"Glorious Grace" - Eph. I:3-l4 - July 13, l997

I’ve been listening to a tape while traveling in my car. It's on how to be more creative at personal financing. We live in a self-help world. There are thousands of books, tapes, magazines, videos, etc. on hundreds of subjects. When you have a problem you just go to the library or local bookstore and pick up some material on the subject.
We are a people that prides itself on self reliance. No matter what troubles us there is some resource that can give us the answers we need.

We are accustomed to doing things for ourselves. We work hard. We pursue our endeavors with pride and determination. We politic, position and strive to be totally independent and able to solve all our problems alone.
I learned a valuable lesson last Sunday afternoon. Lin and I were sailing and it was very breezy. Without warning the wind gusted and turned us completely around. The sails were set right. My hand was on the rudder. I was doing what I was supposed to do. But, the wind took me in a different direction. And that changed our plans for the rest of the day. We headed back in and to our dismay discovered that the motor malfunctioned. That meant that had we continued on the original course we would have been stranded on the other side of the lake, without power.

Do we no longer believe in God’s grace? Have we become so self reliant that we actually believe we can live without the grace of God working in our lives? That there will in fact be times when the wind of God takes us in a direction we do not want to go? God’s grace is everywhere but instead of being thankful for what God does we are quicker to blame God for the things that go wrong. Paul is reminding the Ephesians that when we live in God’s grace we are living in faith. This passage is not about what we can do for ourselves but what God does for us. And what God does for us we are not capable of doing ourselves.

One day there was a limousine parked along a highway. It had apparently overheated. But, no one stopped to help. Finally, after several hours, Robert Wise saw the troubled limo and stopped to help. The driver asked him if he would drive to the next town and callhis boss about his predicament. "No problem", Wise responded. zA short time later Wise returned and told the driver he had made the call. He began to leave and the driver said, "Wait?" He wanted to repay him for his trouble. Wise told him it wasn't necessary but if he really wanted to do something he could send a dozen rozes to his wife. The driver got the address and promised to take care of it. The flowers came and in the process the limo driver's boss learned that the Wise's were having financial problems. They were now blessed with a spirit of generosity. The boss paid off the mortage on their home.

Besides the things that happen on our behalf, let us review what God does for us. First, God has redeemed us. What does that mean? It’s like the three men in space at the station Mir. Just as they have now received valuable spare parts, supplies and tools, we have received what we need to be rescued from "floating in space". We have been given the grace of God, as made possible by the faith of Christ.

Second, we are forgiven. No guilt, no past failures, no past events can separate us from the love of God. Guilt is not something we can work off, pay off or sleep off. We are forgiven by a compassionate, loving God. Sometimes we are preoccupied with what we ought to be doing or thinking or acting to be recipients of God’s grace. Just as we earn a living we are accustomed to earning our way to salvation. While it is true that we come to worship for instruction and to be encouraged in our faith, we also come for another reason; to praise God for what God has done.

Paul says twice in this passage that we are here for the praise of his glorious grace, to live for the praise of his glory. This implies an attitude of thankfulness, acceptance, and joy. God wants to be acknowledged, to be remembered, to be glorified. Rather than come with the expectation of what we need to do or how we can change, God simply wants our praise.

I recently visited a man who had successful heart surgery. When I said, "it’s really good to know you have come through this", he broke down and wept. He had a thankful spirit. He knew that God has blessed him. He did not hide his emotion.

Perhaps the reason we are not thankful to God for all God has done for us is because we really don’t believe in grace. We think it is a coincidence or accidental or that we have to earn it. We find it difficult to accept it as a free gift. Perhaps we are not living redeemed and forgiven lives because we are too consumed with the sins of others. It is impossible, Jesus says, to experience forgiveness without forgiving others. And so, we hold back, feeling sorry for ourselves, or even punishing ourselves instead of living in God’s grace. Or, perhaps we are so conditioned by a society that thrives on the sensational that we fail to see God’s grace working in small and seemingly insignificant ways. We want to be entertained, we want to be wowed.

A thankful heart does not hold back. A thankful spirit lets the tears flow, gives God the praise God is due, gives God credit for blessings and redemption instead of claiming it for ourselves. Rather than come to church to receive instructions and be told what to do, let us celebrate. Let us lift up the grace of God wherever it happens. Let us live with a thankful heart, remembering that we are redeemed and forgiven.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio