Stewards of Grace
Well, it’s mid October and I don’t know about you all, but I’m already thinking about Christmas. I’m so excited because this is the first year our 18mo granddaughter will be with us for Christmas.
As I started Christmas shopping, I’ve so much fun looking at toddler toys, and Disney videos and nursery rhyme books. As I was taking a fresh glanced through Mother Goose, I noticed some of those poems held nuggets of theological insight. For instance, consider Humpty Dumpty.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the King’s horses, and all the King’s men
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again.
Mother Goose depicts Humpty as an egg wearing a blue one piece suit with a red bow tie, sitting high up on a brick wall…and after?…well, if you’ve ever seen a dropped egg, you get the picture.
October 9, 2011
1 Peter 4: 7-11, Stewards of Grace
Mary Scheer, Brewster Baptist Church
[print_link]
[powerpress]
That’s a sad story for a nursery rhyme. When I looked at it closer I wondered, what kind of fall humpty had, what made him fall? That he “Had a great fall” describes the “results” of the fall, but not “how” he fell.
Was he leaning back to far on the wall and fell by accident? Was he trying to balance too many things and he just fell? Did he jump? Was he pushed?
Isn’t it human nature to want to know what caused the fall? Because if we knew then we could try to avoid it, learn ways to prevent it or figure out how to minimize the damage and recover quicker.
However, regardless of what caused the fall, the end result is the same, Humpty’s a mess and he cannot be fixed.
It wasn’t as though his friends didn’t try to help. They utilized all the conventional resources of their day, they even called in professional help, it was a heroic effort, all the kings horses and all the kings men came, but for all their effort they couldn’t put Humpty together again, it was hopeless.
That pretty much describes the condition of all of us before Jesus came to our rescue.
Because of sin, the whole world as it were had fallen off the wall and humanity lay in a state of brokenness, so far gone, there was and still is absolutely nothing we can do by ourselves to repair the damage.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t try. In fact many folks still live their lives thinking they can fix things on their own, trying to fix themselves, trying to fix others.
The good news for us is that God had a plan: When all the kings horses and all the kings men failed, the king himself showed up.
(Ephesians 2: 1; 4-10 – NLT) “1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins…4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Those “good things” he says, is to live a life worthy of the calling and gift you have received. He says, “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, and one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph. 4:3-6)
Because, Peter says, 7 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (NIV)
He adds urgency and importance stressing that we have to do things differently because the end is approaching.
And it is true that when people know the end is near, they live differently, their priorities often change and simplify, focusing on the things that really matter.
On Wednesday Steve Jobs, Co-founder, chairman and chief CEO of Apple Inc. Computers, IPods’, Iphone and so much more, died after a 7 year battle with pancreatic cancer.
A year after his diagnosis, he gave a commencement speech at Stanford University in which he said,
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.” [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]
He talked openly about how his attitude on things changed when he began to consider the possibility of the end.
That’s what Peter’s message does. It says, living with the end in mind should change the way we live today.
He said
- Don’t let yourselves get distracted, stay focused on what really matters so you will know how to pray. How can you even know what to pray about if you don’t know what really matters?
- Put your love for each other above all things.
- Be kind and generous to each other.
- Don’t point out, pick out and complain about each others faults
- Use your gifts to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace.
A “steward” was one who served as a house manager; he had no wealth of his own, but distributed his master’s wealth according to his master’s will and direction.”[1]
We are stewards of the most profound, revolutionary & powerful gift ever given. But we must first recognize the truth about sin. We need to have that moment where we come face to face with our own sin.
The Bible says we are guilty and condemned and fit for judgment.
But in accepting the salvation Jesus offers, there comes the relief of grace, unearned, undeserved, but freely given. Paul said that knowledge is too much for me to comprehend. It should leave us humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude.
That’s just what happened to a woman, “whose many sins were forgiven.”
Jesus was eating dinner one night at Simon’s house. Simon was a Pharisee and along with some other religious leaders had invited Jesus to dinner.
While he was reclined at the table, as they did in those days, a woman “who had lived a sinful life,” came in. She stood behind him weeping and tears dripped onto his feet, she knelt down and dried his feet with her hair and kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When Simon saw this he thought to himself, if Jesus were really who he said he is then he would know this woman touching him is a sinner.
Jesus knew he was thinking this and said, “two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?
Simon replied, I supposed the one who had the bigger debt canceled. You have judged correctly he said.
Then he said, “since I came in to your home you did not give me water for my feet, but she wet them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman from the time I entered has not stopped kissing my feet.
You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet, therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she loved much, but he who has been forgiven little loves little. (Luke 7: 36-50)
Being good stewards of grace begins with our own experience with grace! That woman was so intimately aware of her own need and the relief of his forgiveness, that her only focus was on expressing her gratitude.
In his book, “The Shaking of the Foundations,” Theologian and Seminary Professor, Paul Tillich said, “We cannot transform our lives, unless we allow them to be transformed by that stroke of grace. It happens; or it does not happen. And certainly it does not happen if we try to force it upon ourselves, just as it shall not happen so long as we think, in our self-complacency, that we have no need of it.
Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged. … It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage.
Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying, “You are accepted.” You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know…If that happens to us, we experience grace.…”[2]
Grace is the gift of forgiveness, undeserved credit, and acceptance. Grace gives us the ability to live a new way and a real way to help others.
Many of you know my story, several moments of grace, paved the way for new possibilities and new beginnings.
When the social worker brought me from the orphanage I had been living at to my new home, she gave my parents a long list of diagnosis and labels and all the things wrong with me, and all the reasons why I would never be able to read or write, or drive or graduate high school and so much more.
When she left and the door was shut, my new mom said, “none of those things are the truth about you. What is true, is that you are a child of God, you are part of his family and now ours and from this day forward all things are possible because he loves you and his love and grace have no limits. And from that day forward my life was changed.
Our past, our mistakes and our circumstances don’t have to define or defeat us! There is nothing so broken, no one so far away, no situation so bad that grace cannot help.
In our role as stewards we get to be part of the power of grace in each others lives.
And this same grace is a bonding agent to keep us together.
“You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.” (Eph 4:4 NLT)
Think of the power of grace to accomplish the impossible, to hold things together, to restore what has been lost, to repair what has been damaged and to heal what has been hurt.
In receiving grace, we were forgiven and healed and restored, in giving grace, we are forgiven, and healed and restored.
It’s ironic that people who are called to be agents are grace are so often viewed by folks outside the church as being the most critical, judgmental and condemning people.
Living, serving in and giving grace, is a way for us to participate in miracles seen and unseen.
What would happen if families, neighbors, states, nations, and the whole world would get to this text from Peter, receive grace for themselves and then commit to new ways of living and giving according to grace.
What would they do? What will you do?
Can you imagine what could happen?
And as long as there is today, if we do our part in our circles, with our families and our relationships and here at church, we will get to witness the extraordinary power of God grace fixing and transforming life as we know it, and Jesus will be praised, God will be glorified, and Humpty will be just fine.
So now, let me share with you my new version Humpty Dumpty, Humpty according to grace.
Humpty Dumpty, sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty, indeed had a fall.
When all the kings horses and all the kings men
came to put humpty together again,
they realized their limits and called in the king
whose love and grace changed everything.
Maybe not all at once or in a way they could see
but they knew first hand graces mystery.
They remembered their fall, and the kings intervention.
So thankful they were of his gracious intention.
He saved them for sure, forgave their sins too
and accepted each one just as they were.
They stayed there with Humpty and helped with his needs,
tended his cracks with love and good deeds.
They spoke such kind words and encouraged his heart,
extending God’s grace from the very start.
Because they too had fallen and needed the king,
they now had extra love to bring.
They saw past the pieces strewn about where he lay,
and loved him and held him while the king worked his way.
Sharing the hope and good news they’d been given,
they encouraged each other in a new way of living.
So the next time that humpty should sit on a wall,
if the wind blows just right and threatens a fall,
then all the kings horse and all the kings men
will all stand together protecting their friend.
LET’S PRAY: Dear Lord, God of grace, thank you that we can come to the throne of grace to find help and mercy in our time of need. thank you so much for the gift of grace. It’s hard to comprehend all that grace does. Help us to be agents of grace looking for ways to extend graces help and mercy to others. Help us to manage well, what you have freely given. Help us also not to take it for granted, but to live up to the hope and promises of grace as those who serve to bring you glory. In Jesus name. Amen.
[1]Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 2:853
[2] Paul Tillich, “You Are Accepted” The Shaking of the Foundations.