Emmaus Justifying Grace - Walk #2204 (7/21/23)

Justifying Grace

Rev. Jim Noble

Walk #2204 – July 2023

Tammy Jones – LD, Scott Bradford - SD

Please turn to page 48 in your worship books and join me in the prayer to the Holy Spirit: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction (1-2 Minutes)

I was never a cat guy until I married my wife of nearly 24 years, Melanie. We got our first cat together around 2000, Tigger. She was amazing and went on to glory a few years ago while we were in Sterling City. Now, we have a cat who adopted us. Trixie. She basically moved herself into our yard, then our garage, then our parsonage in Sterling and then came with us to San Angelo. Trixie is funny. I love that cat. I gave this talk once before and the audience said, We want to see Trixie! So, here she is! SHOW PHOTOS. I love Trixie. I want her in my lap when I’m watching TV or relaxing, but no go. She totally ignores me EXCEPT when I’m getting ready for the day or she wants me to feed her wet food. Then, I’m the flavor of the month! When I’m watching TV I call her, pat the chair for her, etc…she just isn’t a lap kitty with me. Now, she’ll go to my daughter…which, honestly, makes me a little jealous, lol, but not to me. Now, am I happy when she sharpens her claws on the furniture or brings in a live bird or mouse? No, of course not. But I sure do enjoy those moments of purring and attention I DO get from Trixie, though. MY FRIEND AND HIS DOG AND HIS WIFE’S COMMENT.

I think that’s how Jesus is with us. Jesus LONGS for us to sit in his lap so he can love on us. He doesn’t want us to sin, but he loves us and longs for relationship with us. In a way, he calls to us and pats his chair for us to come sit with him…but he won’t grab us and force us into relationship, he honors our choice SO highly that we must choose.

My name is Jim Noble, and the title of this talk is Justifying Grace.

God’s offer of relationship of love and grace (3-4 minutes)

God LOVES his creation, including you. If you remember nothing else! Genesis Chapters 1 & 2 record how, In the beginning God created the world, the cosmos, and all things in it – including humans – and saw that it was good.

Yet, since the garden of Eden in Genesis 3, humans have this bent to sin…sin separates us from God but God’s love and grace are greater than all our sin, as the great old hymn says, when we make the choice to return to God. I heard someone say not long ago…that no matter how far we walk away from God, returning to him is just one step. Because God created us, in his image, and he designed us for relationship with him, nothing else will satisfy your soul or mine…not money, not sexuality, not power, not other people, not food, not violence, not “finding yourself” and elevating your pride, nothing. Some of the pastors I have breakfast with have a bit of a “waitress/waiter/cook” ministry as we frequent the same restaurants. One of the regulars who waits on us was telling us just recently that her 14yo daughter is seeking wholeness, in vain, through radical dependence on others. Sorry, girl, but that boyfriend, that girlfriend, that husband, that boss, whoever is not going to save you. Only Christ will.

The central theme of the Bible, and the center of the heart of God, is God’s striving to call us back into the relationship for which we were created.

Jesus, God in human flesh, exemplifies this many times. For example, Matthew 11:28

“28 “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.”

God’s offer of personal relationship is not to get us to follow some system of arbitrary rules…just so he can watch us jump through hoops and laugh…instead, it’s an offer to what we’re designed for…and what is, inherently, BEST FOR US.God offers us a personal relationship of self-giving love, not a system of arbitrary rules and regulations (1 John 4:7-12)

My daughter, 13, loves her smart devices. She loves to create, scroll, etc. Sometimes it’s a struggle to get her to put the device down and shower, or go to bed, or do homework, etc. Do we get on her about putting her device down because we gain pleasure from denying her and watching her suffer? Do we love being taskmasters? Of course not…we do it because it’s the best thing for her! Inherently, she even knows this! But it’s hard for her to pry herself away, right?

Our acceptance of the relationship (5 minutes)

God’s Justifying grace is at work at the moment, or moments, we say YES to God’s offer of relationship…we move toward his lap, if you will. To be justified means to be put right with God by grace THROUGH faith…JUST AS if we’d never sinned. Jesus died to restore the opportunity for our loving relationship with the Father, the Son, and their Spirit. Paul writes this beautifully in his letter to the Colossians, 3:3, that our lives are HID with Christ in God. My old NT professor, now gone to glory, Dr. Bob Mulholland characterized it this way…when God looks at the Christian disciple, he sees Christ.

Giving Jesus your YES changes everything. When we say yes to Jesus, our lives begin anew in grace.

Another way God sees something different than humans see is with marriage. As the liturgy says, two become one. Marriage runs through all of Scripture, from God and the Israelites in Exodus, to Jesus and his church, and to us as disciples of Jesus. Our Yes marks the beginning point of a lifelong commitment and shared life together.

Some other notes about justifying grace:

Our responding to grace, saying Yes, is an act of faith. We cannot EARN relationship with God, it is freely given. If someone makes you EARN your relationship with them, chances are it probably isn’t healthy. Paul states this in Romans 3:23

“23 All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory,”

Or, in Ephesians 2:8-10

“8 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. 9 It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. 10 Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.”

Salvation is both instantaneous and continuous. We can say we were saved, are saved, and will be saved. When officiating communion, I sometimes say we’re celebrating what Christ has done, is doing, and will do.

In Scripture, this spiritual experience of justifying grace is also known as salvation, healing, conversion, being born again.

God’s justifying grace is best exemplified in the cross. As Romans 5 says, while we were YET sinners, Christ died for us. The cross restores and improves, even up to sanctification, our relationship with God (vertical) and with one another (horizontal). Conversion continues as we keep saying yes to our Lord and Savior and we strive to better understand ourselves, one another, and our continual need for Christ.

You might properly guess that I love to eat. One of the rare treats I enjoy, maybe once a year or so, is the blooming onion at Outback. Who knew an onion could be so delicious!? God’s grace is like that onion…you keep peeling back layers of sin and grace, sin and grace, sin and grace. As you peel back that onion, you closer to the heart of it. As you peel back layers of sin and grace, you grow closer to the heart of God.

This is a continual motion…we say yes continually, God says yes continually. According to Dr. Mulholland, again, the action of casting/laying down crowns in Revelation 4:10 fits this truth. The casting is not in the past, it is present & future. DESCRIBE

We can help peel back layers through essential spiritual disciplines of prayer, study of Scripture, meditation, fasting, worship, fellowship, and active obedience. That’s not an exhaustive list, of course, just some heavy hitters.

It’s been an interesting time to be United Methodist this year. Not long after the church I serve (was serving in July????) fell a few votes short of disaffiliating, I announced I could no longer stay in the UM church. A day or two later, a dear friend phoned me. As Tom prayed for me, Christ was there…in a way I haven’t felt during prayer in some time. In those moments, I knew God’s justifying grace, his salvation, his love, his peace, his joy…through the sacrificial act of another.

God’s activity and our response (3-5 minutes)

The mission of every believer, once giving God our YES, is to join in God’s mission of making disciples (Matthew 28:12-20)

Introduction of Agape (3-4 minutes)

One way God moves us to the point of acceptance, healing, salvation, or conversion is through other Christians. This kind of God-love is called Agape, we can never earn or deserve God’s love, it is a gift of grace.

Not long after I was appointed to Sterling City, in 2014, my father died. He died of a debilitating progressive illness known as PSP…I think of it like a mix of Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s. It slowly Palsey’s your body. His memorial service in October of 2014, in Kansas City, coincided with the KC Royals being in the World Series. That amazing congregation surprised Melanie and I with tickets to game #2 while we were in KC. I had barely been there, I certainly didn’t earn it. It was a gift of Agape…and one I’ll never, ever, forget.

During this weekend, Christians from all over will express unconditional love to you in sacrificial ways by praying, serving, and giving symbols of agape to help illustrate how God loves you.

Emmaus communities from across the nation and around the world have sent letters to let you know they love you and are praying for you

o Cue ALD’s

· De Colores!