Spreading Grace
Grace Series (Final)
Coulee Community Church, 8-25-19
Key Scriptures: John 1:1–18; Hebrews 12:15; 1 Peter 4:8–11
There is a Chinese saying that on the surface seems pretty innocent, but when you break it down, it’s actually a curse.
“May you live in interesting times”
The idea focuses on the word “interesting” meaning in order to interesting, you have to have something that is very tumultuous or worrisome, or so confusing that you have to devote a lot of your time to find meaning or truth in what is happening.
You and I are now living in interesting times.
We live in a day and age where truth is a word that has lost it’s meaning in our culture. Instead of truth being something verifiable, provable, and trustworthy, the concept of truth has been relegated to an individual opinion regardless of what is factual.
It’s one of the main reasons our country is in such crisis.
We don’t know what is true anymore.
All news media tells us are slanted stories about what is going on. There is little to no journalistic integrity anymore- it’s all about who can get the biggest headline with the most salacious story first, even if it turns out to be a lie.
What that has done in our culture is to produce a divide between those of us who are more liberal in our thinking and those of us who are more conservative in our thinking.
Whenever we get challenged as humans we react defensively and build walls.
What most of us have done in our world is build a huge wall around our opinions, calling it truth, and refusing to talk to those who don’t believe as we do.
Instead, we lob our truth grenades over our walls at each other hoping that they cause us to change our minds.
This is not what God desires for you and me, or anyone on this earth.
God doesn’t want our source of truth to be Fox News, or CNN, or MSNBC, or even our local newspaper.
God wants to be our source of truth.
You’ve heard me say this over and over, but Truth is reality as seen through God’s eyes.
You can’t get a better expert on what is true than the God who sees all, knows all, and can do all.
The opening of John’s gospel reminds us of this and of what is special about Jesus.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Prayer
This morning, in the final week of our four-week series on God’s grace, we should learn from Jesus about the power of a message spoken in grace, peace, and truth.
Within this movement called Christianity, there seems to be two camps of people.
One side emphasize grace.
The other side emphasizes truth.
But Jesus showed us that apart from grace, we cannot really speak the truth, and apart from the truth, we are not really speaking words of grace. They are intertwined with each other and dependent on each other.
The peace and blessing of God comes when grace and truth are joined. And in Jesus, we see our perfect example.
Looking at verse 16 in John 1
The New Revised Standard version quotes it this way
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16 NRSV).
However, NIV substitutes “one blessing after another” for “grace upon grace.” Why do I bring this up?
I believe John was searching for a way to communicate that God’s grace is multi-layered.
CS Lewis said it this way- - John 1:16 means to come “farther up and farther in.”
The danger of our modern understand of grace is this-
When we limit grace to merely a ticket to heaven, there is no farther up and farther in, either in this life or the next.
In other words, why come to the shores of God’s grace only to dip our toes in the ocean?
You don’t understand an ocean by reading about it in books.
You can’t experience the majesty of an ocean through a documentary on TV.
When I first saw an ocean, I just didn’t just drive by and glance.
I didn’t stay in the parking lot. I got out of the car
I didn’t stay on the pavement, I walked on the beach watching the waves come in and smell the salty air.
Then to experience it firsthand I took off my shirt my shirt and sandals and dove in.
That’s how you and I should approach the grace of God.
We can’t just come to church, punch our spiritual timecard and think we have experienced what God’s grace is all about.
You need to dive into it.
A Sunday only Christianity gets reduced to a religious mindset.
I don’t want that for us. Grace isn’t a wading pool to splash around on Sunday and then walk away until next Sunday.
It’s an ocean to exist in 24/7.
James 4:6 reminds us, “But God gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”
God is grace, that means he is sharing more and more of Himself with us every day as we humble ourselves.
James was speaking from experience, not theory.
Remember, James is Jesus’ half-brother. James thought Jesus was nuts when he walked this earth with the 12 disciples. In fact, his unbelief ran so deep him, and other brothers grabbed mom and went to take Jesus and lock him in the looney bin.
But when Jesus rose from the dead, James discovered the multi-layered grace of God as he learned to humble himself again and again.
When we humble ourselves, we position ourselves for greater grace, and the greater blessing of God’s presence in our lives.
When God exists richly within you- He brings everything else with Him- including peace, strength, power, blessing, protection.
Circling back to how we started this morning- He brings one of the most important parts of HIS character-
Truth.
When we humble ourselves, we create an atmosphere of peace that allows us to speak, live, and share the truth because it’s filled with grace.
But grace is the central ingredient here. Truth apart from grace is rooted in pride or the need to be right.
Grace done God’s way shares truth because we honestly care about the life of others.
I want you to consider something-
2 Tim 3:16 says that “All scripture is God breathed”. The Greek for that is theonuestos Theo= God, pneustos= breathed.
Why is that important?
Because the truth of God’s word gives life.
Think about this- When God breathes, dead things become alive.
Adam was a lump of clay until God breathed
The disciples were fear filled and stuck in their religious mindset until Christ breathed upon them.
They then experienced the fullness of the divine grace power when the Holy Spirit breathed on them tongue of fire in the upper room.
Do you need a fresh breath of God this morning? He wants to give it to you, but you need to first humble yourself.
Paul understood the importance of this fresh breath. Paul started all of his letters to the church praying “grace and peace” over them because he understood our ongoing need for both of them.
Another thing I need you to see this morning is that Paul gave each congregation grace and peace because they were his to give.
Remember Jesus’ instructions to the 12 disciples
“Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, ‘peace to this house’” (Luke 10:5).
Jesus had in mind something more than words or a nice greeting. Jesus understood the power of the divine presence that you and I are supposed to carry.
Jesus knew that a greeting of peace could rest upon the people as that very presence of God entered that house with them.
This peace and grace Jesus instructed the disciples to give was something real, something tangible, something refreshing to their souls. It was like giving a thirsty person water on a hot day.
Paul learned this and when he wrote to the churches of God scattered across the Roman world, and his first words are “grace and peace.”
Paul wasn’t trying to give what he didn’t have-
Paul possessed grace and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit living within him.
Apparently, he had a surplus; he could give it away!
In many cases Paul was the founder of the church to which he wrote. He wrote to encourage what was good in these churches and to offer correction for whatever needed help.
Correction- that’s a word that can cause us to hide or build a wall.
Here is a question for you- How often do we look upon correction and teaching as sources of the peace and grace of God?
A moment ago, we were talking about God breathing new life into us by taking up residence in our hearts.
If God were to become a human again, and asked to stay at your house next Saturday night, you’d pull out the best linen, you’d finally scrub those baseboards, you’d make the environment that God was to occupy the most comfortable you could.
That’s what correction is- making your life, soul, and spirit the most comfortable for God to dwell in so that He can bring HIS blessing, power, and plan to bear.
That’s why God’s grace and peace should be prized above almost anything else in our lives.
And yet there are obstacles to grace. There are some things that need God’s correction. In order to bring grace and peace, we should examine ourselves in two areas.
The first example of something that will limit God’s grace is-
Bitterness
“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled” (Heb. 12:15).
Bitterness is an obstacle to grace. The wounded heart draws inward and avoids even grace itself. If you think of grace as a pool that can hold the presence an blessing of God- bitterness makes that pool shrink until nothing of God can be seen. Bitterness says I want to be alone, alone in my pain.
The problem is- like grace can change the atmosphere around us, so can bitterness. This passage from Hebrews warns us that, apart from the grace of God, our bitterness and unsettled scores seep into those around us. Our personal bitterness can and will defile others.
We desperately need grace to endure suffering, even in the everyday slights of life. In our pain, when we refuse grace, we will defile many. All the while, we think we are suffering in silence and solitude, unaware that when one member of the body suffers, the whole body is in pain.
The second example is
Scarcity
This second opponent of grace is my fear that grace is a zero-sum game, that somehow grace comes prepackaged in fixed amounts.
WE forget the scripture that assures us that “his mercy endures forever,” and comes in limitless supply.
We can be like a sparrow who thinks his own small breaths will consume all the air in the sky. We think whatever grace we find, we must keep for ourselves.
When we allow this fear within us, it makes us ask-
Who knows if or where we will find more?
Yet the scripture reminds us that if the Father clothes the flowers of the field and feeds the birds of the air, how much more will he provide the life-giving freedom of grace?
Grace is not a wading pool- it’s the Mississippi flowing from the throne of God.
Here is the supply of heaven: when I share the grace I’ve received, I discover the Source of all grace, who gives the Spirit without limit.
So, Do we wish grace and peace on others? Hopefully the answer is yes.
The second question- Do we have it to give?
Paul’s words were not only about receiving; his greetings were examples of what we have to give to those around us and those who God places in our path day after day.
Jesus had straightforward instructions to his followers, “freely you’ve received, therefore freely give” (Matt. 10:8).
If we have received any grace from God, then we have grace to give.
Don’t worry, you won’t run out! Paul’s famous words from Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” were not words he claimed exclusively for himself.
Paul was speaking them over those who were listening to his letter. Many believers have quoted this verse on their own behalf in order to fight off guilt and condemnation.
Have we ever quoted them on behalf of others?
If God has given us peace in any area of our lives, we can give that peace, as well. He doesn’t just give us victory, grace, and peace for our benefit, but so we can be a source of it for others.
One disciple may have learned the secret of contentment with respect to financial matters.
Another may have learned how to place everyday fears at the feet of Jesus.
Do we ever consider that the peace we’ve received in our walk with God might be the very thing we can teach others?
He blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others.
It totally puts our past and present trials and hardships into perspective.
Maybe you had a messy divorce and you have felt the grace, forgiveness, and restoration of God.
That’s great news, now share that with someone else.
Maybe you have had that cancer diagnosis and been scared to death, but God spared and taught you some things.
Now share that with others.
Perhaps God has helped you with finances- not to overspend but become better stewards and find financial peace.
Awesome, now Go and share that with others.
Freely has you have received, freely give!
Our everyday lives are no different than the times in which Paul wrote his letters. Words of grace and peace are not mere formalities, they are ours to give.
You have something to give. You can give grace and peace. And the world desperately needs grace and peace.
I want to finish this morning talking about the-
Community of Grace
Finally, we should understand that there is a place to cultivate grace, peace, and truth. Grace grows in community, but not just any community.
This can be a hard thing for some to swallow, because when the bible speaks of community, it’s talking about the church- not the building, but the people inside the building.
Not just on Sunday’s.
The same Father God who adopted us into his family intends that we should live together as family. This is a difficult message because in modern times, the church of Jesus is marginalized into a characture of what it supposed to be.
Even for those who desire to follow Jesus, church is seen as an ala carte menu and not as a total spiritual and lifestyle change it was meant to be.
We have created a Christianity where we can choose churches the way most people choose restaurants, according to our individual tastes.
By most estimates, there are more than 25,000 Christian denominations worldwide. Not individual churches, denominations. How can we grow in grace when we are free to wander from one family to another?
But it doesn’t have to be like this. Listen carefully to the apostle Peter:
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:8–11)
It’s easy to miss the word grace in this passage, but you’ll find it right in the middle, which is where grace always belongs.
Our words and actions are the practical expressions of God’s grace. God wants to show his grace through the love, hospitality, encouragement, and service in the community of faith.
We extend grace to others precisely because we’ve received grace from God. Among our families at home—and among the family of God—we are called to be caretakers of grace. Too often, we have become merely consumers of grace, and it has led to a church for every taste and preference the consumers can imagine.
That’s not what God desires for his church
Look closely at the passage above. The apostle Peter calls us to use our gifts in service toward one another. We steward the grace we have received by the way we speak and act toward others in the church.
Grace isn’t only a gift.
Grace isn’t only a source of power and peace
Grace is also a stewardship?
There is a wonderful exercise: try reading the parable of the talents (it’s in Matthew 25 and also Luke 19) as a teaching about grace.
The master leaves something of great worth with his servants (substitute grace for gold), and when he returns, he looks to see whether we have used his gift wisely.
All rise
Best of all is our reward.
In Matthew’s version of the parable, the master not only praises the good stewards, he extends an invitation, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” says the master. “Come and share your master’s happiness!”
When we distribute the grace of God, we will receive his praise, and something more, an invitation to enter into his joy.
Lets be found to be excellent stewards of HIS grace this morning
Prayer
