As
I’ve spent time praying and planning for today’s gathering, one thought jumped
into my mind, and I haven’t been able to get away from it.
It is actually
part of the take away from today’s message, and it applies to every one of us. It’s
a simple, but extremely loaded question: “What do you do when you blow it?”
Think about
these scenarios with me for just a second:
ILLUSTRATION- When break your leg or your
arm, who do you go see?
Generally you make an appointment with your family physician who will
take the necessary steps to repair your broken ligament.
When you are
involved in a car accident, what do you do?
One of the
first phone calls you make is to Edwin Wallace to see if your insurance is up
to date and to see if you have enough coverage.
When
your favorite hockey team has a 4-1 lead with 10 minutes left in the 7th
and deciding game of their first round series, and they end up blowing the game
in overtime, what do you do? YOU FIND A NEW HOCKEY TEAM!
Or
better yet, when you do something God has asked you not to do, what do you do? What do you do
when you blow it?
Most
of us might be inclined to respond to that question in one of three ways: We seek to justify what was done.
We
might log on to Facebook and tell the world what we did, and they will love and
comfort us and remind us that what we did really wasn’t that bad, and that
people have done far worse; so just forget about it and move on.
Or
we might try to sweep it under the rug
and pretend that nothing ever happened. So we live as if nothing ever happened,
but deep down inside, we are ashamed of what was done and hope that we never
get found out.
Or
we might turn and run from God. We
tell ourselves that God has lost all patience with us, so we turn our backs on
God and run away.
Unfortunately
these are the most common responses we have when we sin against God, when we do
something we shouldn’t do, when we’ve blown it.
But
none of these are the correct response. We shouldn’t jump on Facebook, we
shouldn’t pretend that our sin doesn’t exist, and we certainly shouldn’t run
from God.
What should we
do then?
John,
who was a close friend of Jesus, tells us what to do when we blow it:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John
1:9 NIV)
I
think you should underline that verse. Better yet, I think you should memorize
that verse.
What do you do
when you blow it? What do you do
when you’ve answered sin’s 3 AM wake-up call? You don’t turn and run, instead you
Lean into
God’s Grace.
A Bible
dictionary tells us that grace is: “Favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or
merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that person deserves.” (NIBD,
522) WOW!
Why don't you
let that sink in for a moment. (REPEAT)
Grace is not getting what I
deserve and at the same time it is receiving what I have no business receiving.
In other words, Grace is God’s undeserved gift to us.
This is what
John tells us. If we confess that we’ve blown it, and come running to God with
a repentant heart, He will forgive and cleanse us from our wickedness. That’s
grace at its finest!
If, however, we
choose not to confess our sin, if we choose not to acknowledge that we’ve blown
it, we will miss the grace that God longs for us to experience.
So consider a
question this morning: Are
you leaning into God’s grace, or are you running from God’s grace?
Author and
Pastor Gordon McDonald once said: “The world can do almost anything as well as or better
than the church. You need not to be a Christian to build houses, feed the
hungry or heal the sick.
There is only
one thing that the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace.” (Yancey, 1997, 15)
If you’re
looking to find grace apart from God; if you’re looking to find freedom apart
from God you’ll never find it, for grace is only found in Jesus.
In another time
and in another place, John said: “…the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17,
NIV)
ILLUSTRATION- The story is told of a boy
who ran away from his home.
The time
finally came when he wanted to go back home, so he wrote a note to his father
telling him that he would be taking the train on a certain day, and if his
father wanted him to come back, he was to tie a piece of white cloth to one of
the trees near the train station.
If the boy saw
the cloth, he would get off the train. If there wasn’t any cloth on the tree,
he would stay on the train and pass through the town.
The day came
and the son boarded the train in another town and began the long journey toward
home.
As the train
drew near to his hometown, the boy’s heart began to race, and his hands broke
out in a cold sweat.
He was very
nervous and didn’t know if he dared to look. He was afraid there wouldn’t be
any white piece of cloth tied to the tree.
As
the train slowed for the stop, the son turned his eyes toward the window and
they filled with tears at what he saw.
There
wasn’t one piece of cloth tied to a tree…. There were pieces of white cloth
tied to every branch of every tree all around the station. (From my flies)
Friends,
God had His Son nailed to a tree to let you know how much He loves you and that
He wants you to come to Him.
Even
though you may have blown it once; even though you may blow it every minute of
every day, God wants you to know that His grace is what you need.
The
Apostle Paul struggled with something in his life, something he referred to as “a thorn in my
flesh…” (2 Corinthians 12:7a, NIV)
Three
times he pleaded with the Lord to remove this thorn from him, but it wasn’t
removed. What Paul received instead was what Paul needed the most.
The Lord told
him: “My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9b, NIV)
Paul’s
thorn wasn’t removed, but Paul got what he really needed: God’s grace.
God’s
grace is what you and I need as well:
Ø We
need God’s grace if we blow it.
Ø We
need God’s grace when we blow it.
Ø We
need God’s grace because we’ve blown it.
Thankfully we
can receive God’s grace. John continues on in chapter 2 of 1st John
by saying:
“My
dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone
does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is
Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
2
He himself is the sacrifice that atones
for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” (1 John 2:1-2, NLT2)
ILLUSTRATION- Sir John Clarke dedicated many years to Bible translation
in the Belgian Congo.
He had difficulty translating
the word advocate. For two years he searched for a suitable translation.
His search ended the day he
visited the king of the Mulongo people.
During his time with the
king, an aid appeared, received his instructions, and left.
The king told Clarke that the
aid was his Nsenga Mukwashi, which was not a name but a
title.
The king explained that the
servant represented the people to the king. Clarke immediately asked for
permission to watch the man at work.
He went to the edge of a
village where he found him talking with three women. The husband of one of the
women had died, and she was being evicted from the hut. She needed help.
“I will take you to the
king.” The Nsenga Mukwashi told her.
“Do not do that,” she
objected. “I am old and timid and would become speechless in his presence.”
“There will be no need for
you to speak,” he assured her. “I shall speak for you.”
And he did. Succinctly and
clearly and passionately.
Clarke noted the flash of
anger in the king’s eyes. The sovereign ordered his court to care for the widow
and seize the culprits. The widow found justice, and Clarke found his word—Nsenga Mukwashi.” (Lucado, 2003.162-163)
Friends,
John reminds us that we too, have an advocate with the Father. “When you are
weak, He is strong. When you are timid, He speaks” (ibid)
When
you and I blow it, He is pleading our case before the Father. Jesus is our
Advocate.
And
what He offers today is Grace.
Ø His
grace has the power to cleanse you should you still remain in sin.
Ø His
grace has the power to restore you should you fall into sin.
Ø His
grace has the power to keep you from sin.
God’s grace is
sufficient for us.
ILLUSTRATION- More than once, I have been
on the receiving end of the grace of God.
I remember
after a particular painful season of the Lord’s discipline, I was working at a
motel not far from my boy-hood home, and I was reflecting on my own sin after I
had blown it.
As
I sat with an open Bible in my hand, I found myself reading the words of
Jeremiah 15:19, which says: “Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I
will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless,
words, you will be my spokesman…” (NIV)
I need to tell
you church that I found the grace of God that day.
Even though I
had committed the Hiroshima and Nagasaki of screw up’s God was telling me:
“If (I) we
confess (my) our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive (me) us (my)
our sins and purify (me) us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NIV)
I
want to let you know that no matter how far you think you’ve turned from God;
no matter how much you think you’ve blown it; even if you find yourself
wandering in the wilderness, God’s grace can bring you back.
If
you will follow John’s advice and confess your sin, God is faithful and just and
He will forgive and cleanse you from your sin.
If
you have blown it this week and have yet to talk to God about your need for
forgiveness, if you follow John’s advice and lean into God’s grace you will find
that His grace is all that you need.
In
just a few moments, we are going to partake of the Lord’s Supper. This is the
ultimate example of God’s grace.
Even
though we blew it, God still sent His Son to die in our place and pay the price
that sin demanded.
Before
we do, we need to take some time and allow God to search our hearts, and if
we’ve blown it, we need to lean into God’s grace: we need to confess our sin;
we need to repent of that sin and allow His grace to be applied to our lives.
So
as the band come back, if you are in need of the grace of God, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand, stand where
you are, or come to the front of the church and I want to pray for you.
I’m going to pray that you will lean
into God’s sufficient grace.
What do you do when you’ve blown it? We need to lean into
God’s grace.
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