Grace for the Race

When was the last time you received something that filled you with joy?  Did it happen on your birthday?  At Christmas?  On a day that was unexpected?  It’s one thing to be filled with joy when we receive something from someone.  It’s another thing altogether when we receive something from someone when we didn’t deserve or earn it.  And that is what we get with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And that, dear reader, is JOY UNSPEAKABLE!

Often we receive things as some form of payment for something we have done.  I give you something and you give me something in return.  On the surface it’s a gift, but it is really repayment.  But with the Gospel, there is absolutely nothing we gave God for His gift of grace.  If there was, it would not have been a gift.  It would have been a repayment or a reward for something we had done for Him. 

We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.  (Luke 17:10)

Even if we were to do everything God commands us to do—which, by the way, we have never done—we would have only done our duty and God would be under no obligation to give us anything in return.  Jerry Bridges gives the following example:

Suppose you perfectly obey all the traffic laws of your state.  You always stay within the speed limit, always come to a complete stop at stop signs, always drive in the proper lane, always use your turn signals—always obey every traffic rule.  Do you receive any reward?  Not at all, that is what you are supposed to do.  You have only done your duty.  You do not, by perfect obedience of the traffic laws, obligate the state to reward you in any manner.  All you can say is, “I have only done my duty.”

Does not the Creator of all things (including you) have the right to demand and expect perfect obedience from His creation without owing any reward in return?  Of course He does.  He said to Job, “Who has a claim against me that I must pay?  Everything under heaven belongs to me” (Job 41:11), an assertion which was later echoed by the apostle Paul: “Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?” (Romans 11:35.) 

So if it is impossible to make God our debtor, and He still gives us the gift of His Son, how are we to respond?  We should respond with a heart that overflows with love and thanksgiving for the gift we did not earn or deserve.  Peter said it well when he said we are to rejoice with a “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8) because of all that we have been given by the One who freely gave. 

Hearts that have a hold on this JOY UNSPEAKABLE beat for Jesus.  They beat for Jesus in the home.  They beat for Jesus at the office.  They beat for Jesus when on vacation.  They beat for Jesus when engaged in a hobby.  They even beat for Jesus when faced with trials and suffering, because there is great joy that comes from knowing that God will provide everything we need to face every challenge and ultimately bring us safely across the great divide.  Now that is a JOY UNSPEAKABLE that speaks loud enough for all the world to hear.

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Full of glory, full of glory,

It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,

Oh, the half has never yet been told.

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

When you think about life apart from the biblical narrative, nothing seems to make sense.  We all know something is radically wrong with us and the world around us, but we don’t know what it is . . . apart from the story in the pages of sacred Scripture.  Only the Gospel can make sense of what seems at times to be absolutely senseless.  Let’s take a brief look at some of the things that don’t make any sense apart from the truths of the Gospel. 

Sin doesn’t make sense apart from the Gospel.  Why do we do some of the sinful stuff we do?  It is because we are sinners—both by nature and by habit.  Without the story of creation (all things made good by God) and the Fall in the Garden of Eden (all things made bad by man), sin doesn’t make sense.  We begin to try to categorize our inappropriate behaviors as something less than sin—a result of our environment or bio-chemistry.  The rationale goes, change the environment outside or inside (move or get medicine), and the person will ultimately change.  History has taught us these experiments have failed miserably.  Behavior can and often does change for awhile, but heart transformation never happens apart from the Gospel. 

Moral obligation doesn’t make sense apart from the Gospel.  In a messed up world, with a God who is off in some distant land, unconcerned and uninvolved, what obligation would there be for any moral concern on our part for what is good, just, and right?  Why would any of us care about hurting, lost, broken, oppressed, and marginalized people?  The survival of the fittest would seem to make the most sense.  But the Gospel tells us that God in Christ entered into this world to make all that had been crooked since the Fall straight once again.  And He did this at the most unimaginable cost to Himself.  Gospel sanity says we are to enter into the process Jesus started, expecting suffering along the way and ultimate success in the end, because what He began He will complete (Isaiah 46:9-11). 

Our overwhelming need for relationship doesn’t make sense apart from the Gospel.  God made us for relationship with Him and each other.  He said it was not good for us to be alone, and yet that is exactly what we tried to do in the Garden.  We looked away from God and each other and looked only at ourselves, which only resulted in fear, guilt, and a sense of utter brokenness.  But the Gospel tells us that we need a relationship with God, and through that relationship, God gives us a right relationship with the human community.  Gospel sanity moves us in the direction of working to strengthen both the community within the church and the community outside of it.  Gospel sanity drives us to care for everyone because God cares for everyone.  Mercy, justice, and service become the marks of the Christian who is busily engaged in building community wherever people are to be found. 

So . . . do you need a little Gospel sanity today?  In the words of Flannery O’Connor, “To know oneself, is above all, to know what one lacks.  It is to measure oneself against the Truth, and not the other way around.”  The Truth is that we all need a daily dose of Gospel sanity to keep Jesus at the center of our existence.  This is the only place where life is to be lived and the only way it makes sense. 

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

How would you complete the question: “What are you addicted to?”

Would you be offended to be even asked such a question?  I hope not, because we are all struggling with addictions since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden.  What started out as an “addiction to the Almighty,” which was good, wound up being an “an addiction to self,” which is grotesque!  We have been on a downward spiral ever since, moving from one addiction to another.  Let me make this perfectly clear: for Christians, if our addiction is not to the Almighty, it’s the wrong addiction!

As a pastor, I have counseled people who are facing very difficult and often debilitating addictions: workaholism, sloth, gambling, alcohol, drugs, food, pornography, success, money, image, approval, or acceptance, to name some of the most common.  Regardless of the addiction, the goal of our counseling sessions is to identify what the person views as their missing link in life that compels them to surrender to their particular addiction.  You see, it’s not the actual thing they are addicted to that they believe is meeting their needs; it’s what they get from their addiction that is.  And what they get is only a fleeting, illusory filling of the void that runs deep within their souls.

What we all need is a little Gospel-sanity in our lives.  The Gospel tells us that we all have a hole in our soul; that hole is in need of constant filling, or we will feel empty, lost, and hopeless.  But when we try to fill the hole with anything smaller than God, the filling never lasts—and in fact, it only makes us try harder the next time to fill it more.  Apart from the Almighty, this vicious cycle never ends.  We move frantically from one addiction to another, in a fruitless attempt to fill the hole that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. 

Many Christians remember that when they were first saved, they sensed an overwhelming sense of peace—a filling of that hole in their soul.  This is what the Gospel is designed to do.  It fills the void caused by sin with freedom, joy, and faithfulness.  The problem is that many move on from the Gospel, thinking it was only meant to start the filling process by getting them saved.  They see the Gospel only as the “door” leading into the Christian life; they miss the truth that it is also the “floor” upon which they are to build their entire existence.

Only the Gospel can fill the hole in our soul and keep on filling it for the rest of our lives.  Nothing in this world can do what only the Gospel can do, and God designed it for just that reason.  Imagine being able to fill the hole in our soul completely and finding deep satisfaction in work or success or the applause of man.  If this was possible we would never long for or look to God.  We would live like Adam and Eve attempted to live—autonomous and apart from the rule of God.  Yet to attempt to live this way is to deny our humanity. 

All of life needs to be centered in and built upon the truths of the Gospel, the finished work of Jesus Christ.  This is the one thing God designed to fill the void and keep on filling it without any effort on our part.  That’s the point of grace!  It’s a gift that has been given freely and completely and it never stops giving.

Tim Keller writes, “We can make him the new center of our lives and stop trying to be our own Savior and Lord.  We can accept both his challenge to recognize ourselves as sinners in need of his salvation, and his renewing love as the new basis of our identity.”  We need to keep looking to Jesus and stop looking to anything else.  With an “addiction to the Almighty,” we will find a filling that overflows from the Fount of every blessing.

So . . . what are you addicted to today?  Would a little reorientation of the heart do you some good? 

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

How can there be a problem with people pleasing, when we have been called by God to serve others . . . which obviously will be pleasing to them?  It becomes a problem when we think too much about the approval or disapproval of the people we are trying to please.  We all know this from experience.  Some know it professionally in trying to please their boss.  Others know it socially in trying to please their peers.  And still others know it relationally in trying to please their spouse . . . or even their children!

We speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.  We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.  You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.  We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else.

(1 Thessalonians 2:4-6)

The apostle Paul does a great job identifying one of our consistent struggles on this side of the grave: being people pleasers.  He also teaches how to keep this from being our legacy: being a God pleaser.  In the words “not looking for praise from people,” Paul gives us the key that unlocks us from the bondage of people pleasing.  Paul knew the only approval he needed he already had in Jesus, so he did not need to seek it from people.  He knew this because he had been entrusted with the truths of the Gospel.  Do you know it too? 

Paul refused to give people the power to break him by their rejection and build him up by their affection.  He knew what kind of lasting damage that can do.  There was a time in his life when this two-headed monster ruled his heart and shaped his life . . . but not anymore.  On the road to Damascus he found out just how much God had approved of him, and that was the only approval he needed from that day forward.  Knowing he could not be rejected by God empowered him to accept the rejection of others with a freedom and joy that could only come from a relationship with Jesus.

Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

(Galatians 1:10)

For Paul, “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7) was enough to know.  He now knew the approval of people was nothing compared to the approval of Jesus.  He now knew the affection of people was nothing compared to the affection of Jesus.  He now knew the applause of people was nothing compared to the applause of Jesus.  He had Jesus and Jesus had him, and because of this truth Paul considered everything a loss because of his Gospel gain.

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

What have you been fretting about lately?  Notice I didn’t ask if you were fretting, because it is in the DNA of our sinful nature to fret!  Yet Scripture clearly instructs that this is not for you:

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.  For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

(Psalm 37:7-9)

When God says something we should listen carefully; when He repeats Himself, we should listen very carefully!  God tells us twice in the passage above not to fret, because He knows that fretting and faithfulness are like oil and water—they don’t mix well.  In fact, as you’ve just seen, the Word of God states that fretting leads only to evil.  When was the last time you fretted over the success of someone other than yourself?  When was the last time you fretted over the “gain” received by evildoers?  When we do things like this we work ourselves up, tear others down, and exchange faithfulness for fretting. 

God tells us not to fret, because He is in control of all things.  Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29).  The sovereignty of God is a great comfort for the Christian, because we can be completely sure that what He has planned, He will bring about; in the end all that is crooked will be made straight—and that includes you and me!  Keeping our eyes on the truths of the Gospel is what will take us from fretting to faithfulness.  If we forget this we fret, and in our fretting we try to take control and make things right . . . which generally turns out all wrong!

Listen, we can fret over the economy or we can be faithful to the One who has the government upon His shoulders.  We can fret over the terrorism throughout the world, or we can be faithful to the One who will make every knee bow before Him.  There is so much God is calling us to do to expand the cause of His kingdom!  That’s why it is evil for us to be filling our hours with fretting.  Scripture commands us to “Be still, and know that [He is] God” (Psalm 46:10). We are to be still and fret not, and He has given us every reason to do just that.  It’s only when we forget these reasons—the truths of the Gospel—that we allow fretting to replace stillness and faithfulness. 

Only the Gospel can take our eyes off the stuff of this world and keep them fixed on our Savior.  We must continually remind ourselves that the day is coming when there will be no more pain, sorrow, tears, death, brokenness, sin, injustice, poverty, evildoers, and the fretting that springs out of this mess.  Gospel truths are the keys that unlock the doors to lead us past our fretting and turn it into faithfulness. 

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

A few weeks ago I preached a sermon entitled Scandalous Grace, based on the following passage from Luke’s gospel.

And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”  (Luke 7:37-50)

There is much we can learn from the three characters in the narrative: The Pharisee, The Prostitute, and The Prince of Peace.

The Pharisee

The Pharisees were the religious leaders devoted to God.  The Hebrew form of the word Pharisee means separated ones . . . loyal to God.  The Pharisees were extreme, not only in following the Law of God, but in adding so much to it they were blind to the appearing of the Messiah, even though He was in their very midst—even in this man’s home!

Simon the Pharisee had invited Jesus to his house for a meal.  In those days, it was a common courtesy that guests would be greeted with a kiss when they arrived, their feet would be washed, and their heads anointed with oil.  Simon omitted all these courtesies for Jesus.  The honored guest was totally dishonored by the Pharisee. 

The Prostitute

Notice this woman is known to the reader only as a “woman of the city who was a sinner.”  To be sure, we are all sinners by nature and practice.  But this woman was a sinner by profession.  She is the sinner Solomon warns young men about: “Her house inclines unto death and her paths unto the dead.”  Great was her sin! The Truth, who never exaggerated, said her sins were many.  Yet she freely gave Jesus the common courtesies omitted by Simon.  She wet his feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, anointed them with ointment, and ceased not to kiss them.  Her godly sorrow for her life of sin was put on display for all to see.  The Pharisee rebuked her . . . but Jesus received her. 

The Prince of Peace

Jesus received this sinner to His own detriment.  He was condemned by Simon for allowing such a sinner to handle Him.  He was always being condemned for the company He kept.  Consider this scene from another dinner table:

As he reclined at table in [Levi’s] house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’  And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  (Mark 2:15-17)

The one thing the sinful woman who dared enter Simon’s home needed—forgiveness of her sins—she received from Jesus.  Not only did Jesus receive her, He spoke up and defended her.  In front of the condemning crowd, she heard absolution pronounced by her Prince of Peace. 

This passage from Luke is so rich in truth and comfort for those who see themselves as great sinners in need of an even greater Savior!

So . . . how do you see yourself today?  The more we peer behind the curtain of the Gospel, the more we see ourselves like the prostitute rather than the Pharisee.  We recognize that even “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6).  And the more we see ourselves like the prostitute, the less we have to pretend we are better than we are and the sooner we can step off the performance treadmill.  Jesus loves us just the way we are, but He also loves us so much as not to leave us there!

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

What a treasure we find in the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to the men on the road to Emmaus.  They were identified by Jesus as “slow of heart” . . . and yet still loved!

He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ would suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

(Luke 24:25-27)

What Jesus said to these on the road to Emmaus He says to us today.  How often are we slow of heart to believe the truths of the Gospel!

• We seek blessing in our merit rather than in His mercy.
• We seek favor in our good works rather than in His goodness.
• We seek our identity in our work rather than in His finished work.
• We seek our meaning in our ministry to him rather than in His ministry to us.

The Gospel is the only thing that can disrupt our natural tendency to look to ourselves rather than our God for all that we hope for.  Notice in the passage just how patient our Lord was with the slow of heart in explaining the truths of the Gospel.  He was not angry with them.  He was not disappointed with them.  He was not short with them.  He loved them enough to walk with them and talk with them about the only thing that matters in both life and death: Jesus himself. 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

(2 Corinthians 8:9)

When we understand what Jesus gave up for us, we begin loosening our grip on everything smaller than God.  “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9-10).  Had Jesus chosen to stay rich, we would have stayed poor . . . and gone down into the eternal torment of the pit of hell.  But Jesus left the unimaginable treasures in heaven to make us His treasure.  “Though he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7), in order that He might bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10).

Preaching the truths of the Gospel to ourselves every day is the only cure for our naturally slow-beating hearts regarding the things of God.  Our heartbeat accelerates as we keep the Gospel in view—not only the suffering and sacrificial death of our Lord on the cross, but also all the promises of God’s continuing work in this world as Redeemer, Rescuer, and Restorer.  And on those days we find ourselves in the condition of slow of heart, we only need to remember we are still loved and treasured by our Lord.

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

We all know from experience what loneliness feels like.  Sometimes it even happens to us when we are not alone.  Do you know why?  It’s because we have taken our eyes off Jesus and put them on something else.   

The loneliest people in the world are those who look to anything smaller than God to do what only He can do.  They find their worth in their work.  They find their identity in their income.  They find their meaning in their marriage.  They find their comfort in their children.  They find their happiness in their hobby.  They find their rest in their recreation.  They find their might in their ministry.  Even when they seemingly get what they are looking for, they are still left empty, wanting, and lonely.  So what’s the solution?  The Letter to the Hebrews exhorts:

Since we are surrounded by so great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Far too many in the church today cast only passing glances at our Lord.  But the author of Hebrews tells us to look to Jesus, not merely glance at Jesus.  The text implies that we are to look to Jesus and away from everything else, making Him the great object of our thought, words, deeds, and desires.  (The New American Standard Bible translates Hebrews 12:2 as a directive to be “fixing our eyes on Jesus.”) In looking to Jesus, we are depending on Jesus for everything that matters in both life and death.  And when we are depending on Jesus, we are depending on the only One who can remove the loneliness that grips so many most of the time, and all of us some of the time.

So . . . are you sensing any loneliness in your life right now?  If you are, make sure the eyes of your soul are focused in the right direction!  Jesus is not only the author of your faith—the One who began a good work, but He is also the finisher of your faith—the One who will bring it to a perfected completion.  We all must remember every day that we are the joy that was set before Him; it was for that joy that He endured the unimaginable agony of the cross.  With that Gospel truth in view, loneliness is as far from us as the east is from the west!

The marvelous old hymn, Looking Unto Jesus, is a great way to close out today’s message. 

Looking unto Jesus,
Never need we yield!
Over all the armor,
Faith the battle-shield!

In our hearts unfurled,
Let its elevation
Overcome the world. 

Look away to Jesus,
Look away from all!
Then we need not stumble,
Then we shall not fall.

From each snare that lureth,
Foe or phantom grim,
Safety this ensureth,
Look away to Him.

 Looking into Jesus,
Wond’ringly we trace
Heights of power and glory,
Depths of love and grace.

Vistas far unfolding
Ever stretch before,
As we gaze, beholding,
Ever more and more. 

Looking up to Jesus
On the emerald throne,
Faith shall pierce the heavens,
Where our King is gone.

Lord, on Thee depending,
Now, continually,
Heart and mind ascending,
Let us dwell with Thee.

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

It’s almost impossible for most of us to imagine the anguish that Job experienced, simply because most of us have not gone through what Job went through.  Yet from the trough of what must have felt like a tidal wave of incomprehension and grief, Job did not cry out to God for a reversal of his great loss. 

Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!

(Job 23:3)

Job lost his health, his wealth, and all ten of his children.  Had it been you . . . do you think you might have cried out to God for a return of your precious children from the grave?  Or perhaps a restoration of your wealth? At the very least, to be returned to good health?  Surely these thoughts were swirling through his fragmented mind.  But in his deepest moment of despair, his first cry was that he might find God—not that God might fix it.  Spurgeon writes this about Job’s nearly inconceivable plea:

A hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the infliction, and, like a slave, would run from the Master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of heaven, he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the bosom of the God who frowned upon him.  Job’s desire to commune with God was intensified by the failure of all other sources of consolation.  The patriarch turned away from his sorry friends, and looked up to the celestial throne, just as a traveler turns from his empty skin bottle, and betakes himself with all speed to the well. 

Job knew that nothing in this world could mend his broken heart and ease his troubled mind like the presence of God, the Fount of his every blessing.  Job sought after the only consolation in both life and death; in doing so, he left us with the key that calms every storm.  God’s presence is the only place where we can truly find comfort in times of challenge . . . certainty in times of change . . . consolation in times of confusion. 

Only God can meet us in our place of deepest need.  Friends, especially friends like the ones Job had, simply will not do.  Even our family relationships will fail us.  Job’s wife was so devastated by their losses that she added insult to injury in telling her husband to curse God and die.  Yet Job promptly rebuked her folly, saying “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).  Only God can keep us going when the going gets so tough we don’t believe we can take even one more step. 

So . . . what was your cry the last time you were in the middle of a storm?  Was it “FIX IT!” which is so common to most of us, or was it “FIND HIM!”—which only comes through a deep understanding of the Gospel?  Scripture assures us that God cares for us in seasons of plenty and want, sunshine and rain. Our Lord’s promise is utterly unambiguous: “I will never desert you; nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5 NASB).

Think for a moment about the scandalous message of the Gospel.  God loved us so much that He died in our place that we might live with H.  Next time you find yourself in the middle of some struggle or storm, focus on the Gospel, so that your heart’s cry to God will not be “FIX IT!” but rather “FIND HIM!”

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

When you hear the word stewardship, what comes to mind?  For most Christians, the first and last thing they think about is money, money, money!  Today we are going to take a look at “Gospel-saturated” stewardship that goes far above and beyond our treasure.

It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

(1 Corinthians 4:2)

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

(1 Corinthians 10:31)

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  (Colossians 3:17)

Gospel-saturated stewardship goes far beyond our wallets.  It encompasses every aspect of our walk with Jesus.  We are called to steward not only our time, talent, and treasure, but also our energy, health, families, marriages, opportunities, challenges, careers, and callings.  Everything we have been given is a gift from God (Romans 11:36), and we are called to steward those gifts properly.  We own nothing, and we are called to manage everything in a way that brings honor and glory to the One who has given us everything.

So . . . how are you doing in the aspect of stewardship?  Has your concept of stewardship been confined to only a few areas in life?

Gospel-saturated stewardship is a gracious response to the Good News of the Gospel in everything we do with every aspect of life.  Paul wrote, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.  To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen” (1 Peter 4:10-11).  This kind of stewardship even regards pain, difficulty, and suffering as opportunities to graciously respond to the grace we have been given through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Everything comes to us by way of grace, and in everything we are to point back to the One who has given it to us.  Our goal must be to expand the cause of the kingdom of Christ and not our own little kingdom.  We have been called by God to steward our gifts in such a way that they will be used by God for the building of the Church and making visible the invisible rule of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

One of the most gracious responses to the grace that has been given to you is to reflect this grace to others . . . all others.  It is easy to reflect God’s grace to those we like or are like us.  But what about those we don’t like or who are totally unlike us? 

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

(Matthew 5:44-47)

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

(John 15:12)

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  (James 2:8-9)

Gospel-saturated stewardship is displayed in love simply because it has been loved.  This love is not dependent upon the neighbor or the circumstance.  It is solely dependent upon God and the grace He has showered upon us that empowers this kind of love, remembering that whatever grace we steward in the lives of others is but a dim reflection of the grace that has been showered upon us.

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