A Journey of Grace: Amazing Grace
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“I shall be telling this with a sigh; Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost
“I shall be telling this with a sigh; Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost
“Somewhere ages and ages hence,”… somewhere much further down the road… we will be afforded the grace of “hindsight”… the opportunity to reflect on the myriad of times we’ve met diverging paths — those forks in the road — and chose one over another… uncertain of the outcome… or the impact they will have!
Today, we stand at a fork in the road…
We’ve been given an invitation… We’ve been invited to participate in the eternal dance of the Trinity…
We’ve been invited into a Journey with Christ — the Journey of Grace!
The decision we make moving forward will have “made all the difference.”
“The way I see it, there are only two reasons people come to faith: they have some sort of crisis, or they are born into it.”
One pastor tells the story of a young woman sitting across from her at a small cafe…
They had met 7 months prior when He had moved to Chicago to take a new pastorate, and their families had become close…
This morning, the young woman had popped by the cafe they frequented to grab a quick cup of coffee and noticed her friend sitting at a table with papers scattered about… feverishly grading them for a class he taught…
The topic: “Faith in the twenty-first century”.
Noticing the topic, the woman said: “The way I see it, there are only two reasons people come to faith: they have some sort of crisis, or they are born into it.”
He paused for a minute… the statement was loaded… For his friend, a self-proclaimed atheist, religious faith was being run through two filters. Faith was either the result some out-of-control situation in a person’s life… or it was outside their choosing.
Either way, she didn’t particularly find faith to be a compelling option for her life…
He said, “That’s really good — I think you are spot on. Can I offer a third option?”
She nodded.
“Some people are compelled by it. What I mean is that they see something in the lives of someone they know — something deep, rich, and beautiful. Their lives — the way they embrace faith, God, Jesus, or whatever you want to call it — is so compelling that it makes people ask questions. They start to pursue it solely based on the evidence of someone else’s life.”
“I hope to live that kind of life. I hope to live a faith-filled life that is compelling enough to inspire people to ask the question, ‘So, What’s the deal with the God you trust?’”
Is that the kind of Life that you want to live?!
The Faith-filled Life is only found as we Journey with Christ!
Let me tell you:
There is NOTHING more beautiful… more handsome… more appealing to the world then the life of a believer who is COMPLETELY “sold out” for Christ!
The Christian Faith is compelling…
WHY?
Because Grace is compelling.
But… What is Grace?
Dr. David Busic lists:
God’s unmerited favor.
God’s undeserved love.
The favor given to someone who deserves the opposite.
The absolutely free expression of the love of God finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver.
God’s no-strings-attached goodness.
There is no doubt that these are all definitions of Grace that we have heard…
Dr. Busic states: “All of these definitions for grace attempt to describe those indescribable and astounding aspects of God’s loving response to undeserving humanity. This is why we use the word ‘amazing’.” — Dr. David Busic
Grace is an absolutely amazing thing!
This is why the Apostle Paul redefined the Greek word “charis”, which was a common word meaning “gift” or “favor,” to describe “all that God has done for us in Jesus” (Busic, 25).
The root of “charis” is “char” — “that which brings joy.”
When you consider all that Jesus has done for you… When you sing songs of worship… when you seek out His presence… what do you feel?
Grace evokes feelings of Joy and Gratitude.
Busic (quoting Yancey) goes on to say: “The underlying meaning of Grace is that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make God love us less than he already does.”
Yancey states: “Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love.”
Let me tell you:
“You cannot pray more, give more, serve more, or sacrifice more and cause God to say, ‘She is doing so much better. She is finally getting herself together. I love her more now than I ddid before.’” (Busic 27)
You Are Loved As You Are!
Nothing depends on what you do, or how you behave…
The very first inclination of God’s heart is Love for You!
(I know someone need to hear that today!)
We need to understand… We CANNOT do anything to make God love us! He already does!!!!
We like to talk about Justice, Mercy, and Grace in the Modern Church… and we often attempt to make them equal, or the same, but… that’s not true!
There is a difference between Justice, Mercy, and Grace…
Justice is getting what you deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve.
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We deserve death, but… God gives us Grace!
Jesus gives us a good illustration of how this works:
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’
5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.
6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.
10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.
11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.
12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?
14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.
15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Jesus presents us with a story that makes absolutely no economic sense!
It’s an unwise business practice… it’s reckless behavior… it alienates the hardest working workers, and encourages laziness....
But… It’s not about business practices… It’s about Grace!
Grace is the favor and faithfulness of God embodied in the person of Jesus… mediated by the Spirit… at work in this world to align the world to the beautifully life-giving, redemptive purposes of the Father.
And it is poured out on us through Jesus!
Grace is an invitation to step into a new journey of life… into a new perspective… a new way of seeing and experiencing the world in light of the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus!
Grace is a deeply personal experience!
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“Jesus invites us to a journey. ‘Come, follow me.’ It is a simple invitation to go on an adventure with a beloved friend.” — David Busic
Faith is more than intellectual assent…
It is an invitation to a journey with Jesus!
When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He was talking about relationship.
He was describing discipleship as relationship…
The Journey of Grace is relational to the core.
James K. A. Smith describes discipleship as “a kind of immigration, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.”
When you migrate from one country to another, you are not just changing locations… you are changing allegiances… citizenship… cultural perspectives…
Smith goes on: “In Christ we are given a heavenly passport; in his body we learn to live like ‘locals’ of His kingdom. Such an immigration to a new kingdom isn’t just a matter of being teleported to a different realm; we need to be acclimated to a new way of life, learn a new language, acquire new habits — and unlearn the habits of the rival dominion.”
Christ teaches us those things… not because we deserve His help… because of His Grace!
Speaking of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus… Dairmaid MacCulloch said: “A person, not a system, captured [Paul] in the mysterious events on the road to Damascus.”
It was a PERSON who changed him, and that PERSON was Jesus of Nazareth!
Paul’s name change — from Saul to Paul was more than a conversion… It was an awakening!
18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,
It’s all because of Jesus!!!
Grace is ROOTED in Jesus.
It’s an invitation to step out from where we’ve been and into the story of where Jesus is leading.
Grace is an all-consuming… life-transforming… on-going invitation to let go of the all the heavy burdens and baggage we carry everyday, and to travel lightly into the Kingdom of God…
It is an invitation to step onto “the road less traveled.”
Grace Calls Us to Follow Jesus.
I want you to hear this: (Dr. Busic says something I have said many times…) This is something EVERY Christian needs to get ahold of:
“The Journey of Grace is not about following a system, a book, a Manual, a denomination, or a tradition. [ It’s not about Doctrine man creates] We follow, worship, and serve Jesus the Christ.” — David Busic, Gen. Super Intendant COtN
You do know that Jesus was a “travelin’ man”…?
He was not stationary… He did not build a church building and expect people to come to Him… He was always on the move…
You couldn’t pin Him down for long… He was always moving from place to place… town to town… and most importantly… from life to life.
Wherever He went, people clamored to see Him. Some chose to follow Him… Many were astounded by Him… A few were offended by Him… BUT… They couldn’t stay away from Him!
WHY?!
Jesus was the embodiment of God on mission.
Did you hear that?
Jesus as the Son of God IS God!
He is the God who clothed Himself in human flesh, put on walking sandals… and in the words of Crocodile Dundee, “went on ‘walk about’.”
In Jesus, God went for a walk amongst the people He loves!
When people actually look at Him… they see in Jesus the captivating favor and faithfulness of God exemplified in the very concrete life of Jesus.
It’s not abstract… It’s not an idea… IT IS LIFE!
In the book “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus” Nabeel Qureshi describes how in his search for truth he encountered the irresistible Grace of Jesus, and that changed him… It captivated him… He couldn’t resist it…
Grace shows up in the life of Jesus and invites us to join Him on a journey of Grace!
The Christian faith is not a “panic button.”
— It’s not something we are supposed to turn to only in moments of trial and uncertainty…
It’s not a “family inheritance.”
— You are not “saved”… You are not “good to go” just because your parents took you to church, or you have read the Bible…
It’s not a transactional purchase of a “ticket to heaven.”
— It’s not about a prayer we pray that GARANTEES our place in Heaven…
John 3:16–17 (NRSV)
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes [“pisteuo” - places his complete and total trust in Him] in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Salvation is Eternally secure in Christ, but… We have to CHOOSE to place our FAITH — Our COMPLETE Trust — in HIM.
The Christian faith is an invitation to take up stride with the One whose life is so compelling … and who loves us so much… that we find ourselves caught up in the journey even before we understand its significance.
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,
36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).
42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
“Come and see” — Jesus extends grace in an invitation… “Come and see”…
Come and see what life is meant to be…
“Come, Follow me.”
Christ extends the invitation to the Journey of Grace before we even know what it is!
How will we answer His invitation?