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"Unregulated Grace"
As I was reading today’s text in preparation for this message
and discovered Jesus at the home of a prominent Pharisee –
they were the church leaders of the day, very sincere,
very devout, concerned about God and the things of God –
in their midst Jesus asks a question of them and the
“experts in the law.” That little phrase “experts in the
law” got me thinking about our world and things legal and
how critical and complicated it can be to define the
relationship between two people or two organizations.
I went on a little search and found a template on my
computer for a lease agreement and wondered what that
might look like if we tried to apply it to the relationship
between us and God. With a little help from a friend I
offer the following:
THIS AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement")
made and entered into this Sabbath day by and between
The One and Only True God of the Universe, Father Son and
Holy Spirit (hereinafter referred to as "God") and Each and
Every Member of the Human Race (hereinafter referred to as
"Insert Your Name Here").
RECITALS:
WHEREAS, God is the provider of a feast in his home
that is situated in the State of Florida, Seminole County at 2021
W. SR 426, Oviedo, Florida (hereinafter referred to as the "Feast").
WHEREAS, “Insert Your Name Here” desires to dine at the
table during the Feast contingent upon the terms and conditions
as contained herein; and
WHEREAS, God desires to guarantee a place
at the Feast’s table based on the terms and conditions as contained herein;
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the
covenants and obligations contained herein and other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged,
the parties hereby agree as follows:
And what follows are 33 conditions and restrictions of which perhaps
my favorites are paragraphs 30-32:
30. NON-WAIVER. No indulgence, waiver, election or non-election by
God under the Agreement shall affect “Insert Your Name Here’s” duties
and liabilities hereunder.
31. MODIFICATION. The parties hereby agree that this document
contains the entire agreement between the parties and the Agreement
shall not be modified, changed, altered or amended in any way except
through a written amendment signed by all of the parties hereto.
32. WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. God and “Insert Your Name Here” HAVE SPECIFICALLY
WAIVED THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL CONCERNING ANY DISPUTES WHICH MAY ARISE
CONCERNING THIS AGREEMENT, SPECIFICALLY BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY ISSUES
INVOLVING “Insert Your Name Here’s” presence at the Feast.
It sounds pretty ridiculous when you try to say it that way, doesn’t
it? And yet that is exactly how the Pharisees and the “experts in the
law” of Jesus day sought to define their relationship with God. And
it is still in our blood, in our very nature to do the same thing. It
is this approach to God that Jesus seeks to identify in us and teach
us that God’s grace, His unconditional love for us, cannot be regulated.
Our lesson today begins with a debate over the conditions of
the agreement as it was understood by Pharisees and experts
in the Law. In fact this is the conclusion of an ongoing
debate. In Luke’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry there
are three times that Jesus performs miracles of healing on
the Sabbath and this is the last of them.
Back in chapter 6 Jesus is teaching in a church and there was
a man with some kind of deformity in his right hand. Jesus
called him forward and posed this challenge to the Pharisees’
interpretation of the conditions they had placed on the Sabbath
clause of the agreement between God and His people: “Is it
lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save
life or to destroy it?” Then he healed the man’s hand and
at 6:11 it is reported that “they (namely the Pharisees and
experts in the law) were furious and began to discuss with
on one another what they might do to Jesus.”
The second Sabbath miracle is in chapter 13 just before our
lesson for today. Again, Jesus is at church teaching when he
notices a crippled woman in the crowd. He called her forward
and said to her “Woman you are set free from your infirmity,”
and immediately she was healed and began to praise God. Then
the head of the congregation, in our context let’s say, the
pastor, instead of joining in that praise, angrily interprets
the Sabbath clause of the agreement between God and his people
saying, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed
on those days, not on the Sabbath.
Jesus responds, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the
Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out
to water. Then should not this woman…be set free on the Sabbath
day from what bound here?” The episode concludes at 13:17 like
this, “All his opponents were humiliated.”
So it is that our text begins, “One Sabbath, when Jesus went
to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being
carefully watched.” And it was not a friendly watching, but
a furious humiliated watching. And once again Jesus challenges
their interpretation of the Sabbath clause of the agreement
between God and his people. This time there is only bitter
silence.
It is still in our blood. It is in our very nature to take the
same approach with God. We have our own criteria, our set of
rules that we impose. What is the proper attire for our
worship? Is it expected, necessary, required that one have
nice clothes for church? Now it certainly seems good, right,
and salutary that out of reverence, respect, and love for
God that we should want to show him our very best when we
come into his house, but look at how quickly it can become
an opportunity for pride on the one hand and a critical
judgment of one another on the other hand.
I tell you it runs in our blood. It is in our very nature to
set up our own criteria of behavior that falls within the
limits of our understanding of what is acceptable and what
is not. Stick with our Sunday “rules” for a minute. Is it
OK to clap in church? How about raising your hands during
a song? Should music be performed from the balcony so we
can keep our minds focused on Christ or would having the
children come up front so we can see them sing be OK? Are
video screens good or bad? Should the preacher stay in the
pulpit or get out and walk around?
I could go on and on. But now I need you to listen very,
very carefully. It is not that the rules we choose to follow
are necessarily wrong and please, please, please, I am not
advocating from some radical change in our Sunday morning
routine. I simply want you to recognize and admit that we
love rules and regulations that lead us to sometimes become
prideful on the one hand and have a critical spirit on the
other hand of those who might think differently than we do.
And it’s not just the Sabbath clause of the agreement between
God and his people, in other words it’s not just the Third
Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy,”
that we like to hedge in with our own criteria of behavior
that we think falls within the limits of our understanding
of what is acceptable and what is not. Take up any of the
commandments, take up all the commandments one by one, and
you will discover that we do the same thing with them.
Don’t kill, certainly, but is it OK to harbor hateful thoughts
and feelings as long as you keep it to yourself, and are unborn
children really human beings before they are born? Don’t misuse
the good gift of sexuality, but is internet pornography really
cheating on your spouse, and what if I was born genetically
predisposed toward homosexuality? Don’t steal, but all those
premiums I pay out to the insurance company, they owe me more
than what they’re offering to reimburse me for my loss.
We love to establish our own limits and restrictions, some of
us very strictly, others very loosely, and then use our own
interpretation of the limits and restrictions to justify our
own behavior and condemn selectively those who do not measure
up. That’s what Jesus was fighting in our text. That’s what
Jesus is still fighting today. That’s what ultimately led
Jesus to the cross, bound him, beat him, drove nails through
his hands and feet and stood mocking him as he died. Jesus
was condemned and crucified for man’s interpretation of the
limits and restrictions placed on how to have a proper
relationship with God! Jesus died because you and I, and
the whole human race, would by nature choose to define our
relationship with God through rules and regulations!
Bob Newhart, a comedian, tells a story about a time when he
was hired as an accountant and his experience with trying to
balance petty cash. After days of staying late to find a few
dollars and cents discrepancy between his receipts and the
cash in the drawer he decided to start putting money in or
taking it out to make it balance so he could go home on time.
Of course his boss, Mr. Hutchinson, head of accounting, found
out, called him in. "George," he lectured me, using my given
name, "these are not sound accounting principles." "You know,
Mr. Hutchinson," I said, "I just don't think I'm cut out for
accounting. Why would you pay me $6 an hour to spend four
hours finding $1.40?"
Now, precise adherence to rules and regulation are important
for this world, make no mistake about that, but my friends,
God’s kingdom and His grace, His unconditional love for us
cannot be regulated. That’s what Jesus is trying to teach us
in the context of a wedding feast.
The feast itself is a picture of heaven. The vying for the
place of honor is the end result of the misguided rules and
regulation approach to our relationship with God. It pits us
against each other and will lead to our humiliation. When it
comes to the way God works Jesus says “everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.”
Folks this is how God’s kingdom works. It is first and foremost
a description of what Jesus did. Jesus is God, one with the Father
and Spirit from all eternity, a participant in the creation of the
world and everything in it, ruling, reigning, all-powerful, all
knowing, He humbled himself to become a man subject to all the
stress and pain, unfairness and injustice of this broken, sin-sick
and dying world. Jesus humbled himself unto death and then was
raised to life again, exalted to the highest place, seated at
the right hand of God from whence He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.
His death on the cross unleashes God’s grace, his underserved love
for us, and it pours out endlessly rushing over us like water from
behind a broken dam that can no rules or regulations can ever dam
up again. God’s grace cannot be regulated. It is his love for us
at the cross that humbles us, that drops us to our knees. If you
have truly seen it, if this morning you can catch even a glimpse
of his incredible patience and desire for you to be with him, then
there is a place in your innermost being, in your heart of hearts,
where you hang your head in silent shame, no longer able to argue
your own worthiness, no longer condemning by comparison to others,
no longer quoting the rules and regulations as the basis for the
attitude of your heart.
And right there you are transformed by the words, “I forgive you.”
And it changes everything. It changes your entire outlook on life.
Here is Jesus’ second lesson about grace, about God’s underserved
love. Once it touches you, you are turned right side out, no longer
focused on yourself, but on the needs of others around you.
Jesus said to the host, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do
not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich
neighbors;” now here comes the inside out part, “if you do they may
invite you back and so you will be repaid.”
Folks, Jesus is not concerned about who you invite to dinner. He is
trying to teach us something about the way things are in God’s kingdom.
His grace, His undeserved loved, cannot be regulated. When it pours
out on us from the cross, relentlessly, endlessly, when we hear the
words, “You are forgiven,” we no can longer look at how we will be
repaid, what we might get back for the things we do, whether anyone
will recognize and applaud our effort.
We are turned right side out and God’s unregulated grace pours out
from us to the people around us who desperately need to hear, to see,
to touch, to experience God’s love for them. All of sudden we are set
free from worrying whether we will get our reward – because the reward,
eternal life, Jesus calls it the “resurrection of the righteous” is
already ours as a gift guaranteed and received by faith, that is by
simply believing that what I am telling you about Jesus death and
resurrection, your forgiveness and new life, is true.
Unregulated grace pouring out on us, pouring out through us on a world
in need, on people with whom God longs to spend eternity.
Amen.
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