Rev. David Holwick ZL Questions People Ask series
First Baptist Church (Lea Keen)
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 15, 2002
John 1:14-18
GIVE THE GIFT OF GRACE
I. Christmas is a time of giving.
A. Holwick family - only gifts will be ski passes.
1) Then Celeste sees something for Josiah.
Wouldn't he love it?
Josiah gets a ski pass and something else.
2) No word yet on what extra gift the FATHER will get.
B. From moment Magi arrived, Christmas is associated with gifts.
1) Something that is given out of love or friendship.
2) It is chosen by the giver, not earned by the givee.
a) We might be tempted to hint or beg, but once we "earn"
it, the gift becomes a wage. Romans 4:4
II. The best Christmas gift, of course, is Jesus himself.
A. He gives us salvation by his death on the cross.
1) Jesus was truly "born to die."
B. More: Jesus reveals God's character to us in its clearest form.
1) We cannot see God except by what we see in Jesus.
2) As John says, Jesus was full of grace and truth. 1:17
a) Our God has no lie in him, only absolute truth.
b) Our God is a gracious God, willing to give.
III. The grace of Jesus stands out.
A. Jesus and other religions.
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts
debated what, if any, belief was unique to Christianity.
They began eliminating possibilities.
Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods
appearing in human form.
Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return
from the dead.
The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered
into the room.
"What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that
his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique
contribution among world religions.
Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."
After some discussion, the others had to agree.
The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings
attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity.
The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the
Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law - each of these
offers a way to earn approval.
Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.
#10903
B. Jesus taught grace in his parables.
1) The Prodigal Son, who blows his inheritance and crawls
home only to be welcomed with a party.
2) The Wedding Banquet, where the guests don't come so the
masters invites all the derelicts in town.
In 1990 a young well-off couple in Boston planned their
wedding.
They made a $7,500 deposit to reserve their reception at the
Hyatt Hotel and finished all the other details.
At the last minute the groom had cold feet and backed out of
the wedding.
Heartbroken, the bride went to the Hyatt to cancel the
reception, only to be told the deposit was non-refundable.
The bride decided to have the reception anyway and just threw
open the doors.
She invited the rescue missions and homeless shelters.
She made a slight change in the menu to boneless chicken - in
honor of the groom!
This reception was so unusual the Boston Globe did an
extensive article on it.
Grace has a way of getting people's attention!
#10948
3) The Workers in the Vineyard, where those who are hired for
one hour, and those who work for a whole day, get the
same wage.
You can relate to this...
Let's say you have been laboring at your job for ten
years and have inched up the pay scale.
Then they hire someone brand-new and they give him the
same pay as you get now.
How would you react?
You would say, "What a privilege it is to work at such
a grace-filled place!"
Riiight!
a) We have a problem with that.
b) We have a problem with grace.
IV. Grace is weird.
A. Our world is not a gracious place.
1) Think of Israel and the Palestinians.
a) Jews have consistent policy - attack us, we attack you.
b) Houses destroyed, leaders blown up.
c) After 9-11, we can empathize. But where does it end?
2) When grace conflicts with justice, we prefer justice.
a) (at least, if we are the injured party)
b) Forgiveness seems too pat, too unfair.
B. To be honest, the Church itself is not a very gracious place.
1) Hemingway's grace-less family.
Ernest Hemingway's grandparents attended the same
Evangelical college I did - Wheaton.
His parents were also very devout Christians.
Ernest rebelled and his parents detested his wild lifestyle.
After a time his mother wouldn't let him in her presence.
One year for his birthday, she mailed him a cake along with
the gun his father had used to kill himself.
Another year she wrote him a letter explaining that a
mother's life is like a bank account.
Every child that is born to her makes withdrawals but no
deposits during all the early years.
Later, when the child grows up, it is his responsibility to
replenish the supply he has drawn down.
Hemingway's mother then proceeded to spell out all the
specific ways Ernest should be making "deposits to keep
the account in good standing":
flowers, fruit or candy, paying some of her bills, and
a pledge to stop neglecting his duties to God.
Hemingway never got over his hatred for his mother - or for
her Savior.
Her ungracious faith had killed his.
#10951
2) The world does not associate us with grace.
a) Church in West Lafayette has a warning poster in the
kitchen - don't do this or that.
b) We condemn sinners, but don't help them out.
1> Think of the Culture Wars where religion battles
in political arena.
2> My friend John Hanford, director of religious
freedom department for U.S. government.
He proposed a bill that some evangelical leaders
had a problem with.
They savaged him.
It truly hurt him that Christians could be so mean.
c) We pat ourselves on the back, but do we deserve it?
V. Grace versus the Law.
A. John makes a contrast between Jesus and Moses. 1:17
1) There is certainly continuity between the two, but also
a big difference.
2) Or at least there should be...
B. Moses brought the Law.
1) We still have a warm spot for it.
2) Note Judge Moore and Ten Commandments controversy in
Alabama.
3) Legalism - do's and don'ts - is based on the Law.
C. Jesus brings Grace instead.
1) We are not conforming to rules but molding ourselves
to a Savior.
2) If you eliminate the cross, do you end up with the same
religion? If so, it is not genuine Christianity.
VI. Christians should be full of grace.
A. We can receive a lot of grace.
1) Fullness of his grace gives us endless blessings. 1:16
2) Think of the many times you have been forgiven by God.
a) Anything and anybody can be forgiven.
b) Even Jeffrey Dahmer - the cannibal killer - became a
Christian just before he was murdered in prison!
He was baptized in the prison whirlpool and spent all
his time reading religious material.
Many people doubt his religious change - he had gone
through religious periods before and during his
murderous spree as well - but what if it was true?
If he was sincere in his conversion, he is in heaven
right now.
And Jesus can forgive you, too.
#10955
3) Remember the material blessings you enjoy.
B. We can give a lot of grace.
1) Cut them some slack.
a) Be willing to forgive those who wrong you.
b) Remember that not forgiving only hurts you.
2) Give them what they don't deserve.
a) I know of families that use the inheritance as a weapon.
1> You are in the will, or cut out of it.
2> Multiple times!
b) Instead, be generous to the undeserving.
1> God sends his rain on the just and unjust.
3) Give them what they don't expect.
a) Christians can give lavishly and not expect results.
b) Deacons' fund - we never ask people to pay back.
c) Best way to give - secretly.
C. Grace is what will make you distinctive.
1) Your giving of it, or your lack of it.
2) Grace in the midst of carnage.
In 1987 an IRA bomb went off in a small town in Northern
Ireland, among a group of Protestants who had gathered
to honor the war dead on veteran's Day.
Eleven people died and 63 were wounded.
What made this act of terrorism stand out from so many
others was the response of one of the wounded, Gordon
Wilson, a devout Methodist.
The bomb buried Wilson and his 20-year-old daughter under
five feet of concrete and brick.
"Daddy, I love you very much," were the last words Marie
spoke, grasping her father's hand as they waited for
the rescuers.
She suffered severe spinal and brain injuries, and died
a few hours later in the hospital.
A newspaper later proclaimed, "No one remembers what the
politicians had to say at that time.
No one who heard Gordon Wilson will ever forget what he
confessed....
His grace towered over the miserable justifications of the
bombers."
Speaking from his hospital bed, Wilson said, "I have lost
my daughter, but I bear no grudge.
Bitter talk is not going to bring Marie Wilson back to
life.
I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will
forgive them."
After his release from the hospital, Gordon Wilson led a
crusade for Protestant-Catholic reconciliation.
Protestant extremists who had planned to avenge the bombing
decided, because of the publicity surrounding Wilson,
that such behavior would be politically foolish.
Wilson spoke out against violence and constantly repeated
the refrain, "Love is the bottom line."
The Irish Republic ultimately made Wilson a member of its
Senate.
When he died in 1995, all of Ireland and Great Britain
honored this ordinary Christian citizen for his
uncommon spirit of grace and forgiveness.
#10956
VII. When given to you, grace must be received.
A. It is not automatic but requires a decision to accept it.
B. Accept grace from others.
C. Accept salvation from Jesus.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon was inspired by a question from a member of my congregation
but much of the material comes from Philip Yancey's excellent book
"What's So Amazing About Grace?" (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 1997).
Illustration titles are given to Yancey's stories by Holwick.
#10903 "Grace Makes Christianity Unique," by Philip Yancey, in "What's
So Amazing About Grace?", 1997, page 41; adapted by David
Holwick.
#10948 "A Non-Wedding Reception With Boneless Chicken," by Philip
Yancey, ibid., p. 43; adapted by David Holwick.
#10951 "Hemingway's Ungracious Evangelical Mother," by Philip Yancey,
ibid., p. 34; adapted by David Holwick.
#10955 "Dahmer's Prison Conversion," by Philip Yancey, ibid., p. 87;
adapted by David Holwick.
#10956 "Grace In the Midst of Carnage," by Philip Yancey, ibid.,
pp. 108-9; adapted by David Holwick.
These and 23,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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