PENTECOST 12 – August 23, 2020 – Rom. 11:33-12:8
“ALL THINGS COME BY GOD’S GRACE”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Romans 11 and 12. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- In our Gospel Lesson, Jesus assures Peter and His disciples that they know the answer to the most important question in the universe: Just Who is Jesus Christ? He is the “Christ,” the Holy One anointed by God to be the Savior of the world. He is the Son of the Living God, certainly man, a human being, but certainly not a “mere” human being, but the eternal, almighty, Son of God, Who is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.” [Heb. 1:3]
- Regardless of anything else a person knows or does not know, this is the most critical reality to know. In this knowledge of God is “the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.” His ways are “inscrutable.” It is all counter-intuitive to our fallen sinful minds, but the reality is that:
I. No One Has Earned Or Deserved Anything From God
Text: “Who has known the mind of the the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.”
Statement: For virtually everything in life you have to be something or do something in order to get something. I do not get birthday presents except from my family. I have to be father, son, husband, great-grandfather – in order to receive presents. Or, if it comes to wages and salaries, we all know that we have to do something, produce something, be of some economic or personal value, in order to get “paid.”
But with God, this can never be! God does not give us anything because we have earned it or deserved it! No one has ever given something to God whereby he has earned “repayment” from God. The fact is that everything belongs to Him – so whatever we might give to God is in fact merely giving back to Him what is already His own – but on loan to us for this lifetime. So whatever good things we have God has given to us – not on the basis of having earned it, as though God is repaying us, but rather purely by His gracious, generous, and magnificent love.
Application: What does this mean for us? Well, as we began, most importantly it means that knowing that in the most important matter in our existence – God’s forgiveness of our sins, God’s gift of eternal live, our joy in knowing that God is at peace with us – all of this is the gift of God, by His grace. There is absolutely nothing that we can do to earn or deserve any of these things from God.
Two significant realities flow from knowing and believing this great love that God has for us: First, it takes the pressure off of us, as far as thinking we must be sure to do this or that in order to be assured that we have done enough to have pleased God and earned His blessing. He has already blessed us with all these things. But secondly, it frees us to consider the prioritization of our time, of our entire life. For as the Apostle indicates:
II. If We Know God’s Love For Us, How He Is Serving Us, We Are Free And Empowered To Put Our Whole Being Into God’s Service
Text: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
A. We Are Free To Be Striving To Live A Holy And God-Pleasing Life
Text: “I appeal to you brothers [be] holy and acceptable to God.”
B. We Must Understand – Such A Life Does Not Conform To The Ways Of The World
Text: “Do not be conformed to this world.”
C. Rather, This Involves A Transformation Of Our Minds, So That We Actually Know The Will Of God
Text: “But be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Statement: Lots of people seem to be searching for what is “good and acceptable and perfect,” but not on the basis of a true knowledge of God. They do not know Jesus. They do not have renewed minds, but remain “conformed” to worldly thinking, the dynamics of our sinful flesh. This makes their efforts impossible! They are not even checking materials out of the right library!
Application: But to know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Savior of the world, our own dear Savior, brings you into the right library! It brings you into the library of “the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.” Only this library can teach us “what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” This is the blessedness that we have been invited into! We are free to apply ourselves to this knowing that God is already taking care of us with His good and gracious gifts! We are already giving glory to God in all things forever!
Transition: And in our text we see that:
III. Each Of Us Has Been Given Gifts For The Symbiotic Good Of The Whole Church, The Whole People Of God, And This Also Blesses The Whole World Around Us
Text: “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Statement: We already observe this – none of us excel in everything, but we all have gifts and abilities from God Himself that we are privileged to contribute to the common good. And this is not a matter of “earning” something from God, so that He owes us! Rather, it is acknowledging how much He has given us, and how our gifts should be used in accordance with His good and gracious will – and that is to love, serve, and care for one another.
Application: This, of course, involves us in a life of nobility, service, and love! This insures that our lives are not just selfish, not just self-centered, not just focused on our pleasures and privileges! And while this does not appeal to our sinful nature, and seems counter-intuitive, it is a miraculous “transformation” of our being!
Conclusion: But this tremendous blessing only comes from the knowledge of Who Jesus is, and what He has done for us. This blessedness comes to us through “the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.
The reality is also clear – for everyone who truly knows God. “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” The logical conclusion is also crystal clear: “To Him be glory forever.”
God grant this blessedness and this beauty to each of us, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.