United Methodists AND GRACE: “Prevenient”

September 13, 2009

Ephesians 2:1-10

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

NRSV

We continue today a series of sermons on distinct United Methodist beliefs. Last week we talked about our understanding of communion. Today, we’ll talk about grace—not just any grace, but something called “prevenient” grace.

Before I do that, though, I must say that speaking on grace is very appropriate today, on this “homecoming” Sunday. We’ve celebrated 54 years of ministry here at 5275 S. Lindbergh. On the DVD you saw, you witnessed how we’ve changed, grown, evolved—from a little white house, with a chartered membership of around 100, to a facility of over 30k square feet and a membership over 1150. This comes ONLY through God’s grace—being with us through the highs and lows, guiding and directing. So…please accept this sermon, not just as a way of understanding and claiming this thing called grace, but as a way of giving God a profound “thank you.”

We’re going to begin by testing how cool you are.

Let me preface this by saying that I would have flunked this test—it would have shown me decidedly “un-cool.”

You’re going to hear a song clip. I’d like you tell me the name of the song, the name of the group, and the lead singer from that group.

Ready?

Here goes—

OK, for the title of “coolest” person at Concord Trinity, and a fabulous free prize, who can tell me the answer?

“One,” by U2.

The lead singer of U2 is this man:

Bono.

He’s made a name for himself apart from being a singer who’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s championed human rights, environmental causes, aid for famine relief.

But most surprising to me is that he’s not a bad theologian. I ran across this excerpt from the book, Bono: In Conversation. Listen carefully:

“It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma …. What you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that “as you sow, so you will reap” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff … It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.”

Isn’t this interesting? Just when you think you have a guy you could stereotype—rocker, way “liberal” [whatever that means], soft heart—he comes out with something that could be preached at the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church across the street.

He gives us a wonderful definition of what grace is:

“[Grace is believing] that Jesus took my sins onto the cross…[so] I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.”

Thus is the cornerstone of our faith.

If you’re a Christian, you’re only a Christian by trusting the grace of God as seen through Christ. We are forgiven because we’re loved with the unbreakable love of a parent for a child. When you come to God, confess, ask for forgiveness, for a second chance: THAT is what you receive, thanks be to God.

So, this is a wonderful definition of grace.

However, we United Methodists take this a step farther.

Our understanding comes from a very surprising part of today’s passage.

Paul uses the phrase that was the foundation for the Reformation:

“By grace you have been saved.”

This goes along with Bono’s understanding. We come to God, and God doesn’t hold a grudge, God will forgive, we can’t earn it.

A couple verses later, Paul repeats this phrase, but adds something interesting—he adds something that changes the way we see God:

“…By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Notice the difference?

Grace isn’t just some passive attribute of God—some great character trait. Grace reflects God’s action to us.

God doesn’t wait for us to come to Him. God’s grace is shown by God going out to get us. God makes the first move to us, and continues making that first move until hopefully we finally have eyes to see what’s going on.

GRACE IS SOMETHING THAT SURROUNDS US, CONFRONTS US, CHALLENGES US, GETS OUR ATTENTION. GRACE IS GOD RELENTLESSLY KNOCKING ON THE DOOR, HOPING WE’LL OPEN IT, BECAUSE GOD IS HOLDING ALL THESE GIFTS: THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS, OF LOVE, OF HOPE.

Grace means that there is no place you can go that God’s not already been. There is nothing you can do that God’s not already seen. There is nothing you can say that God’s not already heard. There is nothing you can think that God’s not already thought. There’s nothing you can feel that God’s not already felt.

YOU CAN NEVER SURPRISE GOD. GOD, THOUGH, NEVER CEASES TO SURPRISE YOU. THAT IS WHAT GRACE IS!

If Paul were here today, he’d use an example that many can relate to. He’d use a GPS:

I love my GPS, my Garmin. And there’s a fun little feature on it I’ve discovered.

You put in a destination. You see the little Garmin brain working—“calculating…”. Then you see the map and driving directions it’s given you. But if you take a wrong turn, and change direction, what will you hear?

“RECALCULATING.” You’ll then be given an alternate course to follow to get to your destination. You veer from that course, and you’ll hear once again, “RECALCULATING,” and yet another set of directions will be given you.

I once kept purposely going off course, to see what the Garmin would do. By the fourth or fifth time, it’s my imagination, but I think I heard, “(sigh) REEEcalculating.”

Grace is God never getting tired of “recalculating.” In times of failures, and of successes. In times of happiness, and in times of sadness. In times of plans achieved, and in times of “coincidences.”  In times of loneliness, and in times of companionship. God’s Spirit is at work: getting our attention, opening our eyes to a deeper side of life, that may be experienced; opening our eyes to our own shortcomings, that may be forgiven; opening our eyes to our hidden talents, that may be used.

No matter how far you stray from the direction of real, fulfilling life: God’s always working, calculating how to get you back on track. And when God has gotten your attention; when you finally decide to follow God’s directions: somewhere in heaven or on earth there’s a divine, “YES! ALL RIGHT!”

But why am I telling you all this? If you but take a few minutes and look back on your life, you can remember the times God’s said, “Recalculating!”

For me, it began with God working through the death of my mother when I was four, working through my dad who, even though his heart was breaking at the loss of the love of his life, kept taking me to Sunday School and church every Sunday—and the message was that there is hope and love even at times when I didn’t understand why momma left me. I look back and see God working when I was fifteen and sleeping in church, but woke up enough to hear a sermon that caught my attention, and directed me back to God. I look back and see God working as I connected life experiences with Biblical stories and teachings, and my field of vision marvelously widened. I look back and see God working in the midst of two broken engagements, teaching me about relationships and myself. I see God working in relating to my Dad as he aged, and holding his hand as he died, and feeling him slipping into a world I can only dream of. I see God working in the celebrations of marriage and children, of special friends, and of relationships formed in churches I’ve been privileged to serve: and I celebrate the sweetness of life as love is lived out with each other in the ebbs and flows of life.

Yes, I look back, and see the loving, guiding hand of the God Jesus warmly called, “Abba,” “Daddy.” Our Daddy who art in heaven is always bringing out good here on earth, if we have but eyes to truly see, and hearts to truly appreciate.

We United Methodists call this “prevenient” grace—God always taking the first step to us, and continuing to do so!

I invite you to celebrate this “amazing grace” in your life. We’re going to have a few minutes of reflective music. During that time, recall how God’s been active in your life, maybe just behind the scenes. A coincidence. A learning from a difficult experience. An unexpected solution to a problem. Open your heart to the “recalculating” times of God in your life. If you wish, come forward and spend some time in grateful prayer at the rail—this is your time to thank God for God’s truly “amazing” grace.

After all,

Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear, and Grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that Grace appear, the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come;

Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far, And Grace will lead me home.

Benediction:

In the British Museum in London, there’s an old map of the world drawn in 1525. It outlined the North American coastline and adjacent waters. The map maker made some interesting notes on those areas that had yet to be explored; in one place he wrote, “Here be giants;” in another, “Here be fiery scorpions;” and in yet another, “Here be dragons.”

Eventually, the map came into the possession of Sir John Franklin, a British explorer in the early 1800s. Scratching out the fearful inscriptions, he wrote these words across the map: “HERE [BE] GOD.”

Go, and know that wherever you go, ‘THERE BE GOD’!