Incredible Mercy

  

Text: Romans 11: 29-32

Focus: Mercy

Function: to help us overcome our shame

²⁹for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹so also they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. ³²For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

Good morning to the beloved of God. In my prayer time, I was reminded by God of the fact that God’s love was the power that brought Christ to earth, I realized that Jesus came to teach us how to love and live in faith.

It takes faith to walk this Christian journey. And faith is given to us by God by God’s providence and love.

Sometimes it comes to us in the midst of suffering and trials as we learn to depend on God with our basic needs to provide for us our daily bread.

I am doing a bit of bible study on these verses this morning and I need to unpack the 2^nd and 3^rd verse from our text by explaining its context.

When I was in college studying the scriptures, I took a whole class on the book of Romans. And the professor drilled into our heads that this passage answers an age old question about God’s covenant with the Jews now that we gentiles, non Jews, are included into the family of God. He wonders if the Jews who rejected Jesus will be restored in the end. And he indicates they will because God loves them. God loves everyone.

Now, Paul is Jewish and he loves his people and he wants them to follow the teachings of Jesus like gentiles who were readily accepting the good news about how love for others will bring about the justice that everyone needs and deserves.

And in the passage he says that from the Jewish faith, we get the root of salvation, what it means to live by faith in the God who cares about justice for everyone and will judge fairly on our behalf, or against us if we oppress others.

God cares about justice and fairness. And when Paul says in the passage that everyone is imprisoned in disobedience, he means that no one is perfect and we all need mercy. Everyone needs mercy. No one is perfect. Grace is mercy undeserved. It is the gift of God’s love. God forgives us in God’s love.

So, instead of worrying about whether or not God will get even with our enemies on our behalf, and it is true, all of us have a God-given longing for justice. But don’t worry about revenge for yourself, ask God to give you mercy for the times that you have failed to care for the least of these. Don’t ask for judgment for your enemies, ask for mercy for yourself.

God handled judgment for us on the cross. God sent the Christ to take the sin of the world on him.

I believe that we will all be restored to God in the end because the scriptures tell us so. But, I also believe that those who do not do good works and commit acts of evil against others will spend eternity without the rewards set aside for those who practiced unconditional love for others.

But let me be clear. We don’t practice love in order to get a better reward in heaven. Love is our reaction to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But the reward in heaven still stands. Part of living by faith is remembering that when we suffer unfairly, God sees and has a blessing for us, if not here on earth, then in heaven.

Jesus said our works will be tested with fire and those that are pure and loving will survive, those that aren’t will be burnt up and many will suffer the loss. I believe the loss will be their pride and vanity in building a life focused merely on themselves instead of the love that shares freely the blessings that God has given to us.

Remember, God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. It is a Biblical principal that started with Abraham and he is the father of all of us who live by faith according to Paul in this book of Romans.

That is enough about works in this sermon. This passage is about mercy.

And our first verse nails it on the head.

The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God is not going to take them back. God gives and gives and gives.

We can reject the gift and not benefit from it, but that doesn’t mean that God does not keep on giving to us.

The bible says that God has carved our names on the palm of his hands so that God won’t forget us.

I picture the scars on the palms of Jesus and think of the same thing for us. God has us in God’s own hands and we can rest in that.

When he says that these gifts and callings are irrevocable, he is promising us that in his power we will not fail.

I am pleased that during this next Kairos weekend, I get to talk to the guys on Sunday morning a talk about how with God’s help they can live this Christian life right there in the prison compound.

It is a message of faith. And I am reminded that there are many times that they are going to err. And here is the thing. Most of these guys are covered in shame. They got to prison honestly. Most of them were never loved with the kind of love that we experienced in our families. Most of the abusers are victims of abuse themselves and have a screwed up view of life. And shame is the issue.

So, when I read that scripture that the and the calling of God cannot be taken away even though we are all imprisoned in our own brokenness.

Jesus is the Christ and he came to heal and restore us to God and to each others. And if salvation comes, even in the prison, how much more can it happen out here at Painter Creek with and for us?

Crying Out to God

  

Text: Romans 10:5-15

Focus: Faith

Function: To help people rest in God’s grace

⁵Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” ⁶But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say?

“The word is near you,
    in your mouth and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), ⁹because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For one believes with the heart, leading to righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation. ¹¹The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

¹⁴But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Good to morning God’s beloved. In 1 John we read that the apostle describes God as Love. And we are God’s Children. We are the children of Love and we have the power of the Holy Spirit to live in that love. Praise God!

You have heard me say that the word for righteousness should be translated as just, or justice. But in this passage, when he is talking about righteousness, he is talking about a right standing in the presence of God.

Throughout the Old Testament in the Hebrew, the word righteous isn’t the same as the Greek word in the New Testament and it does mean people who have a right relationship, or standing in the presence of God.

I believe it speaks of people who at the least acknowledge God and at the best revere and honor God.

The book of Romans speaks of obtaining this right relationship with God through faith. By faith he means we trust Christ to be our redeemer and the Lord of our life.

By Lord, I mean the one we follow and emulate as a way of life.

And in this passage of Romans, righteous is also speaking of living in a right relationship with God.

Living in a right relationship with love.

Living in a loving relationship with the world around us.

And Paul speaks of this faith in Jesus. He refers to the Old Testament and a dilemma mentioned there, that God is in heaven and we can’t reach God.

So Paul explains in this passage that although we cannot reach God in heaven, God reached us from heaven in Jesus, the Christ who saved the world.

In a very real way, this passage is telling us how to be saved.

He says, and my favorite verse from this passage is the verse that says “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

We’ll get to what it means to be saved before we end today.

It is almost as if this passage gives us a formula for a prayer to begin this relationship with God.

It is a prayer of faith resting in the fact Jesus made the way for us to draw back near to God.

He says to confess Jesus as Lord. Lord means master. I like to confess Jesus as Christ. But confessing the phrase “Jesus is Lord” is what got Christians thrown to the lions in Roman arenas because Caesar was Lord and to confess Jesus was treason. And many of us died for our faith because we also believe as the text says, in the power of the resurrection.

The faith was, they killed Jesus and he rose from the dead, the same will happen for us in the afterlife.

And again, the salient verse from this passage is Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

People who pray are people who believe and are calling on God.

Paul is telling us that God answers every prayer. Every person, whether or not they consider themselves to be in that right relationship with God, who prays will have God answer that prayer with God’s healing power.

Praying is important. It places us in the proper perspective to the creator who calls their self: Love.

John 1 says that Christ created everything. We believe that God is omnipresent, everywhere.

Although Paul speaks of the dilemma of bridging the gap between heaven and earth that Jesus solved for us, we also believe that God is everywhere and in everything.

St. Francis called the sun, Brother Sun and the Moon, Sister Moon, he called the flora, the fauna and even the rocks and minerals as part of Christ because it is all a part of Christ and comes from him.

And he is in everything and in everyone. Everyone has access to this salvation.

And as I mentioned, when he speaks of salvation, he is speaking of God’s restoration of us.

He is speaking of God’s healing.

I always limited it to going to heaven when I die. But salvation is God restoring things in our lives here and now. It is us taking steps in faith to follow the love of God for others.

And every time I think of this I am reminded that the path to healing and wholeness is indeed found in what Jesus taught us.

Follow the teachings of Christ and find the peace of Christ works. It takes faith. It takes a risk. It takes sacrifice, especially when that obedience leads us to forgive when we have been harmed.

But that is what living by faith is all about.

And then it is also about sharing our faith. Or more specifically, spreading the love of God.

I am not sure if the last paragraph is a missionary call, or a pause in the passage whereby the Apostle stops to worship Christ for coming to earth to give us the good news of God’s restoration and healing.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who spread the good news of God’s love.

For us , it started with Jesus and then Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into us and according to the apostle John, the coming of the Spirit makes us one with Christ.

So yes, it is about Christ coming to change the world and it is about us taking up that mission and continuing the work of Jesus together in our community.

Jesus started sharing the good news and has commissioned us to do it as well. God rejoices in our spreading that love.

Staying in the Boat

  

Text: Matthew 14:22-33

Focus: Doubt

Function: to help us trust Christ with everything

²²Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. ²⁵And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Good morning to God’s beloved children!

Today we are looking at some principles around moving in and walking by faith.

This is one of the more fantastic miracles recorded in the gospels. And it is different because most of Jesus’ miracles were acts of compassion that were miracles whereby Jesus was reacting to the suffering of people and he intervened with God’s power.

But this miracle, I won’t call it a God showing off miracle, because I don’t believe in the vanity of God. But it does seem to be a special circumstance designed to increase the disciples faith and help them place their trust in the teachings of Jesus.

This takes place right after Jesus has fed the 5,000 people. After the crowds left in the evening, he instructed his disciples to cross the lake in the boat, but Jesus did what he always did and he went alone up the mountainside to have a time of prayer.

At Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit of God fell on Jesus and was leading him to spend time in contemplation before God.

We teach the divinity of Jesus. Even this passage declares him to be the Son of God and he allows them to worship him, a sign of his deity. So, if he is God, why did he need to go away and pray?

Skeptics have asked this question. But I believe he is showing us a path to our own participation in the divine by taking time to be alone with God in prayer and contemplation. He was hearing from God and we can as well. That is the point, I believe.

And this is about our relationship with God: an honest acknowledgment of God’s presence in our lives and in this world.

And I read the story, but to recap. The lake is large and they are stuck in the middle in the midst of a blowing storm and their lives are at peril.

And Jesus walks to them on the water showing them exactly who he is. He is the one of a kind son of God. We are all sons and daughters of God. Bu t Jesus is unique, according to John 3:16.

But the disciples don’t realize that when the wind is blowing. When the wind blows and troubles come, we may take our eyes off of Christ.

So by then, the disciples are thinking the worse and they apparently assume that Jesus is the angel of death coming for them.

And they cry out in fear.

And here is Jesus, intervening in the midst of their peril and rescues them with his presence.

And Peter gets a bit of confidence and as always, he is the first speak out. And this is neat, because Peter is beginning to get an idea of what can happen when a person lives by faith, so he asks Jesus to invite him into the same miracle that is keeping Jesus above the water.

Now remember the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness where he was asked to jump from a high place and trust that angels would rescue him and Jesus answered with “The shalt not put the Lord to the test. So, although the scripture has a direct command against putting God to the test, Jesus allows this infraction apparently in order to impress upon the disciples the greater lesson. And the greater lesson is: Rest in God.

So Peter takes a leap of faith and walks on the water. I can imagine him being amazed and full of wonder.

But then the text says that he got afraid when he looked again at the waves and the wind and he began to sink.

Now think this through. Every time I have stepped into the water, I have sunk straight to the bottom.

But Peter doesn’t sink all the way, he begins to sink.

I am picturing Peter letting the fear take over and the stronger the fear gets, the father down he goes in the water.

But think about it! There is still a miracle going on here. He doesn’t sink all the way, just partially. Even in his fear, God is still keeping his head above water.

Even when we fail. God keeps us in God’s love.

I see the contrast here, then between faith and fear.

When we let fear control us, we sever the power of faith that God gives us.

Faith is a gift from God, a fruit of the Spirit of God and is present inside of all of us.

But the faith to walk on water, as we mentioned, is a special circumstance given to us by example in this passage of scripture as a lesson for us because indeed, we are not to put God to the test.

And I believe that the lesson is for us to keep our eyes focused on Jesus instead of the problems and the circumstances that get in the way.

I am reading about the faith of Abraham in my morning devotions. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarai his wife was well past child-bearing years when he believed God that he would be the father of many nations.

Again, it was a special circumstance, the miracle of Abram and Sarai’s child, given by God to show us what is possible when we rest in God.

Sometimes it is hard to trust God and walk by faith.

I think of my Kairos brothers who are called to be peacemakers in a violent place. It takes faith to turn the other cheek in prison.

I think of the people who have harmed me and have not asked for forgiveness. It hurts because we have been violated. But forgiveness is an act of faith whereby we trust God to bring about God’s ultimate justice.

All of these circumstances are us walking by faith.

I titled the sermon, staying in the boat. Again, because we don’t need to test God to prove our faith. We need to rest in God’s love.