"How Grace Works"
October 10, 2010
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Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. God promises justice will roll down like a river. God promises mercy to those who repent.
But God goes further. God goes the extra mile. God goes to grace. Grace gets us more than we could ever earn or merit. Grace fulfills the demand for justice. Grace extends the hand of mercy. Then grace goes beyond our wildest dreams.
I’m obsessed with grace! I named my first daughter Eden Grace Saylor. We were playing with alphabet blocks, spelling Eden’s name, when we discovered that simply moving the letters of her first name spells “Need.” As in, “Need grace, Saylor!” After 2 years of being a father I realized I still needed more grace! So I named our second girl Karis Joy. Karis, or Charis, is greek for grace. It is only in God’s grace that we find our true joy. No matter who you are I can promise you this- you need more grace in your life! You need to find the joy of the LORD in his grace today!
Phillip Yancey calls grace “the last best word.”
When CS Lewis was asked, what sets Christianity apart for all the other world religions he said, “That should be obvious- grace.”
Gordon MacDonald wrote, “The world can do almost everything better than the church- build houses, feed the hungry, care for the sick. There is only one thing the world can not do. It can not offer grace.”
John Newton simply wrote that it is “Amazing.” Go ahead, say it with me if you know it, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”
Grace. What is it anyways, and how does it work? There can be no more important question to ask, or topic to discuss, for the church. Now to study grace from the bible I should probably say, “Take and read.” The bible is about the grace of God. But even with this much explanation, illustration, illumination, we still have trouble getting it. But perhaps no part of scripture explains it more “academically” than Ephesians 2...
1(A) And you were(B) dead in the trespasses and sins 2(C) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following(D) the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in(E) the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in(F) the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and(G) were by nature(H) children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But[b] God, being(I) rich in mercy,(J) because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even(K) when we were dead in our trespasses,(L) made us alive together with Christ—(M) by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and(N) seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable(O) riches of his grace in(P) kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For(Q) by grace you have been saved(R) through faith. And this is(S) not your own doing;(T) it is the gift of God, 9(U) not a result of works,(V) so that no one may boast. 10For(W) we are his workmanship,(X) created in Christ Jesus(Y) for good works,(Z) which God prepared beforehand,(AA) that we should walk in them.
The fact of the matter according to the bible is that grace works. But grace works for us, not by is. Grace works not because of what we do, but because of what God has done. Or to put it in another light, we don’t work grace, grace works us. Say that, “We don’t work God’s grace, God’s grace works us.” That’s how grace works.
If you grew up in the church, going to Sunday school you probably learned an acronym to define grace: “Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” It’s really brilliant. That is about a good a definition of what grace is that you’ll find. We receive God’s riches- Life in Jesus Christ, adoption into the family of God, redemption of our bodies, the seal of the Holy Spirit, the assurance of salvation, the hope of heaven, and MORE! All of this because of Christ Jesus. It cost him. How? Because he left heaven and came to earth. Because he humbled himself, and became a man. Because he took the sins of the world and bore them on the cross. Because he paid the greatest expenses of all- his own life for ours. The propitiation of our sins, the bible says. He suffered the consequences of our sin and separation from God. God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. That’s what grace is.
But how does it work? E.B. Smith wrote that you can dissect grace, as one might dissect a frog. But the thing dies in the process. I have no desire to kill this thing called grace in your life. Rather, I want to bring it to life in you if you’ve never know it before. I want to take you deeper into it if you’re craving more. I want us to dive in the vast ocean of God’s grace that many of us have never experienced, some have only dipped their toes, and few have yet to throw their whole self into. So perhaps the best way to dive in is to let Christ teach us about the grace he offers.
Jesus talked about a shepherd with 100 sheep. One get’s lost. He leaves the 99, out in the country even, and goes in search of the one. He finds it, takes it on his shoulders, and brings it back into the flock. It’s absurd, really. It’s not wise shepherding. It’s foolish and extravagant. Unless you are the one the shepherd goes out to find. That’s a snapshot of grace.
Jesus is reclining at a table with friends. As it turns out, it is the last week of his life. Just days from his crucifixion. A woman named Mary takes a pint of perfume and pours it out on his feet, which would be so crazy, if it wasn’t that this cost the woman a years worth of wages, and was quite probably her life savings and nest egg. Even Judas sees the absurdity of this and says the perfume could have been sold and given to the poor. Jesus commends her extravagant, prodigal waste of worship. It’s a snapshot of grace.
Jesus told another story where a farmer goes out in the morning to hire workers for the vineyard. The work is great, so he goes out mid morning and hires more men. Then again at lunch, then again during the afternoon break. He keeps hiring workers right up to the last minute, just so more work can be done. Nothing shocking at all, until he starts handing out paychecks, and it turns out they are all paid exactly the same. That’s grace.
Jesus watches as a widow drops 2 copper coins in the weekly offering, and he says, she has put in more than anyone else. But of course, that only if you saw what she did through the eyes of grace.
And in perhaps the most revealing story of grace, a father has two sons. The younger son wishes his father dead, and so he asks for his inheritance. Amazingly, shockingly, the father liquidates the younger brothers share, and gives it to him. The son goes off and spends all the money on wine and women. Then famine comes, and this Jewish boy finds himself feeding pigs in a pen. Don’t miss the irony. He comes up with a plan. He’ll go back to his father, beg to be made not a son, but a slave. Than, as he approaches the father estate, his father runs out to him. He tries to give his rehearsed speech, but his father will have none of it. Put my robe on him. Put my ring on him. Kill the fattened calf and let’s throw a party! That’s grace.
But the father has another son. This son has never left his fathers estate. He has always done his fathers work. He’s the good son, or so we might think. When his younger brother returns, and he hears the party, he refuses to go. He will not celebrate and join the feast, in stead he will feed his anger, his bitterness, his resentment, his judgment. But the father, again, shockingly, leaves his own banquet, goes to his first son, and urges him to come in. That’s grace! But this son won’t join the party. He says to his father, “I slave for you, and I don’t even get a goat to celebrate with my friends!” The father says everything I have is yours, which is true. It’s all his. Which is why he resents the party all the more- it’s costing him. The father will not drag him into the party. And so the older son is left out in the dark. That’s not grace. That is works. That’s is trying to work for your salvation.
We love grace in theory, but find it hard to truly embrace. We keep going back to our default mode: works. We ask, “What can I do to make God love and accept me? What prayers, what offerings, what penance, what charity? How can I make myself good enough?”
And the answer keeps coming back at us, grace keeps coming back at us, saying
there is nothing you can do to make yourself worthy. You are made worthy by the grace of God. You can’t earn grace, or it’s not grace. If you earn it, it’s called merit, and that would be fine, except, you can earn enough merit to make you good enough for a perfect God and a sinless heaven.
Understanding and embracing grace depends on a one BIG thing: The complete and ongoing embrace of our need to be saved. Some people just don’t think they need saved. The idea of salvation is utter nonsense.
In Luke 17 Jesus says, “I have come to seek and to save the lost.” It’s bold, it’s brash. Maybe it’s even insulting to seek out the lost, to save the lost. It offensive. It really is. Except that I was told that I was lost, and needed to be found. That I was as good as gone, and needed to be saved. And it even thought it flew in the face of my pride and all the world taught me, I believed it. Something in it rang true. Something in it seemed like the hard truth that I was really longing for. Something in my heart said “Yes!” You are lost and dead without Jesus. I believed it because I came to learn that what is lost, by definition, has value. You see, I don’t say that I lost my garbage. I throw away my garbage. But I say I lost something, or I need to save something, only when that thing has value. God’s grace told me I am lost without God. But he loved me enough to come and find me and carry me home.
If you don’t believe that you need saved, none of this matters or makes sense. And what the bible teaches us is that none of this will make sense, and none of us will be moved to desire salvation, until God first moves on us to let us know, we need him, we are lost without him, we need to be saved! Once that turn happens, we start to move our lives in an entirely new direction, and it moves us toward God.
Many of us have been moved to grace. Maybe right now some of you are moving toward grace. Or rather, grace is moving toward you. Grace is working on you.
I want to walk you through an exercise. This is a little test to help you examine your life and ask yourself, am I working for God’s grace, which is impossible. Or am I letting God’s grace work for me, which is the only way we can be saved. I have to be honest, this may be very painful. But if you walk down this path, and examine yourself, you might find that God is running down the path from his home, eager to take you into his arms, ready to bring you into the party of his kingdom.
One:
People who are trying to work God’s grace are Holier than Thou. They have to be. It’s essential to try and earn your salvation. You have to live a life above reproach. And theirs nothing wrong with that, and we should seek to live holy lives honoring God. But holier than thou types become like the pharisee that looked up to God praying, thanking God for making him so holy, so wonderful, so unlike the sinners that surrounded him.
In contrast, people who are letting God’s grace work them become humble. They become like the sinner who stood off in the distance, head bowed, reverent and respectful, asking God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Second:
Let’s go deeper. Let’s get right at it and not mince our words. People working for grace become hyper critical. They can point out the speck in someones eye, Jesus says, but miss the log in their own. They know exactly what wrong with everyone else, and why everyone else is so bad. Think of all the hyper religious types that were hyper critical of Jesus, and new every reason why he shouldn’t do all the good things he was doing.
In contrast, people letting grace work them become encouraging. They are secure. They are just encouraged by every little good thing, and encourage others along the way. They are genuinely happy for others when they are blessed.
Third, people working for grace begin to loath other people. Others are at best a nuisance, at worse, in the way, or worst yet, an obstacle to be removed. Once the pharisees made up their mind, they set out to have Jesus killed because he was a loathsome obstacle to their ways. They are angry and bitter at the joy of other people.
In contrast, people who let grace work them come to actually like other people! Really, they like all sorts of people! They like people and are interested in people and want to know their stories. Jesus was a friend to all types: men, women, Jews and gentiles, rich and poor, sinners and many religious types. People letting grace work for them are just more likable people. They are the people you want to be around.
Fourth, people trying to work for God’s grace find it very difficult, and eventually impossible to forgive. They are not for giving anything to anyone. In contrast, graceful people are quick to reconcile and make amends.
Fifth, people working for grace are lonely and secretive. When you are so busy putting up airs, putting on the show, they become walls, and they begin to isolate you. David got really good at playing the part of the king, and in time it lead to his worst moment. In contrast, graceful people are joyful and communal. They want to be in worship! They want to be in bible study. They want to be in community!
Sixth, prayer. People working for grace go through the motions of prayer and focus on petitions. In contrast, graceful people pray in adoration of God.
Seventh, because seven is completion: people working for grace live in fear of their salvation. Are they good enough, have they done enough, did they do anything to mess it up? In contrast, graceful people have an assurance of salvation. It’s not arrogance, it’s simply assurance.
Tim Keller says that a sure sign that you DO NOT grasp the power of grace, is that you are very sure that you do. In other words, if you tend to say, oh yeah, we are saved by grace. Great. Got it. Let’s let get on with it. Then grace hasn’t really gotten hold of you.
When grace really gets under our skin, and into our hearts, and starts changing us from the inside out, grows. It grows and grows and grows. And yet we want more and more and more.
We know we are saved by grace, and so we must learn to live by grace. Grace is our regeneration. Grace is our justification. Grace is our sanctification. Grace is our glorification!
The bible tells us that we are sinners, saved by grace, and that grace makes us living saints. This week do this: take two pieces of paper, or take a sharpy and write this on your hands. On one hand write “sinner.” On the other hand write “saint.” For on one hand we must recognize that we are sinners who fall short of the glory of God. But on the other hand we are saints, sons and daughters of the living God! What happens in between? What happens to take us from sinner to saint? Grace. Grace takes hold of our hearts, and makes us alive in Christ.
I pray that today, this week, and forever, grace may take hold of your heart in Christ Jesus our Lord.
