned sermon would have tied together the main theme and I want to make sure it isn't lost. I preached the Law…and we were defeated by it as we should be...and we got to the Gospel and we were encouraged by it as we should be…but I am afraid I didn't spend enough time exploring the depths of the Gospel. So for those who want to dig deeper...read on. 

The main theme of the sermon was that because we have peace with God through Jesus, we can have peace with others and that many times it is people and not things that take away our peace. So we looked at how God forgives us and how that applies to peace in our relationships.

God's grace is mind-blowing. We saw that God is not motivated to forgive us because of his sinfulness or because of ignorance of the full extent of the wrongs done against him. God can't be motivated by his own sinfulness and his own ignorance because he is perfect and because he knows everything...including the full extent of our sin. And yet he forgives. That is mind-blowing. Because listen...our own sinfulness and ignorance are motivators for us to forgive others. We are motivated to forgive because we know we too are sinners and because we don't know the full extent of the evil that was done against us. So when someone seeks our forgiveness, we forgive because we know how sinful we are and how forgiven we are. We are also ignorant. We don't truly know the extent of the sin that was committed against us. If we knew the full extent...we wouldn't forgive. The other person may tell us the gist of how they offended us, but we don't know what they were thinking about us, how many people they talked to and the things they said about us, and the depth of their offense against us. So we can forgive because of our ignorance of the extent of the wrongs done against us. If we knew the whole story, we probably wouldn't ever talk to the person again, let alone forgive them.

Let me press this great truth into us even more. God forgives us and offers us the gift of peace, but yet, unlike us, he wasn't a sinner. He isn't motivated to forgive us because he thinks to himself, "well, I'm not perfect either and yet I am forgiven." No! He is perfect, without sin, and yet STILL forgives. That should stun us. But what should stun us even more is that he forgives and offers peace when he actually knows the WHOLE extent of our sin. We don't know the extent of the wrongs committed against us and people don't know the extent of our wrongs committed against them. If we all knew the extent of the offenses against each other, no one would be friends…perhaps no one would even be married. But yet God not only knows the tip of the iceberg but he also knows the rest of it. He knows our evil thoughts, he knows our dishonesty, he knows our conniving, he knows our disbelief, he knows our secret sins...and yet…and yet...he forgives! Yet he extends the peace of God to "guard our hearts." We sing that "his grace amazes us" because the grace of God is mind-blowing.  

So we looked at Matthew 18 and the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant told by Jesus and saw that the first servant (who represents us) owed ten thousand talents, or in today’s currency, seven billion dollars, and was forgiven that debt by the master (God). After the servant (us) had been forgiven, another servant (one of our friends, family member, even ourselves), owed the servant (us) 100 denarii, or twelve thousand dollars, but that servant (us) wouldn't forgive the debt. The servant who had been forgiven the seven billion dollar debt couldn't forgive the person who owed him 12,000 dollars. By using 12,000 dollars, or a 1/3 of annual wages, Jesus is showing that, yes, the offenses against us can sometimes be significant. But still...we were forgiven a debt of seven billion dollars but we can't forgive twelve thousand dollars? Jesus ended the parable by saying, "therefore, forgive your brother from your heart."

So, yes, Jesus’ point was that we ought to forgive as we have been forgiven. But here is the issue...we can't. We don't. We won't. In fact...we couldn't forgive this radically even if we tried! We all have our limits. Our love for mostly everyone in our lives, if not everyone, is conditional. Jesus says to forgive seventy times seven times, but even the best of us forgives maybe a dozen major offenses before we stop truly forgiving from our heart. And if we forgive someone, in some cases we will still keep our distance. And we should. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time! But God doesn't do that. The good news of the Gospel is that he not only forgives while knowing all the sins, and while not being a sinner himself, but goes a step beyond total forgiveness and honors us. Like the father did for the prodigal son in Luke 15, he not only forgives our seven billion dollar debt, he puts a ring on our finger, he gives us the best robe, he gives us the seat of honor, sacrifices the best calf and throws a party in our honor…because we were lost and now we are found…we were dead but now we are alive! That is where I stopped my sermon…and that was an ok stopping point. I got to the Gospel for sure. But...

It is worth driving home, even more, that the main point to take from the sermon isn’t that “because we have been forgiven 7 billion dollars, we should forgive our brother the 12,000 dollars.” That is true…it is what Jesus tells us to do. He even goes a step further, and makes it more impossible, and says to “forgive from your heart.” If we follow Jesus' example, we certainly will have peace in our relationships. The Psalmist tells us that "the Law is perfect, reviving the soul"...if we follow the Law to the letter, we will have life and peace. But there was only One person who followed the Law to the letter. The Law is good at showing us what we are required to do, what is pleasing to God, and it is ultimately good at driving us to....Jesus. Jesus told a parable and made a Law…to forgive your brother from your heart...even significant wrongs done against us. This idea would have gone against the Jewish culture and would have been difficult for some to even square with the Law of Moses. Jesus intensified the Law of Moses...he didn't soften it. But the Law doesn’t give us the power to carry out its demands. It simply diagnoses us and tells us there is a problem. The Law diagnoses us, the Gospel delivers us.

So what? 

The main point is to see the One, Jesus, who actually did and does forgive seventy times seven. To see the One who actually did and DOES forgive the seven billion dollar debt. It is only when our eyes are fixed on Jesus’ actions, not ours, Jesus’ forgiveness, not ours, the peace that Jesus gives, not the flimsy peace that we give, that we will begin to move towards this kind of radical forgiveness and peace. We won’t be able to forgive this radically and have this kind of peace when we focus on the Law ("do this") contained in the story. That is what the rich young ruler did elsewhere in Scripture (Mk 10). He ran to Jesus and asked him, “what must I do to inherit enteral life”…and Jesus said, “keep the commandments”….the rich young ruler said, “I have since I was young" (actually, he hadn’t kept them as none of us do, but that is not the point), Jesus said, “ok…well, sell everything and give it away and follow me”…and the rich young ruler went away downcast because HE couldn’t do it. The cost was too high. He only heard the first word…Law…and thought HE could do it...he actually thought he had DONE it...but he hadn't done it. Even a young man raised immersed in the Torah, raised to follow all the Law, had fallen woefully short of following the Law! He was deceived. He didn’t stick around to hear the final word which would have given him the fuel to follow Jesus…he didn't hear the Gospel.

The power to forgive radically will not come from the command itself to forgive, or even the example that Jesus sets in forgiving, but out of the grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even if we gritted our teeth and took Jesus' example to forgive and tried to forgive the best we could, we would not be "forgiving from our heart" as Jesus commanded. No. The only way towards this kind of radical forgiveness that will lead to peace in our relationships is by being in awe of the Gospel of Jesus Christ...and being fueled by the Gospel. Those of you who are beginning to catch this grace know exactly what I am talking about, but you are probably like me and can’t fully explain it.

You are like Paul who after explaining the two Great Words of Scripture, Law and Gospel, for eleven chapters in Romans, finally cried out, “oh the depths of the wisdom and knowledge and riches of God…its way over our heads…we will never figure it out…no one can explain God!”…but when you are addicted to grace…addicted to Nothing but Jesus…you may not totally understand it or even be able to explain it…but you start to get it more and more...the fruit grows slowly within us. And eventually you start to have real peace with God, with yourself, and even with others.

Three Responses to the Law of God

In I Peter 4: 11 we are met with the full extent of the Law pertaining to our words with friends when Peter said, "if anyone speaks they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God."  This was not hyperbole or exaggeration...it is the requirement of the Law...to only speak God's words. Peter leaves none of us standing as no one, including Peter, can meet these requirements. Therefore, we are left with three options: 

1. Licentiousness...delighting in me as I ignore the Law and say whatever I want to say whenever I want to say it. 

2. Legalism...delighting in me as I make up my own version of the Law, taking things out, adding things in, and judging others according to my warped version of the Law. 

3. Liberty...delighting in God and running to Jesus. Seeing Jesus as my substitute...that the words he spoke were credited to me as if I spoke them myself. 

It is only the third option that will produce loving, kind, gentle, and gracious words with friends. 

The Great Exchange: His Words for Our Words

The beauty of the Law of God is that you can attempt to preach it to its full extent and still not even be close to articulating its demands. The Law is that comprehensive and demanding. Even the most fiery preacher cannot scrape the surface of its requirements. Nowhere are the Laws' demands more exacting than when it comes to our words. Jesus said that the Law requires that we account for EVERY careless word (Mt 12). The average person would fill up 140 two hundred page books per year with his words. The average man speaks 2.5 million words and the average woman speaks 7 million words per year.  Jesus said that we will account for every single one of those millions of words. Who can measure up? No one. The gossip can't measure up. The extroverted talker can't measure up. The introverted thinker can't measure up (he thinks his words which is the same thing as saying the words or even worse according to Jesus).  The first century Pharisee, with all his law-following didn't and couldn't measure up. No one can measure up. And it isn't that we miss the mark by just a little bit. Mother Theresa missed by a lot with her thoughts and words. Billy Graham missed by a lot with his thoughts and his words. The Apostle Paul said he missed by a lot...that he was the chief of sinners. He even carried a secret to his grave that may have been a sin struggle...the thorn in his side. The Law makes demands but it doesn't give us the power to carry out the demands. 

But thanks be to God that the Law was not God's final word!  While the Law says, "do it and live" the Gospel, God's second and final word, says, "I did it for you...it is done!" While the Law makes demands, the Gospel provides deliverance.  How does the Gospel apply to our millions of words? The Gospel tells us that every word that Jesus spoke was credited to us...it was as if we spoke Jesus' words (2 Cor 5: 21)! The Gospel is that every careless word we spoke, speak, and will speak was taken up by Jesus in his body on the cross (I Peter 2: 24). This is what Martin Luther called the Great Exchange...we get his righteousness, he gets our sin. Instead of having the status of being a convicted criminal awaiting terrible sentencing we become an heir who inherits an eternal estate. Jesus takes on himself our careless and cruel words and we get the beauty of his words as if we had spoken them. Jesus died for people who are careless with their words and for gossips and for those who think lousy gossipy thoughts because those are the only kinds of people there are. 

Here is the irony...when we live out of that freedom, loving, kind, gentle, and encouraging  words will flow from our hearts of gratitude. Ironically, it is freedom from the Law (Acts 15: 10, Romans 6: 14, 7: 6, 10: 4,  Eph 4: 14) and reliance on grace that leads to a transformed life. Even more ironic is that the more the person who lives under grace "improves" the more aware the person under grace sees how far they have yet to go. Therefore, grace produces fruit that is not attainable under Law, but it also produces humility and awe of Jesus. 

"Therefore, my dear brother, learn Christ and him crucified.  Learn to pray to him and despairing of yourself, say: "Thou, Lord Jesus, art my righteousness, but I am thy sin.  Thou hast taken upon thyself what is mine and hast given to me what is thine. Thou has taken upon thyself what thou wast not and hast given to me what I was not." --Martin Luther on the Great Exchange

Jesus, a Perfect Friend for Sinners

Scripture concerns itself more with BEING a perfect friend rather than HAVING perfect friends. Yesterday I concluded the Law portion of the sermon by saying that “lousy friends are all there are.”  That may seem harsh, but according to the Law of God, it is true, because the Law demands perfection in every area of friendship. When we think through boundaries in friendships, we should first, ourselves, be slain by the Law of God (which is anytime we are told to “do” something in Scripture).  We should grieve at our inability to carry out its demands. Think about it like this…when I was in college, I was a Piano Performance Major, which meant I was expected to learn the great piano repertoire.  When I would tackle a piece like Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, I would reach for a certain standard.  I remember that Andre Watts had performed this Concerto on PBS and a mentor gave me a copy of it. As I watched Andre Watts flawlessly execute the passages, and bring his years of experience to bear on the piece, I knew that I could not measure up at that point in my life.  But that did not stop me from using his performance, which was perfection, as a standard to strive towards. The Law of God is the same way. It shows us what is pleasing and glorifying to God while at the same time showing us that we all fall short of that glory of God (Romans 3: 23). Compared to Andre Watts…even my best efforts were meager and fell short.  You could say that I was a “lousy” pianist if Andre Watts was the standard.  If a fellow piano major was the standard…perhaps I would fare better. In the same way, all of us our “lousy friends” when the standard of a “perfect friend” is Jesus who carried out the demands of the Law perfectly in thought, word, and deed. 

The Epistle of James, which teaches us a lot about friendship, perplexed Martin Luther, who said of James:  "We should throw the epistle of James out of this school [i.e. Wittenburg], for it doesn't amount to much. It contains not a syllable of Christ. Not once does it mention Christ, except at the beginning. I maintain that some [person] wrote it who probably heart about Christian people but never encountered any. Since he heard that Christians place great weight on faith in Christ, he thought, 'wait a moment! I'll oppose them and urge works alone.' This he did."

With all due respect to one of my heroes, I think Luther may not have made the connection that James is New Testament "wisdom literature."  It's Old Testament companion is the book of Proverbs. In some ways, wisdom literature cannot always be taken literally.  Wisdom literature lives in the world of hyperbole, metaphor, rhetorical questions, simile, and the like.  While we need to view the Epistle of James from a historical-grammatical  perspective, we can also see it as Law which drives us to our need for Jesus, the "friend" of sinners who sticks closer than a brother.  

The very first thing James says is to “consider it pure joy” when you face all kinds of trials so that we will become steadfast and “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1: 2-3).  A perfect friend is one who is there for others during all kinds of trials. He doesn’t avoid his friends when things get tough. He isn’t a “fair-weather friend”.  He is steadfast…perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  He is also incredibly wise, because he spends time in the word of God. As he spends time in the word of God, his faith and knowledge are deepened (James 1: 5-6) and grace and peace are multiplied in his relationships (2 Pet 1: 2).  He is “slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to become angry” (James 1: 19-20).  He realizes that his internal passions are the problem in his friendships and that coveting kills friendships (James 4: 1-2).  He is very careful about judging others especially in the context of gossip (James 4: 11-12).  He prays for his friends and is open, honest, and transparent about his own faults (James 5: 16).  And he realizes that these qualities merely scrape the surface of what is required of us in friendships.  

Lists like these, Laws like these, keep us humble and our expectations of others low.  When we are finally slain by the Law of God and realize we can’t measure up…we run to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is that Jesus was and is a perfect friend to you and to me….Jesus is there through trials and he endured the greatest trial, the Cross, due to the “joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2), Jesus deepened in his knowledge of God as a young boy (Luke 2: 52), and is in constant communion with God.  Jesus was always slow to speak, he is always slow to anger and patient with us, and Scripture says Jesus prays for us (John 17: 20-23, Romans 8: 34), intercedes for us…he is the perfect friend.  

The Gospel is that God sent his Son, the perfect friend, to be the perfect friend, for those who crumbled under trials…for those who weren’t steadfast…for those who lacked wisdom in friendships…for those who didn’t care as much as they should have about the deep things of God…for those who talked too much and for those who were not slow to anger, but quick to become angry…for those who conceal their sins…for those who don’t accept others for who they are, but judge others for who they are…for those who expect more from others than they do for themselves…God sent his son to pay the price for those kinds of people, because when compared to the standards of friendship according to the Law, those are the only kinds of friends there are.  When we determine “boundaries” in friendships, we must always view those boundaries through the grid of the Gospel and how Jesus was a “friend” of sinners. That doesn’t mean that we are a punching bag.  We are always called to forgive.  But it takes one to forgive, but two to reconcile. How do you know when to reconcile? That requires a tremendous amount of wisdom. The Law is for the hard-hearted while the Gospel is for the soft-hearted.  If a friend has hurt you and they are hard-hearted your response is to offer them the grace of the Law lest you also sin (Gal 6: 1).  If a friend has hurt you and they are broken-hearted your response is to offer them the wild, unpredictable, glorious grace of the Gospel…

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Being a Perfect Friend: Boundaries?

This Sunday, at 9:00, at Glasgow Church, we will launch "S4" (Super Summer Sunday School!).  The children will enjoy a VBS (Vacation Bible School) themed program. The kids will stay with the children's leaders through the end of the worship service and will have a fun time learning about the Gospel.  S4 is a great opportunity for your children to invite their friends.  Teach them to take a small step of faith by inviting some neighborhood kids, some cousins, or some friends from school.  The adults will gather in the Family Life Center (the gym), around 9:00, and enjoy a full breakfast and a short devotional.  Since we are doing a series on relationships, and since there are so many new people at our church (just last week, we had 100 more attendees than the same Sunday last year!), we thought it would be good to focus on fellowship and relationships during these four Sundays of S4.

At our worship service, we will have the second sermon on relationships from our "Being a Perfect Friend" series. This Sunday, we will talk about boundaries in relationships. When is "enough enough"?  When is it ok, or is it ever ok, to burn bridges with friends so we are never tempted to walk back over that bridge?  Is it ever biblical to end a friendship? Does forgiving=reconciling? 

As I have been studying for this sermon by spending time in the Scriptures, praying, and talking to many of you as well as some people who don't go to church, the phrase that keeps coming to mind is this: "seeing friends through the eyes of grace."  I am drawn to Ephesians 4: 29-32:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

And by 2 Peter 2: 1-2

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord."

Someone recently asked me to "define grace."  I can't. Grace is limitless and knows no boundaries. Any theological term that you can "define" will carry conditions and have boundaries. Grace is not a theological term, but an individual...Jesus.  Grace and peace "multiply" in our relationships, as Peter wrote, as we gain more and more wisdom of the depths of God through Jesus our Lord.  As we gain more wisdom of God, grace and peace increase in every area of our lives...including our relationships.  But remember what we have learned in the past...it is not Law and Grace...but Law and Gospel.  The Law contains a tremendous element of grace. The Gospel IS grace. 

I hope to see you on Sunday!  It is clear that many of you are catching the vision of inviting friends into our community at Glasgow Church.  Let's continue to gain ground for the Kingdom by inviting others so they can experience the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

New Series on Relationships

We are excited to begin a five-week series on Relationships at Glasgow Church! Tomorrow morning we will only do an introduction of the series. I think this series on relationships, and specifically tomorrow's introduction, will relate well to those without a church...so invite friends now! It is not too late...in fact last minute invites are sometimes very effective. Send an email, send a text, invite friends on Social Media, or do the old fashioned thing and pick up the phone and call and invite a friend. I am sure you would agree that we want our church to be a place filled with friendly and loving people who are passionate about reaching the lost and those without a church family. Sunday mornings should be a safe place to invite friends.

Next Sunday (July 19), we will launch "S4" (Super Summer Sunday School). We will have a VBS Camp Theme for the children (the kids should use the flyers to invite friends!) and we will have a full breakfast, with a devotional, in the Family Life Center for the adults...all starting at 9:00. Since we are focussing on Relationships in this series, and since there are so many new people at the church, we thought it would be good to have breakfast together in a low-key environment and get to know one another. 

We have named the series, "Being a Perfect Friend." I wonder what comes to mind when you read that title. In this series we will explore what the Scriptures teach us about friendship. The Law of God (The Law is anytime in Scriptures that we are told to "do" something) calls us to perfection. We see that perfection spelled out in the famous Love Chapter found in I Corinthians 13. In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses one sin after another that had taken root in the Corinthian Church. By the time we get to I Corinthians 13, we are tempted to find the Love Chapter to be a reprieve...a breath of fresh air...a romantic and uplifting chapter that is read at weddings. But the reality is that up to this point, Paul had been addressing specific sins, at times, of specific members of the Corinthian Church...and certainly there were some who thought they were "off the hook." But in I Corinthians 13, Paul leaves no one standing because the requirement, the Law, he details, regarding friendships and love, is perfection...or "being a perfect friend". Who can measure up? Take a look...

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Fourth of July...

I am really looking forward to this weekend. I have always loved the Fourth of July as it is one of my favorite holidays.

This past Sunday was the first installment of our Gospel and Culture series. We will do the second installment sometime in the future. I am leaning towards Race Relations as the second topic as I believe that is a relevant issue that desperately needs Gospel responses.You can watch the sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf1Kg2xUvTE

I have written a blog post that expands on many of the points we explored this past Sunday. I invited people to text me on Sunday with questions or comments...I greatly enjoyed interacting with so many of you. This blog post addresses the main themes of the questions I received.

Part of my goal as a preacher is to stir our souls in a way that biblically challenges us, so deeply, that our only answer is Jesus. That, to me, is what it means to "have our toes stepped on".

Here is the link:

http://grpcworship.blogspot.com/…/flies-baking-cakes-and-je…

These are tough issues! It is only fair that Christians be given room to openly answer these questions since so much room has been given to others to work through and answer their own questions and to legislate their conclusions. I had a ten year old (!) asking questions the other night about these issues based on things he heard in public school. Crazy times...but we must not shrink back from addressing the issues head on. We won't find ourselves aligned with Republicans or Democrats if we are looking to the Gospel for answers and responses to cultural issues. We should not be choosing the "lesser of two evils" and we should be wary of those who give lip service to these positions. Charles Spurgeon said, "of two evils choose neither." We will be quite alone, odd, and in the minority. I already know I am in the minority, even among evangelical pastors, when it comes to my approach to these cultural issues. I am sure there are areas where I am wrong...there was only one perfect pastor...and we nailed him to a cross.

I believe these are incredibly exciting days to be a Christian. There are wonderful opportunities for the church to stand firm, but to offer the hope of the Gospel. Our response should be Jesus' response to the woman caught in adultery in John 8, "I do not condemn you...go and sin no more."