yes, sometimes i do speak

Today I got the privilege of speaking at work for their weekly Wednesday morning chapel. My little speech is below in its entirety. I stuck to the script for the most part, only straying away from it a few times so you will get the basic gist of what I had to say. We also sang two songs. The music was great for both, but neither song was well known so the singing was a little quiet. The hymns were sung one at the beginning and one at the end. The first song was “Worship the Lord in the Beauty” and the second was “Living and Dying with Jesus” which I thought fit quite well. At the end I also gave a benediction. I had never done that before. Kinda weird. Overall I think it went well. I was a little nervous, but after that I was able to speak with solid rhetoric.



What are we doing with grace?

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 (TNIV)

As God's co-workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

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Faith and grace – it doesn’t seem to come at a cost anymore. Martyrdom is a thing of the past. (I’m not saying it doesn’t still happen. Occasionally we hear a story here or there.) But in general we don’t hear the stories of people like Paul who boasts of his hardships or a modern day martyr like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. If you don’t know who Dietrich Bonhoeffer is – he was a German pastor and an author who during the Nazi reign stood-up against what was wrong and was eventually imprisoned and killed for it.

Grace is often called the quality that makes Christianity unique to other religions and the rest of the world. So, what does grace look like? And, what are we doing with it?

Grace is more than proclaiming John 3:16 – to say this gift God gives us is free. But we are cheapening God’ grace when we leave the proclamation at that. It’s only half of the equation. But it is hard to proclaim repentance, confession, discipleship, and even sometimes a life of hardship; like that of Paul who had been beaten, imprisoned, hungry, who cried out about being poor and dying.

And yet… Paul rejoices!

Has the church lost what Paul rejoiced in 2000 years ago? Have we lost grace in the church today? We talk about living our best lives now. We make Christianity into Americanism. And even sometimes we proclaim that grace maybe isn’t for everyone, creating moral barriers of superiority and division. All of those examples are completely the opposite of what Paul was trying to teach. Now this would be the time where I would do a PowerPoint. But, because of Annual Conference all the projectors are in San Diego. Instead I’ll do the little PowerPoint verbally. I’ll name a person or group and you will decide for yourself whether they deserve grace or not.

Hitler… the KKK… Mother Teresa… Martin Luther King Jr… Obama…How about George W. Bush… Your favorite athlete or singer… Sadam Hussein… the homeless.. Enron or Madoff …

How far were you willing to extend grace?

Did you extend grace to Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King Jr? How about Hitler or Enron?

Yet, grace goes beyond hate, beyond racism, beyond any sin of this world.

Are we keeping grace under a rock? Are we hiding it in the ground? OR – are we giving grace, are we being unconditional in our love as, God is for us? In the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20)… Do you know this one? Where the owner of a vineyard hires some workers at the beginning of the day for a denarius, then at noon hires more for a denarius, and again in the afternoon for a denarius. At the end of the day all the workers from morning to afternoon are all paid the same amount one denarius. This grace doesn’t make sense to the world. It doesn’t even make sense to us most of the time. This is not just the second half of the equation, but it is like adding 2 + 2 and it equaling 5. It’s as if God has changed the fundamental truth of the problem to not equal 4 anymore, but 5. Just like the math problem grace is beyond what the world sees as ‘good’. God’s fundamental truth of the equation of grace is different from the world’s it is extended to all.

On our own, attempting to give grace to everyone without any sort of conditional filter is impossible. We’re human, and we are going to become frustrated with our co-workers, with bad drivers, with irritating neighbors. It is only when we live in the depths of God’s grace, and allow his strength to pour through us, can we seek to live in a different way. And it is this grace-filled lifestyle that has the power to really change the world for the better, as Jesus did. Are you up to the challenge?