Grace for the Race

When Christians hear the phrase “traveling mercies,” we usually think of the words we use when we ask God to protect and provide for those who are about to go on a journey.  But I’d like to share another picture of traveling mercies, one that we should understand and emulate.

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  (Acts 10:38)

The Traveling Mercies pictured in this verse is none other than the Lord Himself.  He was continually on a mission from His Father in heaven as He went around doing good.  Notice a few things in this wonderful picture of Traveling Mercies:

1.  Jesus did it Himself.  He went around doing good.  He did not send others to do His work; He did not send the angels or the apostles; He Himself went about doing good personally.  The incomparable Charles Spurgeon described it, “Jesus went on His errands of mercy.”  Jesus used His legs to walk.  He used His fingers to touch.  He used His eyes to see.  He used His voice to speak.  He used His ears to hear.  He used His heart to ache with compassion for those who were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).  What a wonderful example He has left for us, that we also might go around doing good personally with the passion of our Lord!

2. Jesus went around.  He did not wait for the hurting to show up.  He went to the woman at the well.  He went to the lame at the pool.  He went to the sick in the bed.  He went to the dead in the tomb.  Difficulty did not deter Him, nor did danger.  He went personally to every object of His affection and mercy to do good.  “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).  He went—even to His sacrificial death; nobody had to come looking for Him.  His face was set in determination to go and die for you and for me.

What a wonderful example He has left for us, that we might go to those in need rather than waiting for them to seek us out!  Now, it is true that Scripture teaches us God does not need our good works, but it also teaches us that our neighbor does.  We are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), created in Christ Jesus to do good works for His glory and for the benefit of all those we come in contact with who need a touch from God—and that’s everyone.

The truths of the Gospel should compel us to be continually engaged in traveling mercies, regardless of the cost or circumstance.  Because of what Jesus has already done for us (past grace), and all that He has promised He will do for us (future grace), our hearts should beat to the rhythm of the traveling mercies drum.

One final point: We see in Acts 10:38 that God was with Jesus throughout His “errands of mercy.”  And He has promised to do the same for us: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

God’s has infused His wisdom into the hands of all those “techies,” which has made the world around us move at light speeds.

A trip by car across the United States took weeks before the interstate highway system; now it can be done in less than four days.  By airplane it can be done in a matter of hours!  Advances in computer technology and telecommunications have made newspapers all but obsolete.  Some of you will remember a time when you actually had to get up and walk across the room to flip through the handful of television channels available . . . if the stations hadn’t signed off at the end of the day.  Today we grumble if we have less than 100 24-hour cable channels. The Post Office is rapidly becoming history, due to the advent of email and overnight delivery services.

How about the technological advancements in medicine?  From fast-working medicines to out-patient surgeries, injuries and illnesses which laid our parents low for weeks or months are now dispatched in days or even hours.  In 1976 I had knee surgery for a torn meniscus; I hobbled on crutches for weeks.  I had the same surgery on the other knee in 1995; by that time arthroscopic surgery had been developed, and I was walking unassisted in a few days.

Microwave ovens have eliminated the time-consuming process of thawing food and cooking it in the oven.  Now we push a button or two, and in minutes we are sitting down to a piping hot meal.  “Fast food” has become even faster, because we simply refuse to wait for anything, especially when we’re hungry.

But there is one thing technology has not made faster, and that is the speed in which you can reach your God in prayer!

In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  (Psalm 120:1)

Hear Thou from the heavens their prayer. (2 Chronicles 6:35)

As comforting as it is to know that our Lord hears our prayers instantly, it is even more comforting to know He knows our prayers even before we speak them.  Now that is super fast!

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.  (Psalm 139:4)

When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  (Matthew 6:7-8)

There is no way and no need for technology to make improvements in our prayer life.  God knows what we need even before we ask Him!  In fact, the challenge for believers is that all this technology often makes our prayer life slower.  Our prayers are reaching God as fast as ever, but with all the distractions we now have at our fingertips, many of us neglect our time alone with God.  With all the voices and gadgets and games calling out for our attention, we can easily find ourselves immersed in things much smaller than God.  And our inattention leaves us poor, blind, and naked.

But this is not for you!  God has invited you into an intimate, personal relationship with Him, and He delights when you call on His mighty name.  Call on Him in seasons of want and in seasons of plenty.  Call on Him in seasons of sickness and in seasons of health.  Like an earthly father who delights when his children come to him in all seasons, your heavenly Father delights every time you come to Him in prayer.

“Do not be anxious about anything,” Scripture assures us, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

I can’t think of a better way to close out today than with the words from the hymn by William Hickson, written in 1836: Now To Heaven Our Prayer Ascending . . .

Now to Heaven our prayer ascending,
God speed the right!
In a noble cause contending,
God speed the right!
May we live our lives before Thee,
Like the good and great in story,
If we fail, we fail in glory:
God speed the right!

Patient, firm, and persevering,
God speed the right!
No event or danger fearing,
God speed the right!
Pains, nor toils, nor trials heeding,
Never from the truth receding,
And in Heaven’s own time succeeding,
God speed the right!

Still our onward course pursuing,
God speed the right!
Every foe at length subduing,
God speed the right!
Truth! thy cause, whate’er delay it,
There’s no power on earth can stay it,
Proudly let us then obey it,
God speed the right!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When was the last time you felt like God simply couldn’t use you?  Notice I didn’t ask if you have ever felt this way, because we all feel like this from time to time.  Well, God has words of great comfort for you and for me:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”  Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”  And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go…”  (Isaiah 6:1-9)

On the occasion of his calling, the prophet Isaiah went from “woe” to “go” because of the grace of God.  When Isaiah was given a glimpse into the court of heaven, he instantly recognized the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man—including himself.  He cast an oracle of “woe” upon himself, but the story does not end there!  God, in His mercy and grace, reached down to Isaiah, cleansed him from his filthiness, and fitted him for service.  The Lord, high and lifted up, equipped Isaiah to “go” and advance the cause of God’s Kingdom.  This is God’s way.

God took Isaiah from his sinful inadequacy—“Woe is me!”—and transformed him into the almighty adequacy of “Go and tell.”  God is in the business of cleansing us and calling us . . . and cleansing us and calling us . . . over and over again.  This is the message we need to press deep down into the very marrow of our souls.

God delights in taking us from “woe” to “go,” which displays for all the world the adequacy of His almighty strength, put to use in weak and broken vessels like you and me.  The only qualification for service is to know we are unqualified.  Remember, God chose the weak to shame the strong and the foolish to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27); that way there is no doubt as to the cause of victory.  God has been putting His omnipotent strength on display in vessels who are so weak and unwise that there can be no doubt as to the One who is the victor.

So . . . when was the last time you went from “woe” to “go” in some area God was calling you to advance?  Or is it possible that you are stuck right now in the middle of “woe?”  In your marriage?  In your parenting?  In a friendship?  With a family member?  At the office?  In your service to others?  The only thing wrong with beginning with “woe” is if you end there too!  The devil would love for you to stumble through life going from one woe to another.  Perhaps even someone close to you has the “gift” of pointing out a place of woe, intending to keep you wallowing around in it.  But as Steve Brown would say, “This smells like smoke and comes from the pit of hell.”

The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who went from “woe” to “go,” and in the process did some mighty things for the expansion of the kingdom of God.  We were designed to go from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7).  Is this the confession of your life?  It will be, if you remember the One who is constantly calling you out of your “woe” and into His “go” and remember that He is with you every step of the way.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

The Boland family spent some time drifting on a lazy river pool in Orlando a few weeks ago.  Sinking back in the tube and drifting slowly along with the pull of the current is a wonderful, relaxing feeling.  Occasionally one of the children startled me by jumping on me or swimming up from the bottom.

All in all, drifting on the lazy river is a good thing.  However, drifting on the river of life is a bad thing!  It’s one thing to drift aimlessly on a lazy river pool in Orlando.  It is another thing altogether to drift on the river of life.

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  (Hebrews 2:1 NKJV)

Funny thing about drifting in life, we never seem to drift toward the things of God.  We don’t drift toward holiness.  We don’t drift toward faithfulness.  The writer of Hebrews painted a picture of a boat aimlessly drifting on the water, left to the mercy of the strongest wind blowing or fastest current pulling at the time.

When there is no intended destination, we reach it every time!  Like the slow pull of the current on the lazy river, often you don’t even feel like you are moving at all.  Yet, slowly, methodically, almost imperceptibly, you go round and round, enjoying the drift but getting nowhere fast.

There is great danger in drifting spiritually; it is one of the sharpest darts in Satan’s arsenal that he frequently aims at the saints of God.  It starts as an infection and winds up a raging disease.  It is in our DNA to drift.  Just like sheep, we are all prone to wander and drift a bit, and when we start drifting in our relationship with Jesus, our love begins to grow cold, our fire begins to flicker out, and we move further and further away from our Master’s moorings.  You see, Satan doesn’t need to knock us off course; he only needs to get us drifting, little by little . . . bit by bit . . . until we drift onto the rocks of ruin and regret.

Drifting is not only dangerous to you; it is dangerous to those around you.  Think about a boat drifting aimlessly on the water.  Every other vessel in the area is in danger of being damaged by the boat that is adrift.  This is true for those around us when we are drifting in life.  Those we are responsible for lose their safe harbor when we start drifting aimlessly on the river of life.

But this is not for you!

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.  (2 Timothy 3:14)

And how do we continue in what we have learned and believed?  We need to continually preach the Gospel to ourselves daily.  The truths of the Gospel are a “lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).  Preaching the Gospel keeps before us all that Jesus has done on our behalf: lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, paid the full penalty for our sin, rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, and now seated at the right hand of the Father.

But that’s not all!  Preaching the Gospel keeps before us all that Jesus will do on our behalf; He will complete what He started (Philippians 1:6).  God is not finished with you yet.  You are being conformed into the image and likeness of Christ; and one day, when you are received into glory, you will be perfect . . . just like Him!

The more we keep in view both past grace given and future grace promised, the less we drift.  The pull of the Gospel is more powerful than anything that is trying to pull us in the wrong direction.  The Gospel keeps us anchored to our unshakable hope (Hebrews 6:18-19) and to the unconditional love which loved us even when we were God’s enemies (Colossians 1:21-22).  These truths will help us in two ways: they will minimize our times of drifting and they will strengthen us to paddle against the current when we are in the middle of a drift.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!    

Do you remember the old Christmas classic, narrated by Fred Astaire, Santa Clause Is Coming to Town?  Do you remember the line, “So be good for goodness sake”?  I have a news flash for you: we are very rarely “good for goodness sake.”  For the most part, if we are good at all, we are good because of what we expect to get in return.

Think about the last time you were good.  Was it really for goodness sake, or were you hoping for some kind of payback?  Now think about the last time you were good, but didn’t cash in on the payback you were expecting.  What happened then?  Did you decide to do something bad, in order to get back for not getting paid for being good?

I can’t tell you how many people I have counseled who are angry with God because they didn’t get the reward they were expecting from Him for all of their perceived “goodness.”  Here is what these folks are missing: God doesn’t owe us anything—not one solitary red cent—even when we are good!  Even if, by some miracle of grace, we were to do everything we were commanded by God to do, all we would have done was our duty . . . and God owes us nothing for doing only what we are required to do.

So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” (Luke 17:10 ESV)

What obligation have we placed God under when we have done what is good, right, noble, or worthy?  None!  If God is so pleased to reward us, it will only be a result of unmerited favor and another act of grace in our lives.  What we must keep in mind is that our services are not even the least bit profitable to God, because He does not need anything from us, and that includes our “help” to expand the cause of His kingdom.

Can a man be of benefit to God?  Can even a wise person benefit him? (Job 22:2)

As A.W. Pink said, the Lord is self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied, and in need of nothing.  Job knew this truth.  Everything we have been given is a gift of God’s grace.  Our blessings are rooted in our relationship with Jesus, not in our goodness and work ethic.  If it is to be, it is not up to me!  It is up to God and His infinite willingness to pour out His unmerited favor into our lives, for no other reason than that He is pleased to do so.  What we must remember is the good we do is a result of God’s grace at work in us; all the glory and praise is due to Him.

Oh, one final thought for today: even our very best services and good works are mingled with the desires of our sinful and selfish hearts.  Our imperfections mar everything we do.  Who has ever loved God with all his heart for even an hour?  Yet, the Gospel tells us that God will be merciful—in spite of all our unrighteousness—and will remember our sin no more.

I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. (Hebrews 8:12)

To put it simply, God will bless even our mess.  How incredible to be loved by a God who loves us when we are unlovable and blesses us when we deserve to be cursed!  Do you see the glorious freedom in these Gospel truths?  We are blessed by the Best, even when we are less than our best.

Unlike Santa Clause, our God is not making a list and checking it twice to find out who’s naughty or nice.  God is not checking a list or keeping score because the score was settled forever when Jesus paid the price for all of our sins on the cross.  And since we don’t need to earn our way into God’s heart to receive His favor and blessing, we can, by the grace of His power at work in us, simply do our best to be good . . . not “for goodness sake,” but for sake of His goodness!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Seems like a strange title for today’s message doesn’t it?  What could the “sweet sounds of grace” possibly mean?

When you give it some thought, I’m sure you’d agree that all of Scripture can be classified under the category of the sweet sounds of grace, because it is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of the Living God—His God-breathed gift to us.  But today I would like to sharpen our focus on just two of those sweet sounds in particular.

The first is found in Luke 23:34, recording the words of Christ as He hung on Golgotha’s cruel cross:

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The second sound rings forth in 1 John 4:19.

We love because he first loved us.

How sweet is that!  Forgiven and loved . . . forgiven and loved . . . the sweet sounds of grace tell us we are forgiven and loved.  Jesus was big on both forgiveness and love because He knew how badly we need them both!  He knew the only way to keep pain, sin, and death from having the last word was to pay the price that would purchase forgiveness and love for you and me.  It is no small thing to be loved when you’re unlovable.  And that is what we were when we were forgiven as sinners and enemies of Jesus.  How sweet is that!

But it doesn’t end there.  We are continually forgiven; and in spite of our need to be continually forgiven, we are completely loved!  Of all the countless things we do that require the forgiveness of God, there is nothing we can do that will cause Him to love us less.  When we divide the affections of our hearts, we are still loved by God.  When we chase after worthless idols, we are still loved by God.  When we look to things smaller than Jesus to do for us what only Jesus can do, we are still loved by God.  We will be no more loved 10,000 years from now in glory than we are right now, even if right now is marked by sin.  How sweet is that!

To press this truth down into our hearts is to understand what the Gospel is designed to do for us each and every day.  Knowing that we are forgiven and loved frees us to stop pretending we are something we aren’t.  It frees us to take off the mask we have been hiding behind for so long.  It frees us to come out from behind the curtain we have been cringing behind for longer than we can remember.  To know we are both forgiven and loved is to know we are treasured by the One who has forgiven and loved us.  And the more we see ourselves as His treasure, the more we will begin to treasure Him.  And how sweet is that!!

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is Peter’s encounter with Jesus after His resurrection.  You will remember that on the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter denied even knowing Christ three times.  In his desperate fear Peter called own curses on himself and cried, “I do not know the man!”  But forgiveness and love would not allow the story to end there . . .

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”  “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”  Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”  The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.  (John 21:15-17)

How sweet is that!  Can you imagine how Peter was feeling after having denied his Lord?  Yet here Jesus made it clear that Peter was both forgiven and loved.  Here we are confronted with the sweet sounds of grace that restored Peter to his place of service in the kingdom of His Savior.

Regardless of where this finds you today, you are just like Peter!  You have been given the forgiveness you need and the love you desire.  Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

It is one thing to believe in the truths of the Gospel.  We are sinners in need of a Savior and His name is Jesus Christ.  He lived a perfect life . . . died a sacrificial death . . . was raised on the third day . . . was seen by hundreds . . . and ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father.  All this is head knowledge.  But it is another thing altogether to embrace these truths with our hearts daily.

Intellectual assent to the doctrinal truths of the Gospel is where we all begin our journey into the reign of grace.  But from there these truths must move down to our hearts and take up residency daily so that we continually embrace the Gospel moment by moment.  The Gospel enters into our minds doctrinally but it is to continue moving through the heart experientially as we strive, by God’s grace, to make these truths a daily reality in our lives.  Sadly, for far too many in the church today, there is a disconnect between that 18-inch span that separates the head and the heart.  That disconnect leads to Gospel blindness.  There are those who have the words of truth in their heads but no wonder of it in their hearts.

But this is not for you! You see, the Gospel is not only for the lost, it is also for the found, because the Gospel is for sinners.  And sinners we still are, even after Jesus shows up.  We need the truths of the Gospel set before our blind eyes and deaf ears daily, that we might begin to see the wonder and hear the thunder of the grace of the Gospel.  Is it not a wonder to think that Jesus would die on the cross for those who nailed Him to that dirty tree?  And thank God for the thunder that made the earth shake and rocks split, a thunder which signaled the destruction of the barrier that separated us from God.

We live not only under the banner of the finished work of Jesus Christ for our salvation, we also live under the banner of His promise to complete what He started in us (Philippians 1:6).  God is not finished with you yet!  You are not yet what you will one day be.  This means you still do things you would rather not do.  Are you still dealing with anger?  How about impatience?  Possibly you’re wrestling with a bout of unbelief?  Inasmuch as sin no longer reigns, it still remains, and that is why we must keep preaching the Gospel to ourselves every day.  We need to be continually reminded of what Jesus has done for us and what He has promised to continue doing.  We must continue advancing further in and further up into the truths of the Gospel, that we might experience the freedom and joy that comes with knowing that we are both fully forgiven and completely loved—and nothing we do will ever change that.

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.  (Mark 9:24)

What we believe about the Gospel is the only cure for our unbelief.  We need to be reminded that it is not about our faithfulness to Him, but rather His faithfulness to us.  We need to marinate in the truth that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ.  He took the betrayals because of His love for you.  He took the false accusations because of His love for you.  He took the beatings because of His love for you.  He took the thorns because of His love for you.  He took the nails because of His love for you.  He took the mocking because of His love for you.  He took the forsaking of His Father because of His love for you.  He took the death because of His love for you.  But that is not the end of the story!  A dead man got up and walked, just as He said He would, and one day He will return to finish what He started.

When our hearts beat in tune with these truths, our blood becomes oxygenated with the glorious grace of the Gospel.  And as it pumps through our veins, we desire more and more each day to lay down our lives for His glory and the good of others.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Now that’s a good question!

As a pastor I cannot tell you how often I hear people tell me about all they have because of all they did to get it.  One says, “I worked for years to get to this position in life and I deserve all that I have accumulated.”  Another says, “It’s my money, I made it, and I will spend it any way I like.”  And then there are those who insist, “It’s my life, I will live it the way I want.”  What all of these individuals have forgotten is the fact that everything they have they have because God was so pleased to give it to them.

• Status in life . . . a gift from God
• Success in life . . . a gift from God
• Prosperity in life . . . a gift from God
• Possessions in life . . . a gift from God
• Life itself . . . a gift from God

 What do we have that we have not been given?  NOTHING!  Daniel said succinctly that “God . . . holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways” (Daniel 5:23 NKJV).  Everything we have is a gift, a gracious gift from God, and because it is a gift, we have a responsibility to the Gift Giver in how we steward what we have received.  Notice that I used the word steward—not use.  A steward is someone who manages the property or affairs of another, and that is what we are.  We are stewards of God’s property, not owners, and because of this fact, we need to see all of life as a gift and a trust.  God has entrusted everything He has given to us to our care.

So . . . how are you doing in caring for the things God has placed in your care?  Because God is the giver of every good gift (James 1:17), we are responsible to manage them for the expansion of His kingdom, not our own.  This shatters the misconception that we have done our duty when we give God His small percentage.  It is all God—“From him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36)—and when we see everything in this light, we see more clearly how we are to steward everything we have been given.  Whether we are in plenty or in want, it is all God’s and thus we are responsible to Him to take good care of what He has given us.

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.  In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.  (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)

If you’re not feeling uncomfortable yet, let me help you! Stewardship transcends money and possessions; it extends to the gifts, talents, and abilities God has given us to put into service for the expansion of the cause of Christ.  This stewardship extends to the opportunities God has given us; we are to make the most of them for the glory of the King.  It even extends to our families and friends and how we reflect Christ to them and make God attractive.  And all of this is preparation for a glorious future, when God will make all of His children stewards of the new heavens and the new earth, for His glory, forever and ever.

What rules our hearts shapes our lives; if stewardship reigns in us we will be doing everything for the glory of God and the good of others.  Jesus will be on the throne of our lives—not us or our possessions.  Self-rule will be as far from us as the east is from the west when we surrender everything we are and everything we have to proclaim the kingdom of Christ to a fallen and broken world, as fallen and broken people who have been saved by His grace.

The great cry of the steward of the Savior is not, “My will be done,” but “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!”  May that be the confession of our lives.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When we fail to recognize the difference between being a chosen people, rather than “choice” people, we not only mess ourselves up, we mess up everyone else around us!

There is a huge difference between believing we are “choice” people, rather than a chosen people.  It is the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector in the Temple (Luke 18:9-14).  The Pharisee saw himself as a “choice” person, and thanked God that he was not like other men.  “I do this,” he boasted; “I do that.” On the other hand, the tax collector knew his condition; he was painfully aware that he was not “choice” by any means!  The tax collector threw himself upon the mercy of God, praying that he would become one of God’s chosen people.

Let me clear up any confusion. God did not choose us because there was something special—something “choice”—about us. God initiates His gracious relationship with us; He is not responding to anything that we think or do or say. Hear His word to Israel:

You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.  (Deuteronomy 7:6-9)

What a huge difference a single word can make!  If we see ourselves as “choice” people—if we believe God chose us because He saw something valuable about us—we will place ourselves above our fellow man.  We see our salvation as God’s response to who we are and what we have done to earn it.  We think the blessings that are poured out on us are a result of having earned the favor of God.  We begin to believe that we are better than everyone else and spend all our time building self-protective barriers around our tidy, controlled, and well-organized lives.  We seek to erect gleaming ivory towers to keep out the great unwashed who are not as “choice” as we are, continually thanking God we are not like them.  We are characterized by tribal mindedness instead of mission mindedness.  We associate only with those who look like us, talk like us, dress like us, act like us, and think like us.  We are puffed up with our special status in our elite club.

But this is not for you!

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.  (John 15:16 NIV)

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  (1 Peter 2:9)

Think about it for a moment.  Isn’t it better to be a chosen people rather than “choice” people?  If we regard ourselves as “choice” people, we look only to ourselves for our comfort . . . as long we believe we have maintained our superior status.  But what happens when our strength wanes, performance falters, and contribution lessons—when we begin to lose the reasons for being in the “choice” category?  Would we not believe that God would set us aside . . . perhaps toss us on the discard pile to make room for someone else who is more “choice” than we currently are?  We see that happen all the time to athletes who once were great heroes but are no longer “choice” in the eyes of their team.  Some of the greatest players of all time are put up for trade or simply kicked to the curb.  Is that how God will treat us?

If you think you are part of a “choice” people, you will locate your sense of identity, meaning, significance, and purpose in yourself.  But when your “choice” status begins to change, so does your sense of identity, meaning, significance, and purpose.  But to be a chosen person is to be wanted by your God for no other reason than He because He wanted you!  “He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In lovehepredestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (Ephesians 1:4-5). You have been chosen, not because of what you did do . . . can do . . . or will do for God, but simply because He chose to set His affections upon you.  And He did it before the foundation of the world, in accordance with his pleasure and will—not yours!

What an enormous difference between being “choice” people or chosen people!  As for me and my house, we are deeply grateful that we have been chosen to be on God’s team, knowing that we will never outlive our usefulness to Him.  And when the day comes when—whether because of sin or illness or age—our service to God wanes, His love for us never, ever wavers.  We can rest on His promise that “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

You’re selfish!

Are you offended by that accusation?  Don’t be; I’m selfish too!  We are all selfish by nature.  We seek our own good over the good of others.  When forced to choose, we’ll choose, more often than not, to build bigger barns instead of asking God to give us bigger hearts.

Someone in the crowd said to [Jesus], “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”  (Luke 12:13-21)

Our desire for bigger barns is a demonstration of our unbelief.  We do not trust God to deliver on His promise to meet our every need in Christ Jesus, so we keep a white-knuckle grip on everything we can get our hands on.  We turn our backs on service in pursuit of security.  We turn our eyes away from the poor in pursuit of our pleasure.  We turn our hearts from the helpless in pursuit of our happiness.  We believe the old maxim, “If it is to be, it’s up to me” and live life as if it is a self-salvation project.

Make no mistake, only a right understanding of the Gospel can change our desire away from building bigger barns toward building a bigger heart.  Only the truths of the Gospel will transform our hearts to beat more for the Savior than ourselves.  Only the Gospel message will deliver us from our desire for self-protection and open us up to a life of self-sacrifice.

There is something beyond bigger barns, and it is the place where we are living more for the expansion of His kingdom than the expansion of our own.  Living as subjects in His kingdom, we demonstrate to a watching world that it is not only far better to give than to receive, but it is far better to simply keep on giving!  This is what our Lord has done and continues to do for us each and every day; His Spirit transforms us from demanding consumers to delighted contributors.

When has God ever let you down?  When has He been unfaithful to even one of His promises?  To be sure, He may not have given you what you were looking for, but He gave you something so much better; He has given you everything that works together for your good!  God is gracious when He gives to us . . . and also when He withholds from us.  He knows what is best, He has promised to work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28), and we need to simply trust in Him.

Remember that Adam and Even tried the first self-salvation project in the Garden of Eden, and it was a catastrophic failure!  But God did not leave them cowering in the shrubbery; He pursued them and promised to send them their true Savior, who would once-for-all deliver them from their self-salvation projects and their desire for building bigger barns.

Beyond bigger barns is an enlarged heart that beats for the King and the advancement of His kingdom.  In remembering all that our King has done for us and all that He has promised to do for us in the future, we are set free to let go of the stuff of this life and cling to what will come in the next.  At this level of living, His concerns become our concerns . . . our passion . . . our everything!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!