Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Please join me in prayer: Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
In case you haven’t noticed, we are a nation with an unlimited appetite…for gambling. The list of “usual suspects” includes lotteries and Las Vegas, bingo and ball games of all shapes and sizes. And I think we should also count such careers as stock brokers and farmers, wouldn’t you agree?
Think of all the dreams that die on the vine when one’s dead-certain-can’t-lose-sure-bet team or trade, contestant or crop, plan or player does not win the prize, hold the trophy, make a million…or get to go to Disney Land!
Let’s play with this idea for a moment. What’s the only guaranteed way to win if you gamble on a sports team, the stock market, or a cash crop?
Luck can be a factor—but the only guarantee I know is foreknowledge. The first one you can’t trust and the second we humans can’t have—unless we cheat…but I’ve never heard anything about insider trading, thrown games, ponzi schemes, or steroid use, have you?
In short, God is the only One with that kind of knowledge. By definition, God had better know what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen in life. It’s one of the Lord’s qualities that we painfully, ordinary human beings covet so dearly. Do you want to be all powerful? That would be great. Everywhere present? Sure. All knowing? Hmm . . .
Imagine that: complete knowledge—about every-thing, every-where, of every-time? What could you do with it?
– stock market: |
Invest for mind-boggling profits |
– sports: |
Bet on Super Bowl and World Series champs |
– natural disasters: |
Avoid areas that threaten life/security |
– lies/truth: |
Know whom you can/cannot trust |
We’ve been after that knowledge for a long time, haven’t we? Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the snake? What was that slimy serpent’s seduction? What hook did it use to tempt the man and woman to defy God’s explicit, crystal-clear, plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face order to stay away from the Tree of the KNOWLEDGE of Good and Evil?
– You will be like God…knowing…good and evil.
Well, we gambled…and we lost—big time. Sin, however you define it, is a foundational part of our spiritual and cultural psyche. What’s our excuse when we make a mistake, get caught in a lie, do something stupid?
I’m only human!
Nobody’s perfect!
The devil made me do it!
In all three lessons for today, we’re dealing with very human people—each one demonstrating just how human and how clueless they—and we—can be.
Job is frustrated…for good reason. He’s a righteous man who is suffering—all because of a wager. One day Satan bets God that Job is only righteous because he has led such a blessed life. So God tells Satan to let Job have it, AND bets that the man will never curse God because of his pain.
It’s bad. Job loses everything—his family, fortune, health—then it gets worse. His three friends are sure that he’s suffering because he has sinned and won’t confess it. They KNOW that bad things only happen to bad people! Finally, Job demands an answer from God—and gets one! Our lesson for today is just the beginning of God’s response; or should I say, God’s rant that continues for four whole chapters!
But here’s the amazing thing. Even though God never explains why Job has had to suffer, when God is through scolding him, Job says “I know that you can do all things…and (I) repent” (42:2, 6). Why? What changed his mind? I think it’s that God’s act of speaking to him brought God out of the heavens and into the reality of Job’s pain. He does not get an answer to his question why?.He gets something better—now he knows that God cares about him.
The disciples are frustrated…for a very good reason. They know that the storm is going to kill them—and Jesus is taking a nap! I’m sure they only expected him to grab an oar and help row to shore. But, like a lot of us, he’s a little grouchy when they wake him up, so he yells at the storm…and then scolds the disciples for not trusting. They reveal their LACK of knowledge when they ask each other, Who is this guy?
And the Apostle Paul is frustrated. He and his buddies are risking life and limb to bring the Gospel to ALL people…and all they get is grief—especially from those who should be supporting them the most! Paul knows what’s at stake here. He cautions the people: do not accept the grace of God in vain.
Think about that statement…then here’s my question, how can anyone accept God’s grace in vain? Any ideas? Here are some options:
– Grace is true for some, but not for me—I know I’m too sinful; OR
– Grace is true for me, but I know it’s not true for those sinners; OR
– Grace is a nice idea, but I know that in life it’s just a dream.
Paul goes on to give a laundry list of reasons why he could give up on God’s grace—but he doesn’t. Says the Apostle: 8in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute, we are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
In other words, in simpler words, in the only words that make any sense, you and I are called to trust that we have already been reconciled to God. Says Paul just a few verses previous to this lesson, All this is from God who reconciled us to himself in Christ (2 Cor. 5:18).
Now you and I know that for some people, putting faith in God is just too much of a gamble. But here’s the secret: they, too, have already been reconciled by God to himself in Christ—they just don’t know it yet!
You and I, however, can dare to trust:
– that God hears our cries of pain and heeds our frustrations like Job;
– that though we have nothing, we have been given everything like Paul;
– that God will bring peace to life’s storms that threaten us; and
– that God is with us every step of the way.
That is how we will have not accepted God’s grace in vain.
When that knowledge sinks in, when the Spirit assures us that God has planted that truth about grace into our hearts, then we are certain about what we know—that with God’s grace, we possess everything! It’s no gamble; there’s no luck involved; this is not a game of chance. It is knowledge—knowledge of God’s good and loving grace.
The great 20th Century theologian Karl Barth was once asked in an interview to share his greatest insight about God. Here’s what he had to say: Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. Sing it with me…those of you who know the song.
So, get ready…get set…let’s go—tell it on the mountain, over the hills, to our families and neighbors, strangers and friends: Jesus loves you and me and all people—this we know for the Bible tells us so. Amen.
Pastor Scott Fuller