02.26.2023 - First Sunday in Lent - Grace Abounds Where Grace Abides

Anthony W. Franklin

Lent • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

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Scripture: Romans 5:12-19

Romans 5:12–19 NRSV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— 13 sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16 And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17 If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Bonsai

Some of the biggest and strongest living beings in all creation are not the ferocious lions, tigers, and bears we learned about from the Wizard of Oz. Instead, they are parts of the plant or even the mushroom kingdom. Even more incredibly, all of these creations start as tiny seeds that can fit in the palm of your hand. Redwood forests come from the exact origins of tiny mustard seeds.

These giants of the earth with the power to shape mountains with their roots do not sprout into being overnight. Instead, they grow over decades and centuries. Because they grow so slowly, their growth can be shaped, controlled, and even stopped with consistent persuasion. In their work with bonsai trees, the Japanese turned this idea of shaping plants into an art form long ago.

I had heard of bonsai trees as a child. Twenty years ago, the local florist near my university had a class on making them, so a friend and I explored this new hobby. I always thought bonsai trees were unique miniature plants that looked like trees. During that class, I learned that any tree could be made into a bonsai tree. I don’t remember all the details, but the short version of making a bonsai tree is this: plant the tree sprout in wide, shallow soil, wrap the stem in wire to direct its growth, and keep it in a place with controlled heat, and humidity. You may not be able to control a full-grown tree, but you have great control over it if you keep it down when it is young.

While it is possible to tame trees and make them into tiny art pieces, it is anything but natural. Left to their nature, these same plants will conquer any space they are given. For example, I once planted morning glories in a small tray near my bedroom window. Within a few weeks, they had grown up my curtain and threatened to take over the room, and I had given them no special treatment other than occasionally watering them.

Grace, like those plants, grows wherever we plant and nurture it.

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Room to Grow

Today's scripture says that, like the bonsai trees, death exercised dominion over Adam and then stunted the whole human race. It got to us early, when humanity was still just a seedling, and it bound us up, twisted us out of shape, and put us on a shelf to be an example of what not to do for all future generations.

Think about this for a moment: If we eliminated Jesus as a choice, who in the world's history could stand as an example of what God intended humanity to be? We all have good days, but most of us are overshadowed by weaknesses and flaws that we hope and pray our children will not imitate. Instead, most of us hope and pray that they will grow out of the small garden we occupy and grow up to do even greater things than we have done.

Yet so often, this is not the case. Our hopeful eyes see them as whales, but they find themselves dominated by the world and squished into goldfish bowls, sometimes without even realizing it. They, and we, feel like this is the way ordinary life goes.

Before you venture too far down the road with thoughts of fame, career opportunities, and worldly visions of success, let’s return to the root of this subject: Grace.

The season of Lent is about six weeks long, beginning Ash Wednesday and Ending Easter Sunday. What would you do if the time constraints, chains of anxiety, the physical needs for food and sleep, and every bit of fear and guilt were taken away for six weeks? What would you do if nothing kept you from getting closer to God and there was no limit to how close you could get?

We like to talk about being saved, forgiven, and free, but we often still live like slaves of the world, dominated by the things we let shape our relationship with God that have no love for Him. So we say we do the best with what we have and keep the grace in our lives small. We leave it as a display on a shelf that we can look at occasionally. We allow things to keep grace in our lives small, and sometimes, when it starts growing up the curtains and taking over, we get out the pruning shears and cut it back to a more manageable size.

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The Power of One

One man’s sin condemned us all. Sometimes, since we are so far removed from Adam and Eve, we think we are somehow better than them. More intelligent, wiser, or more experienced. Yet the truth is, we are worse off. They started free and able to serve God in righteousness. Instead, we were born enslaved to sin.

Consider Abraham from the book of Genesis. God spent many years and a lot of work trying to get Abraham to the promised land and to have a child to inherit it. Within four generations, his people had sold themselves into slavery in Egypt. That meant every generation after that was born into servitude. They would work until the day they died and never earn a penny. Everything they made would pay for their living expenses covered by Egypt and to pay off their parents’ and grandparents’ debt. They would never get ahead.

Sin also enslaves us so that we lean toward rebellion against God, and there is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness. And even if we could, would we? The models around us cannot show us how to do it, and sometimes they push us into doing something we ought not to do.

It is like a traffic jam. The more cars you have on the road, the easier it is to mess everyone up. It only takes one car swerving into the wrong lane, causing an accident, or perhaps just stopping, rolling down the window, and talking to a friend on the sidewalk. One person can stop traffic flow for miles with a single wrong choice, even unintentionally.

Sin came into the world through one man, but Paul wrote that there was some good news to go along with that bad news. Just as one sin could condemn everyone, one righteous person could save us all. In the middle of the traffic jam of life, Jesus came and showed us the way out. He was like one car, moving out of the mess and blazing a new path forward. As the car behind him follows, and the one behind after that, the traffic could begin to flow again. Eventually, people who never saw the first car in person would find their way along the same path, following that first car. So it is with Jesus, who led his disciples, who led their disciples, who taught them across the generations.

It is the power of one. It just takes one to mess things up, but it just takes one to set things right. Praise God for sending Jesus to show us what life could be like if we follow Him and rid ourselves of the power of sin in our lives.

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Jesus is Knocking

How do we allow God’s grace to take over our lives? One space at a time.

Much like plants or goldfish, God's grace will grow to fill the area it is in. If you give God an inch, He will fill it to overflow into a mile. If you give God a room, He will overwhelm it until the adjacent rooms begin to be affected.

If you turn over your car keys to God one day a week, choosing only to go where God directs you that day, you will soon find yourself running a taxi service for Jesus. If you decide one day a week to only spend money in ways that glorify God, He will quickly take over your bank account and show you how to become a faithful steward of His riches. If you raise your children as if they belonged to God and not you, He will transform the lives of those ten generations beyond you.

Where is the end of all this grace that flows into and through your life? Wherever you shut the door. Wherever you tell Jesus to leave. The Spirit of God stops when we say, “That’s enough, God!”

In Revelation, Jesus told one of the churches that He stands at the door and knocks, and whoever opens the door, He will come and stay with them. He will live with them. He will join their family as they join His. So what you have to do today is simple. It may not even be challenging.

I’m not asking you to become a perfect person in an instant. Instead, I suggest you listen to what doors Jesus is knocking on in your life and open them to Him. Give Him an inch today and a foot tomorrow. Give Him a room in your heart today and a floor tomorrow. Start small, and let Him direct your growth.

It may seem scary and new initially, but only Jesus knows your true limits and potential. It is time for you to take the grace that God has given you off the shelf and plant it in the yard. It is time for you to leave the flower garden and learn to grow in the forest of God’s love. You will never know how much God’s grace can flow through you until you let God fill you to overflowing.

Brothers and sisters, will you let God grow His grace in you today?

Join us this evening for worship at 6 pm and stay this morning for Sunday school, which starts in just a few minutes.

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