Open Wide Your Heart
Notes
Transcript
Open Wide Your Heart
Open Wide Your Heart
Introduction
As I mentioned last week, we will be in ordinary time or common time where we explore several different stories and passages that are not centered on an event to topic. Today is another one of those lessons. Today’s passage is about what a Christian’s life is like for 1 Century Christianity and in some parts of the world still today where Christianity is not welcomed. This is a common passage when as a Christian you wonder why are things not going smoothly, you will be reminded of no promise given for smooth sailing. Today’s passage comes from 2 Corinthians 6:1-13. Listen now to this passage or read along with me in your own bibles.
1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
2 For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,
7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed;
10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.
12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours.
13 In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.
The Mission - Grace at work
Paul starts our passage by saying not to accept the grace of God at work in you in vain. What does that mean? How would I accept the grace of God in vain? Perhaps one way is making the assumption that once you accept Christ as Lord and give your life to God, everything will be perfect and life will be smooth sailing. Grace at work in you needs to be there to transform you. Grace uses the events in your life to shape and mold you. While good times shape you as well, alone they are not sufficient for grace to be able to fully work through you. Think of it this way, if you only expect to eat one type of food every day and you only expect to speak to one person every day and you only expect to have one conversation every day, where is there opportunity for growth? God has saved you by grace and wants to continue working through you by grace but if you have the wrong expectations and it is hard to see grace in those other situations.
Paul was a devout Pharisee and a devout Jew. His whole life before encountering Christ was running smoothly and according to his plans to be the best he could be. He supported what he thought was good and he opposed what he saw as evil or against God’s plans. One day while riding down the road carrying out what he thought was good, he was struck down in the middle of the road by Jesus. Paul was literally blinded by Jesus’ light. Was being blinded what Paul considered good? Probably not. Was Paul being blinded what was needed to put Paul on the right track? Yes as God had plans for Paul that grace would transform him and this blindness was the first of many afflictions that would allow grace to transform and empower him for the mission of Christ.
Paul mentions in this passage the various hardships he has been through and that other Christians have also endured. He shares three things. (1) Paul has endured many hardships for the sake of the gospel news and for allowing grace to work in him. (2) Paul was never alone in any of these hardships - God’s grace worked in him the whole time. (3) Paul suffered the same things as other Christians so it was to be expected that life as a Christian and or a missionary would never be smooth sailing.
Tools - Allowing grace to work
What about your own rough spots in life? Have you been able to see God’s grace work through those? It is not always easy to see, especially in the moment or perhaps not this side of eternity. So how do we cope with that fact? By not accepting in vain the grace of God in your life. This grace of God is what enables us to get through the hour, the day, the week, the month, the year, the decade, or whatever season you are in.
What can I do in those moments where life is unfair, rough, or bringing me to my knees? Paul also shared what he focused on the whole time that allowed grace to work in him. Listen again to verse 6-7
6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,
7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
While Paul endured accusations, he fought hard to keep himself in the right place with God no matter what life threw at him. He endured much and was able to by focusing on keeping himself pure. He studied scripture diligently to keep his mind sharp and ready. Despite the things done to Paul, he still demonstrated patience with churches who wavered on issues. Paul did not give up on people and kept working with them. Paul demonstrated kindness in the way loved even his enemies who sought to destroy him. By keeping himself pure and dedicated to the mission of Christ, he endured much for the sake of Christ and the grace that was at work in him. This grace empowered him to speak the gospel news truthfully and unwavering because of the genuine love that was in him. God’s goodness was in his heart and motivated him.
Where are we in our own efforts to remain pure, to build our knowledge of scripture, demonstrating patience and kindness? Where are we in keeping ourselves holy with genuine love? Do we give truthful speech by the power of God with God’s goodness as our own weapons? This sounds too hard to accomplish or maintain. This is not exactly what our lives look like.
Seasons of Life - Grace works in all
Grace though is the key and the answer to all of these impossibilities. Listen to verses 8-10 again.
8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed;
10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Paul was an honorable and upright Pharisee - then he was a blasphemer in others eyes once he accepted the grace of God through Christ.
Paul was unknown to the Christian group except as an enemy, yet he became a powerful instrument in God’s hands that left a legacy that still is taught about today.
Paul and other Christians were arrested, beaten, put on trial, and many other attempts to discredit them or make them change. Yet nothing was able to sway their dedication to Christ mission. Nothing was able to overcome the grace at work in them.
In these two passages is a theme. Life will be rough and unfair and yet full of grace. You will see great things taken away from you and you will see others grow by your sacrifices. You will see others seemingly getting everything what they want while you struggle. You will see others get away with everything wrong and you will be showcased as evil for the tiniest offense. In all these things allow the grace of God to work in you through these circumstances. The more you learn to depend on God’s grace, the less these determine your worth and measure of success in life.
What we learn here is that while life may be unfair, God’s grace is a constant source of strength and means to overcome the impossible. Paul closing remarks in our passage for today are about opening wide your hearts. He is saying just as he and other Christian leaders have opened wide their hearts towards God to allow the grace of God to work, we too need to open wide our hearts to allow the grace of God to overcome the challenges in this life. When we close our hearts off to God, then we stifle the grace of God that can work for good in our difficult circumstances. When we close our hearts off to others, then we miss that same grace that can work in us to work through others. I conclude today and implore to each of you to open wide your hearts to God to allow the grace to work through you and transform you.