Bragging Rights
Ephesians 2:1-10
There’s an
old preacher’s story about the fellow who had one too many at the local
tavern. Fortunately, he didn’t live far
away so he wisely decided he’d walk home and leave his car parked. He took a short cut through the local
cemetery, and in the dark did not see a freshly dug grave. He fell in. He jumped and jumped and tried to
crawl out, but each time he slid back down.
So, he settled in the corner to sleep it off.
A little
while later another fellow in the same condition fell into the same grave. He also jumped and jumped and tried to crawl
out, but each time he slid back down as well.
Then from the darkened corner of that hole he heard a voice, “You’ll
never get out that way.” But, you know
------ he did!
It turns
out there was a way out of the grave, but he just didn’t know it until he heard
that voice.
In our
scripture today, the Apostle Paul describes a way out, a way beyond the
grave. So, let’s listen to his voice as
he conveys the voice of God. Let us
pray:
Lord, speak
to us now in a way each of us can hear, through your Word and by your
Spirit. Soften hardened hearts, enliven
souls nearly dead from disappointment and discouragement, and resurrect hope in
the promise that we might live “together with Christ.” Amen.
One of the
dilemmas created by the dramatic advances in medical technology during the last
century focused on a question doctors never really had to ask before: “How do you know when someone is dead?”
It used to
be so simple, listen for a heartbeat or see if the patient is breathing. If not, write the death certificate. But, then machines were created that could
breathe for the patient and keep the heart beating indefinitely. So, brainwaves were measured and the
expression “flat-line” evolved to indicate to that death had happened. This new standard is not without controversy
because some disagree about how flat the line has to be. From time to time people argue about this as
they did when both the Florida State and Federal governments got involved with
the decision on whether or not to end life support for Terri Schiavo. Death is not as clear-cut as it used to be.
For the
Apostle Paul, there was no confusion. He
said to all of us, “You were dead through the trespasses and sin in which you
once lived.”[1] In other
words, we are all “dead men walking”; people who breathe air with beating
hearts and bouncing brainwaves, but spiritually dead none-the-less. We are all prisoners on death row.
Sin in his
eyes, does not merely disrupt or damage – it destroys. It destroys completely
our relationship with God and so damages our relationship with each other. It
is not a disease that can be cured by a vaccine. It is not a character flaw or a bad habit
that can be corrected with self-discipline and hard work. It is not a psychological neurosis that can
be treated. It is death plain and simple that leaves us helpless, hopeless, and
lifeless. Dead people don’t just decide
to become alive. If they are to live
again an outside power or force must resurrect. Some kind of cosmic
defibrillator is needed to jumpstart a hardened heart.
That brings
us to verse four and two words that have changed our world and maybe your life
– “but, God”. Countless people over the
ages have felt trapped because they realize they have been captured by the dull
routine of a world that promises but never delivers. This conformity has sapped the life out of
them, but God… Millions have dragged
themselves and their families down by some addiction that has captured their
bodies and souls, but God… Many more have been seduced by the siren’s call for
more, for more power, more money, more… well just more, but God…
“But, God
who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when
we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”[2] Let me read that again slowly. “But, God, who is rich in mercy, out of the
great love with which he loved us even when we were dead…”
Not many
can really appreciate the profound depth of that kind of love. Parents of wayward children can maybe
understand, for they know the anguish of seeing a child self-destruct. They know the worry and grief that follow
every call from the police station, every failed try at rehab, and every curse
that spews from the mouth of the one they love dearly. So, they can grasp, a little, the kind of
faithful hang-in-there perseverance God demonstrates by loving the unlovable,
forgiving the unrepentant, and holding out hope of one more chance for
redemption. Parents feel that way for
their children. God feels that way for
us all.
So, the
Bible says, “even when we were dead through our trespasses, God made us alive
together with Christ.” Don’t walk past
that last phrase, “together with Christ.”
Something
organic must change within the heart and soul of each individual. If heaven is just about spending more time
than we thought we had with the same old body, and with the same old people
whom we found so obnoxious and annoying in this life; then heaven will soon
turn into hell. It is “being made alive
together with Christ” that makes heaven - heaven, and “being made alive
together with Christ” is also what brings a little bit of heaven into our
world.
The Apostle
Paul, so that you don’t miss the point, summed it up in a Readers’ Digest
condensation of the Gospel. If anyone
ever asks you what Christians believe, you tell them, “For by grace we have
been saved through faith, and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God,
not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”[3]
“By grace
we are saved through faith.” It is that simple.
Since it sounds as easy an opening up a gift on Christmas morning, you’d
think everyone would want to be on God’s mailing list, would be eager to open
this present; but you know and I know that’s not always true, even among people
who show up each Sunday in churches throughout the land.
The reason
for that reluctance is that we’ve all learned over the years that there is no
such thing as a free lunch and if something sounds too good to be true it
probably is. We don’t really trust
someone who offers something for nothing because we’re pretty sure there’s
going to be some kind of catch.
Something will be required of us later, and we’d just as soon know what
that is up front. That’s true with the
gospel as well, so there is something you should know before you decide to
follow Jesus.
Though
God’s love is freely given - it is not really free. There was a price paid by God and there is a
cost to us as well. “God so loved the
world”, the Bible says, “that he gave his only begotten son.”[4] That’s the price God paid so that justice and
mercy, righteousness and grace, forgiveness and holiness might be woven
together to form a single fabric of love.
Skip that
sacrifice and we are left only with cheap grace that cannot really be trusted
because it does not take seriously the sin that leaves so many of us scarred by
the wounds other have inflicted. It
glosses over our pain by saying, “It’s no big deal, forgive and forget and put it
behind you.” But, if you’ve been badly
hurt you know it’s not that easy. It is a big deal so before there can ever be
healing or forgiveness there must be some kind of acknowledgement of the damage
that has been done. The cross honors all those who suffer and so offers justice
for the victims.
It also
offers help and hope and life for all who sin and trespass, for all who have
fallen short of the glory of God because it promises a second chance. In other words, it is for all of us. Each one of us has been both the victims and
perpetrators of sin. We want justice and
we want mercy. That’s why God, and God
alone, is able to affect our salvation.
Christ upon
the cross was the price God paid.
So, what is
the price we pay? Make no mistake; there
is a cost to discipleship. It’s just not
what you think.
Many look
at their spiritual lives in the same way they look at their professional lives,
and sometimes even family life. That is,
to get something - you have to give something.
If you want
to succeed in your profession, you know you must put in the time and the effort
in study and sacrifice. In the same way
that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts advance by earning merit badges, we do the same
with degrees and diplomas we earn.
Even our
most important relationships sometimes work in that same way. Although we idealize the unconditional “I’ll
love you no matter what”, most of us learn from an early young age that mom and
dad will be happier and treat us a little better if we bring home good grades,
and pick up our rooms, and politely kiss Aunt Mabel when she comes to
visit. Approval usually follows
performance, and punishment will follow disobedience so even parental love can
sometimes feel conditional. “I get more
of what I want if I do the right things and less of it if I do not.”
Since that
is the way of our world, many assume that is the way of the Lord. God will love me, must love me, if I go to
church and put something in the offering plate. The Lord must welcome me into
his kingdom if I say the right words or try to do the right thing or at least
avoid the bad thing. And if I don’t, a
quick prayer for forgiveness ought to cover the check. We all create our own lists of what we think
God wants from us. Some of these lists
are longer than others, but none of them really take into account how hurt and
offended is a holy and righteous God by sin, by any sin at all.
I remember
a few years back reading an article about an Environmental Protection Agency
announcement that it was raising the acceptable rate for arsenic in public
water systems. Now, since arsenic is a
deadly poison most people were surprised that any amount at all is tolerable.
As far as they’re concerned there should be so arsenic in our water at
all. We are all pretty much looking for
absolute purity.
That is
what the kingdom of God must be like, what heaven must be like or it will not
be heaven at all. Remember sin does not merely disrupt or damage – it destroys.
It is death plain and simple that leaves us helpless, hopeless, and lifeless,
so it can have no place at all in God’s kingdom. Since, dead people don’t just
decide to become alive. If we are to
live again, an outside power or force must resurrect. Some kind of cosmic
defibrillator is needed to jumpstart a hardened heart. That is the grace of God given through Jesus
Christ and received by faith.
Faith is
the price we pay and it has a higher cost than most of us realize. Today, many understand faith to mean “belief
or agreement”. People say they believe
in God in the same way they believe the sky is blue or the grass is green. It is pretty easy and doesn’t demand a lot.
If it means I may go to heaven if there is a heaven after I die, why not say,
“I believe in God”, and tuck that little confession away in the drawer with my
Last Will and Testament to be opened when I die?
Look at the
stories of faith in the scripture though, and you’ll soon discover it means far
more than cheap words and easy agreement.
Those words “together with Christ” describe and attachment, union, and
solidarity with Christ. That’s why Jesus
said, “If you want to follow me you must deny yourself, and take up your own
cross.”[5]
That’s why the Bible speak of being in Christ, of being
baptized into his death so that we might be raised with him to new life.”[6]
“This comes
not by works”, Paul said, “so we cannot boast.”
We have no bragging rights.
Anytime you hear someone who claims the name of Christ judge another
inferior and themselves superior, haul out this verse as a reminder that we have
no bragging rights. None of us pull
ourselves up by our bootstraps. We are
all pulled up by God.
The only
thing we can give to God that matters at all is worship, and to do that, we
must give up any sense of self-sufficiency and control. That requires faith and
faith is flat out impossible for all who think they can do it on their
own. It is seen as foolishness to all
who want to remain in complete control of their lives. Breaking through this hardened façade is
impossible without the moving of God’s Holy Spirit.
There is a
Hebrew legend about a disobedient angel who pleads for mercy form God. God said, “I shall not punish you. However, in atonement, you must bring back
from earth the most precious thing in the world.”
The angel
began the search. He found a soldier dying of wounds he received defending his
country. The angel caught his last drop
of blood and brought it back. God said, “The courage of one who give his life
is precious, but it is not the most precious thing in the world.”
The angel
resumed his quest. Wearily he roamed the
earth until he came upon a nurse who was dying of a disease she had caught wile
nursing child back to health, and he captured her last breath and brought it
back. God said, “The selfless devotion
of one who saves the life of a child is very precious, but it is not the most
precious thing on earth.”
The
downcast angel continued to wander. One
day he saw a farmer preparing to kill a man who had stolen his cattle. The farmer, his gun ready, stood at the wind
of the thief’s cottage and watched him tuck his children into bed and kiss them
goodnight. At that moment the would-be
murderer remembered his own children and lowered his gun and how lost they
would be without him. He shuddered to
think that he had been on the verge of destroying the happiness of this home,
and a tear rolled down his cheek. The angel caught the tear and brought to the
Throne of Glory. God accepted the tear
with rejoicing. He smiled and said, “You
are forgiven, for there is nothing more precious than a tear of repentance.”
That’s the
price we pay.
Everything
that follows, faithful worship, good works, righteous living are all “thank you
notes”. Each Sunday we show up we write
another note of thanks to God who saves and redeems. Every random act of kindness whispers to
Christ, “thank you”. Gratitude is
expressed every time God gives us the strength to turn away from some
temptation that captured us in the past.
The Bible says this is to “be our way of life”, not followed as steps to
heaven, but embraced with joy in the knowledge that “together with Christ” we
have been made alive.[7]
Let us
pray:
Lord, let
every breath we take, every prayer we offer, every act of kindness we share
offer praise and thanksgiving to you and the grace you have given through Jesus
Christ. Amen.
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