Living Grace Fully

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Good morning, everyone! Introduction Have you ever assumed or made a judgement call about someone else that turned out to be incorrect? I know I have. Let me share one brief story with you. This happened when I was a teenager living in a small farming community in the northern half of Saskatchewan. It was wintertime and the sidewalks were snow covered and icy. On one particular day I saw a woman flat on her back on the sidewalk near our home. I had seen a lot of alcohol abuse in that community. I immediately assumed the worse for this poor woman. "Ah, another drunk", I thought. "Serves her right for falling in the snow." And I left her alone to get up on her own strength or to wait for someone less judgmental than me to help her to her feet. Our home was only 100 metres or less from a medical clinic so I could have easily helped her to stumble over to the clinic for an assessment and treatment if she had hurt herself. To this day I regret my insensitive judgment of this unknown woman. But haven't we all made certain judgments about others that turned out to be totally unwarranted? I recently viewed a short video that vividly illustrates how we can easily misinterpret the behaviour of another person. In this video we will see a vignette of something that happened between a father and his five-year old daughter. <show the YouTube video> (about 1.5 minutes long) Did you notice how the father held up two apples at snack time before his five-year-old girl and asked, "Which one would you like?" His daughter reached out, took both apples, and bit into each one. He couldn't believe it. The shocked father was thinking, "This isn't like her. She usually shares with others. Where did she learn this selfish behavior?" The father was jolted out of these thoughts when his little girl said, "Here, Dad. You take this one," handing him one of the apples. "That one is sweeter and juicier," she said. "You'll like it." Not only do we misinterpret the behavior of our fellow human beings like the father in the video, but it seems we are often quick to see any idea that falls outside what we are used to as "wrong." Wouldn't it be better to reframe that idea as simply different from what we are used to? The early Christian church at Rome had this issue over whether to eat meat or only vegetables or whether to observe or not observe certain holy days. Let's check out our Scripture reading in Romans 14:1-13. Romans 14:1-13 (NIV) Accept the one whose faith is weak without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11 It is written: "'As surely as I live, says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'" 12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister What can we observe about the text? * Paul's use of the words "strong" and "weak" can give us the impression that eating meat was better than not eating meat and not observing special holidays was better than observing special holidays. In this context, the people who were not eating meat or who may have been observing certain holy days were doing so because they thought God wanted them to. They saw those practices as an expression of their devotion. Those who had no problem eating meat or not observing certain holy days recognized that God was OK with them as they were and didn't feel the need to take part in such practices. it was an issue of conscience in devotion to God. Each person would be "accountable" to God (v. 12), and while the word "accountable" might sound ominous, it is Paul's way of teaching us that God looks at things according to our intention more than the actual practice. Note that Paul tells us that we should accept the Christian whose faith is weak. Rom. 14:1-3 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Chapter 14 deals with food certain Christians viewed as unclean and celebrating certain religious days and such. Although God had declared all food clean and Paul talked about not letting people judge you because of not celebrating certain days and such, there were some Christians who still felt the need to adhere to some of the Jewish standards and traditions. Paul wanted the church to be understanding of those who were weak in these areas. When someone was coming out of Judaism into Christianity they might still be attached to certain traditions of the Jewish faith. The ones who were stronger in the faith may have chastised them for it, perhaps even questioning the legitimacy of their conversion. Paul wanted them to be thoughtful of their fellow Christians and accept where they were in their Christian journey. Instead of criticizing and rebuking them, accept the things that are disputable and seek to gently instruct and win them over with patience and love. Likewise, today when someone converts to Christianity, it might be hard for them to break away from certain traditions they were practicing. Unless those practices are in direct violation of scripture, we who are stronger in the faith should be accepting and patient with them about it. We can try to talk to them regarding what scripture says about it. Hopefully, as they allow the Holy Spirit to instruct them, they will come to accept that these practices are unnecessary and perhaps unhealthy. And we see that we should accept them because God has accepted them. In the next chapter Paul said this is Rom. 15:7, Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. We can accept people as they come because God accepted us as we came to him. We see communicated here the law of love. We're not legalistic; we're loving. We're not demanding; we're patient. We're not intolerant; we're accepting. This is how we are to approach each other, and this is how we are to approach life. We can accept life as it comes because God has accepted us. We are his and he'll watch over us. Quote by John Wesley. "We should be rigorous in judging ourselves and gracious in judging others." By judging each other for those expressions of devotion, or the lack of them, believers were creating division or "stumbling blocks" to transformation, and forgetting that all our brothers and sisters are in Christ-which is far more important than the foods we eat or the days we worship "to the Lord." The center of the discussion here is Jesus Christ-not judging how others center their lives around him. By comparing themselves, they were creating a false ranking system rather than seeing that in Christ, we are all equal in righteousness. It's not because of what we do or don't do, but because of who Jesus is. Barbara and I have a couple of neighbours that call themselves Christians and yet they belong to a church that regularly reads the Torah and keeps the Holy Days that were part of the Old Covenant. Sound familiar? Their reasoning is that they feel they can better reach Jewish folks if they have an environment that they are familiar with. We don't sit in judgement of them. We share the keys to one another's home and regularly keep an eye on their home when they are away for a few days or on vacation. And they do the same for us when we are away. Although I am convinced in my own mind that observance of days like Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Trumpets, Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles is not a requirement in the New Covenant, I certainly don't bring up the issue. I am willing to be graceful to them and let them worship God as they see fit. If you were a member of our denomination prior to 1995 you will remember a time when we kept the Holy Days that are described in Leviticus 23. You may have suffered job loss for keeping these annual festivals and/or the weekly Sabbath. I lost two jobs for refusing to work on the Sabbath and for keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread. And if you cast your mind back to those times you will remember with gratitude the people who extended grace to us as we observed these days even if they did not understand why we kept them. I vividly recall working in North Bay in northern Ontario for a natural gas utility as a staff engineer. My boss and his boss, the Chief Engineer, knew my religious beliefs before they hired me. But still when it was late December and sunset was before normal quitting time on Friday afternoon, I knew that I had to leave early before my fellow workers. And I will always remember with gratitude my boss saying to me on one Friday afternoon, "Hey, Keith, shouldn't you be going?" "Yes sir, I'm on my way." Times have changed in the last 25 years, but can we not extend grace rather than judgmentalism to those around us who have beliefs that we do not share? Can we not remember the grace that was extended to us when we kept certain days that we realize now are not required in the New Covenant? Application: We need to Examine our own motives and intentions: Why do you do certain practices in your worship of God? Do you do them because you think God will be displeased if you don't? Or do they draw you closer to God by making you more aware of the Holy Spirit residing in you? We all think our view of God and our preferred way of worship is the "right one," without considering that everyone else thinks the same thing, too. If our practices are an expression of love and devotion rather than a fear-based legalism, we should understand that others' practices probably come from their unique self-expression. You have probably seen scores of people who are heavily tattooed. Can we accept their practice of this fad? Or many young people with holes in the front of their jeans. We may not dress similarly but surely, we can accept their self-expression. Recognize that we make assumptions about others' behavior, and they aren't always accurate. Think back to the story at the beginning and notice how the little girl's actions were interpreted negatively as a first response, but later those assumptions were revealed to be false. The next time you find yourself judging another person in a negative way (and we all do it), try to stop and think of an alternative that is more positive yet feasible. For example, the father in the story could have asked his daughter what he should eat for a snack, opening up the discussion for her to explain what she was doing. If we choose our words carefully, we can avoid condemning language and maintain harmonious relationships. Seek to understand rather than persuade. Instead of trying to persuade others to worship God in your preferred way or view God as you do, seek to understand their unique point of view without assigning labels of "good" or "bad." Challenge yourself to listen, and rather than stating your own opinion or preference, ask questions to encourage the other person to share or make statements that elicit more detail, such as "Tell me more." Become curious about others and how they view or worship God, recognizing that God is magnified when your own views are expanded enough to hold in loving acceptance what is worshipful to another. You know that we have sponsored three immigrant families. And you have probably seen videos of our black brethren worshipping God during their services. Now, that's a sight. They are up, on their feet, and dancing. Their body movements reinforce the words that "God is good". This is not wrong but simply different. This is just how they love to worship God. If you have ever attended worship services in another denomination, you have no doubt witnessed brethren who raise their hands and arms during worship. Again, that type of demonstrative worship is not wrong. It simply is different from what I grew up with or experienced in our denomination. Perhaps the wildest enthusiasm that I experienced at a worship service was at a Promise Keepers rally in Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario about 1996. Before the services got underway someone launched a large plastic ball that appeared to be about 5 or 6 feet in diameter. I don't know what was used to inflate the ball, but it was batted all over the auditorium by a crowd of nearly 14,000 men. Was this wrong? No, just vastly different and, by the way, I am not suggesting that we do something similar in our worship services! * Look for things that might be stumbling blocks or obstacles for others. As we build relationships with others, we will become aware of sensitivities that could become stumbling blocks. In order to not cause offense, and to avoid building obstacles, we can determine to give up some of our own "rights" for the sake of others. (Romans 14:13) "Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister." It takes humility to recognize our biases, and sometimes we are hit in the face with them, just like the father in the opening story. By understanding that we have this tendency to judge and judge negatively, we can choose differently. We can decide to hear about others' worship practices and devotion to God without needing to share our own. As we do this over time, we will develop more compassion, which is the very mind of Christ. Further, we learn to love others as Jesus loves us. Let's consider one example of Jesus showing grace in a situation rather than being judgmental. This is his first miracle when he changed water into wine John 2:1-11 2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 4 "Woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b] 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. This is a familiar story told by the apostle John. It is one of seven miracles that John relates to give proof of Jesus' messiahship. We recall that to run out of wine at a wedding feast in that time and culture was a major faux pas. It would a source of shame in a culture of shame/honour. We know that at first Jesus hesitated to perform the miracle that his mother hinted at. However, he did listen to her and transformed huge pots filled with water into wine. Indeed, it was a miracle and the reaction of the wedding host confirmed that this was not plonk but a first-rate wine. However, let us consider what could have been Jesus' response if he were judgmental on this occasion. "Out of wine are they, mother? And you want me to solve this problem for this drunken crowd? Huh, they can do without for awhile. And I know that my disciples contributed to the shortage. Let this be a lesson for them as well. Oh, Father, how can you expect me to fulfill your mission for me with a bunch of ex-fishermen with prodigious appetites for alcohol." Now, of course, Jesus did not react like that at all. Instead he extended grace to the guests and the host of the wedding. He saw their plight and he solved a significant social faux pas by miraculously transforming ordinary water into several gallons of first-class wine so the wedding feast could continue on uninterrupted and the wedding host could save face. As the author Philip Yancey would say, "That's amazing grace." This is just one occasion when during his earthly ministry that Jesus extended grace to someone. And that is a beautiful example of the grace that we can and should show as we grow into the very character of our Lord and Saviour. Conclusion I hope that you will permit me you assign you some homework like any good teacher. Now, you don't have to worry about being marked or writing a test next week. You are entirely on the honor system for what you do with these suggestions for follow-up in the next few days. * Living Grace Fully - How will I avoid negative communications? In the Speaking of Life video, Cara Garrity compared the power of our words to ripples created by a stone dropped in water, and sometimes our words can be perceived as judgmental, particularly in the case of unasked-for advice. What strategies do you have for avoiding negative communication and keeping communication positive, either in person or online? * Have you ever had a humbling experience like the father in the video where you assumed something that turned out to be wrong? If so, please share it with your spouse or a friend. What have you learned from the experience? * Have you noticed that certain words, like "strong" or "weak," can have connotations that might be hurtful to others? If so, what other words can you think of that people might use in conversation without realizing that they might be hurtful? * We recognize that judging others cause division or hurt feelings in the church, but how might judging others hinder your own transformation? * Why do you think that people, including Christians, are always trying to persuade others to embrace their personal opinion about God, politics, etc.? Why do we need that validation of our personal beliefs? * What are some stumbling blocks or obstacles Christians might use? Proverbs 25:11 HCSB A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. *** Closing prayer *** Word count: 3536 Time: 27.5 minutes Sermon Living Grace Fully0Page 1 of 1 (c) Keith M. Roberts0New Life Christian Fellowship0September 13, 2020
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