April 26, 2009, Sermons from Ephesians

Lesson: Ephesians 1.1-2

Sermon Title: You've Got Mail

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INTRODUCTION

God's Email (1)

One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior going on.

So He called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time. When he returned, he told God, "Yes, it is bad on Earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not."

God thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion." So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time.

When the angel returned, he went to God and said, "Yes, it's true. The Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good."

God was not pleased. So He decided to e-mail the 5% that were good, because he wanted to encourage them, and give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what the e-mail said?

Okay, I was just wondering, because I didn't get one either.

  1. You've got mail is a movie starring Meg Ryan, and Tom Hanks.

    1. Two people emailing to each other, seeing each other without realizing that they are the recipients of each other email.

    2. You may be alerted to the face that You've got Mail by7 a ring tone on your computer.

  2. The Ephesians were probably very excited to discover that they had gotten mail from Paul.

    1. This letter contains a salutation that is wide, true, and encouraging.

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 1:1-2, NRSVA.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. There are two vital words in this salutation: grace and peace

    1. The first one is grace: Üñéò (charis - khar'-ece) graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):--acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

    2. The second one is peace: åkñÞíç (eireôneô - I-rah'-nay Probably from a primary verb ånñù eiroô (to join); peace (literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity:--one, peace, quietness, rest, + set at one again.

    3. If you have GRACE, you will be at PEACE.

If You'll be Quiet (3)

It was a hectic day of running errands with my wife and son. As if the stress weren't enough, four-year-old Christopher insisted on asking questions about everything, told me how to drive better, and sang every song he knew.

Finally, fed up with the incessant chatter, I made him an offer: Christopher, if you'll be quiet for just a few minutes, I'll give you a quarter. It worked.

But when we stopped for lunch, I unknowingly began to harp on him. Christopher, sit up straight ... don't spill your drink ... don't talk with your mouth full.

Finally he said seriously, Dad, if you'll be quiet for just a few minutes, I'll give you a quarter.

  1. Grace is something that we talk about.

A businessman was asked to tell what his personal faith meant to him. He reached back to his boyhood experience. He recalled walking with his father one day, having to reach up to hold on to his hand. After a while he said, "I can't hold on any longer, and you'll have to hold on to me for a while." And he remembered the moment when he felt his father's hand take over. That, he said, was the way it felt to him to have faith in God. And that was precisely an act of grace.

    1. It is important that Christians not let grace become a universal principle or ideology. It is the grace of God of which the Bible speaks.

    2. Not the grace of some abstract principle of justice or love or acceptance.

    3. As God's grace, and not some principle of grace, God is the one who determines what it will be and where it will go.

      1. "God ... called us with a holy calling, not according to our work, but according to his own purpose and grace" (2 Tim. 1:9 NRSVA).

      2. "But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift" (Eph.4:7 NRSVA).

    4. Philip Yancey in What's So Amazing About Grace? relates a wonderful story: (4)

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods' appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."

After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law -- each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.

      1. Yancy writes:

Aware of our inbuilt resistance to grace, Jesus talked about it often. He described a world suffused with God's grace: where the sun shines on people good and bad; where birds gather seeds gratis, neither plowing nor harvesting to earn them; where untended wildflowers burst into bloom on the rocky hillsides. Like a visitor from a foreign country who notices what the natives overlook, Jesus saw grace everywhere. Yet he never analyzed or defined grace, and almost never used the word. Instead, he communicated grace through stories we know as parables.

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  1. We sing about grace.

    1. It was Harry E Fosdick who wrote the great song: God of Grace, God of Glory

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church's story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil 'round us,
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Thy children's warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control.
Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal.

Set our feet on lofty places,
Gird our lives that they may be,
Armored with all Christ-like graces,
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee,
That we fail not man nor Thee.

Save us from weak resignation,
To the evils we deplore.
Let the search for Thy salvation,
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee Whom we adore,
Serving Thee Whom we adore.

    1. The hymn describes the God of grace and the God of glory.

    2. What he wants to do, and will do.

  1. We claim a need for grace.

    1. We are saved by grace.

8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--(Ephesians 2:8, NRSVA).

    1. As Frederick Buechner puts it in Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (5)

Grace is something you can never get but only be given. The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you. I created the universes. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.

  1. We often believe that we are unworthy of God's gift of grace?

    1. Ask Joey in Dennis the Menace (6)

Dennis is a menace to his next-door neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, and yet Mrs. Wilson continues to be kind and gracious.

This particular cartoon shows Dennis and his little friend Joey leaving Mrs. Wilson's house, their hands full of cookies.

Joey says, "I wonder what we did to deserve this."

Dennis answers, and his answer is on target: "Look, Joey, Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice."

    1. On the Web Site Acts 17:17Bible Studies (7), you find the traditional understanding of GRACE:

      1. Eph 2:3-5 (NIV) ...Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.

      2. A good way to understand the meaning of mercy is to see how it relates to grace:

      3.  

        1. Mercy--not getting what you do deserve / withheld punishment

        2. Grace--getting what you don't deserve / unmerited favor

      4. If grace and mercy are not what you deserve, why do you get them?

    2. Is it possible for us to have a glimmer of understanding of grace?

      1. Old Story about a minister who preached a sermon on grace.

    After the service, he was shaking hands when a man approached: "Great sermon, pastor," he said, "I enjoyed it very much."

    The pastor thought to ask his parishioner a question: "What is grace?"

    The man hesitated for a moment and then blurted out, "Why Grace is a blue-eyed blond who sits in the first pew."

      1. Is it understandable, At least to some degree?

    1. I believe that it is.

      1. Examine some passages that speak of grace.

        1. John 14:14-18

    14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known, (John 1:14-18, NRSVA).

        1. 1 Corinthians 1:;4-7

    4I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind--6just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you--7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 1:4-7, NRSVA).

        1. 2 Peter 3:18

    18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen, (2 Peter 3:18 NRSVA).

      1. The scriptures do not make a mystery of grace, this is something that we human have done.

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  1. If it is how do we get there?

    1. By faith

    2. Grace is power.

      1. Jim Cymbala in Fresh Faith observes: (8)

    2. When I was growing up, I thought the greatest Christian must be the person who walks around with shoulders thrown back because of tremendous inner strength and power, quoting Scripture and letting everyone know he has arrived. I have since learned that the most mature believer is the one who is bent over, leaning most heavily on the Lord, and admitting his total inability to do anything without Christ. The greatest Christian is not the one who has achieved the most but rather the one who has received the most. God's grace, love and mercy flow through him abundantly because he walks in total dependence.

      1. Grace is the shared power of God.

    1. Grace is one of the the most powerful force in the universe.

      1. Grace is the means by which we learn to love, to be love, and to express love.

      2. This is the conclusion of Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend, Twelve Christian "Beliefs" that Can Drive You Crazy (9)

    We are all broken in some way, both sinful and sinned against. Because none of us has escaped the results of sin, we suffer spiritual and emotional damage. We won't let others love us. We can't say no. We don't know how to connect with people. We're unable to be firm in our convictions. We need help to be disciplined, to accept our weaknesses, to stand against those who would abuse us. The broken, damaged, immature parts of our character need to be fixed.

    As we said the work of recovery is the work of sanctification. God is redeeming those lost parts of our souls that are injured. He is bringing those parts into the light of his grace and truth.

    And doing this repair, many wrongly believe, is God himself, by himself, unaided by anyone or anything. All we really need, they insist, is to do what the Bible says.

    Yet the Bible says over and over again that we should find people to help us return to spiritual and emotional health. The root meaning of the Hebrew word hazaq, "repair," is "to squeeze or bind." Among other things, it means "to help strengthen the hands and arms." The picture is of strong hands supporting w

    In her old age a friend of mine was weak and frail, unable even to hold her fork to eat. At mealtimes I'd sometimes place my hand around hers, guiding the fork to her mouth. This hazaq brought us closer together.

    1. Grace is the character of God shared with weak and foolish human beings, witnessed by Jesus Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

      1. God in us the hope of glory.

    1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
    Romans 5:1-2, (NRSVA).

      1. This is because through the Holy Spirit, God lives in us.

    16Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple, (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, NRSVA)

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CONCLUSION:

  1. Grace is not a clenched fist, it is a way of knowing.

    2. A grandmother was dancing with her grandson at a wedding. The grandson didn't know how to dance. The grandmother did. Sounds like a familiar generational pattern, doesn't it?

    The boy had heard somewhere that if you just "cinch 'em up tight" they enjoyed the dance, even if you were faking half the steps.

    The grandmother knew exactly what was going on as she glided across the floor, breathing more and more from the upper diaphragm. At first, she thought about improving the boy's steps. But out of love for him, and respect for his clumsy love for her, she just closed her eyes. "I dreamed," she said, "that he was a great dancer ... and I knew he wasn't just dancing with me." And, of course, he was. Love carries the day that skill can't. The grandmother could have been "right" and didactic and judgmental--instead she glided across the floor.

    1. God doesn't condemn us so much as glide along with us, no matter how clumsily we move.

      1. Grace is actually permission to do what we don't know how to do.

      2. When we live by the grace, we don't have to be so afraid of making mistakes: Mistakes are actually part of the gateway to heaven.

    Amen

    1. forwarded by Debbie Grotha, Mikey's Funnies [funnies-owner@lists.MikeysFunnies.com]

    2. You Make Me Laugh [You_Make_Me_Laugh@crosswalkmail.com]

    3. Received from Pulpit Supply. The Good, Clean Funnies List [gcfl-info@gcfl.net]

    4. Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace? (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 45.

    5. Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (New York: Harper&Row, 1973), 33-34.

    6.James Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not to Be True (Nashville: Dimensions for Living, 1994), 86.

    7. http://www.acts17-11.com/mercy.html

    8. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), 45.

    9. Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend, Twelve Christian "Beliefs" that Can Drive You Crazy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 123.

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