from grace to thanksgiving
June 10, 2018
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:5
Who here knows the name John Newton? Well if you don’t know who he is by the simple mention of his name, I can assure you that you know some of his work because he happens to be the one responsible for writing a song… a hymn really called Amazing Grace.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Now, did you know that this hymn is autobiographical? You see, Newton was initially an outspoken atheist who spent a large part of his life working as a slave trader.
'twas Grace that taught,
my heart to fear.
And grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear,
the hour I first believed.
After years and years of working as a slave trader, Newton found himself on the brink of death at sea when his boat was stuck in an enormous storm.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.
Miraculously he survived that storm and in the midst found faith in God.
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Eventually Newton left the slave trade, became an ordained Anglican priest and became a lead voice in the English movement to abolish slavery.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
This new life of faith began a transformation for Newton. A transformation into a life of joy, peace and thankfulness.
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.
*****************************************
What comes to mind with you hear the word Grace?
Maybe for some of you Grace is a religious word that really just draws a blank… Or is it a word that makes you uncomfortable… Or is it a word that gives you hope. And while I’m sure there are more, no matter what, it seems Grace is a word that conjures up all kinds of meanings and images and ideas for us human beings. Yet, in the world of the church, Grace is talked about, or maybe I should say the word is said aloud a lot.
So, today I’m wondering how it is that a word so often used in church conversation comes to have so many different meanings and understandings to the people making up the church. And I’m wondering this because, for me at least, everything in today’s scripture seems to hang on this word Grace. And if everything is really for our sake, with the purpose of having Grace increase our Thanksgiving to God, then shouldn’t we first know Grace. Doesn’t the increased Thanksgiving hinge on us knowing Grace?
*********************************
I don’t know about you, but for me this process of coming to better understand and better know Grace, starts with suffering. Especially when thinking about Paul’s teachings. You see, Paul has been talking on and off throughout the entire letter to the Corinthians, and particularly in the last few verses of today’s scripture, about the way in which he had found himself crushed and ready to die — and about the way in which, to his surprise, the power of God was able to raise him from that death and give him new life. Yet Paul isn’t just talking about his own experience and his original audience would have known this. You see, when Paul wrote “I believed, and so I spoke…” he was connecting his advice to the earlier scripture located in the Psalms. And this is important because Paul’s authority to offer advice was under attack and proving his knowledge of scripture was important in his defending that authority. But Psalm 116 in particular did something else. This Psalm is about a life transformed by Grace. This Psalm is all about finding yourself crushed and ready to die only to be raised up from that death by the power of God. Hear the Psalmists’ words:
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation, “Everyone is a liar.”
12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
*****************************************
Now, with this reference, with this connection, Paul invites his Corinthian listeners to trust in God’s everlasting promise. Paul wants them to trust that they are resurrection people. Paul wants them to trust that they are growing in Grace despite life’s setbacks. Paul want them to know that in the midst of life’s challenges, they can be hopeful because the resurrection transforms everything. Failure cannot defeat God, imprisonment cannot defeat God, and aging cannot defeat God. Deeper spiritual growth is possible despite the limitations of age and illness. This is a life-transforming promise. This is cause for Thanksgiving!
We are invited to trust in God in all the seasons of life. We are invited to look for God’s movements in all the seasons of our lives. Whether we live or die, we belong to God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. That is Grace, and our best response is giving thanks. When we understand Grace in this way we no longer have to turn away from the world because our foundation for involvement with the world is firm. A foundation, though invisible to world, firm from within.
In her book, The Scars that have Shaped Me, Vaneetha Rendall Risner writes, “… grace. That’s an invisible healing. To an outsider, nothing looks different. Life still looks shattered and God may seem uninvolved. But that’s just to the casual observer. In reality, we are profoundly changed. Grace gives us the courage to face anything, healed from the inside out. For this healing is not just for this life but for the next. It is Spirit-breathed, not humanly understandable. It is permanent, not temporary.”
****************************************
May we come to understand that nothing can and nothing will ever separate us from the love of God… May we come to trust in that everlasting promise… May our lives be transformed by God’s Grace… And may we ultimately say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Amen!
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:5
Who here knows the name John Newton? Well if you don’t know who he is by the simple mention of his name, I can assure you that you know some of his work because he happens to be the one responsible for writing a song… a hymn really called Amazing Grace.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Now, did you know that this hymn is autobiographical? You see, Newton was initially an outspoken atheist who spent a large part of his life working as a slave trader.
'twas Grace that taught,
my heart to fear.
And grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear,
the hour I first believed.
After years and years of working as a slave trader, Newton found himself on the brink of death at sea when his boat was stuck in an enormous storm.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.
Miraculously he survived that storm and in the midst found faith in God.
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Eventually Newton left the slave trade, became an ordained Anglican priest and became a lead voice in the English movement to abolish slavery.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
This new life of faith began a transformation for Newton. A transformation into a life of joy, peace and thankfulness.
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.
*****************************************
What comes to mind with you hear the word Grace?
Maybe for some of you Grace is a religious word that really just draws a blank… Or is it a word that makes you uncomfortable… Or is it a word that gives you hope. And while I’m sure there are more, no matter what, it seems Grace is a word that conjures up all kinds of meanings and images and ideas for us human beings. Yet, in the world of the church, Grace is talked about, or maybe I should say the word is said aloud a lot.
So, today I’m wondering how it is that a word so often used in church conversation comes to have so many different meanings and understandings to the people making up the church. And I’m wondering this because, for me at least, everything in today’s scripture seems to hang on this word Grace. And if everything is really for our sake, with the purpose of having Grace increase our Thanksgiving to God, then shouldn’t we first know Grace. Doesn’t the increased Thanksgiving hinge on us knowing Grace?
*********************************
I don’t know about you, but for me this process of coming to better understand and better know Grace, starts with suffering. Especially when thinking about Paul’s teachings. You see, Paul has been talking on and off throughout the entire letter to the Corinthians, and particularly in the last few verses of today’s scripture, about the way in which he had found himself crushed and ready to die — and about the way in which, to his surprise, the power of God was able to raise him from that death and give him new life. Yet Paul isn’t just talking about his own experience and his original audience would have known this. You see, when Paul wrote “I believed, and so I spoke…” he was connecting his advice to the earlier scripture located in the Psalms. And this is important because Paul’s authority to offer advice was under attack and proving his knowledge of scripture was important in his defending that authority. But Psalm 116 in particular did something else. This Psalm is about a life transformed by Grace. This Psalm is all about finding yourself crushed and ready to die only to be raised up from that death by the power of God. Hear the Psalmists’ words:
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation, “Everyone is a liar.”
12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
*****************************************
Now, with this reference, with this connection, Paul invites his Corinthian listeners to trust in God’s everlasting promise. Paul wants them to trust that they are resurrection people. Paul wants them to trust that they are growing in Grace despite life’s setbacks. Paul want them to know that in the midst of life’s challenges, they can be hopeful because the resurrection transforms everything. Failure cannot defeat God, imprisonment cannot defeat God, and aging cannot defeat God. Deeper spiritual growth is possible despite the limitations of age and illness. This is a life-transforming promise. This is cause for Thanksgiving!
We are invited to trust in God in all the seasons of life. We are invited to look for God’s movements in all the seasons of our lives. Whether we live or die, we belong to God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. That is Grace, and our best response is giving thanks. When we understand Grace in this way we no longer have to turn away from the world because our foundation for involvement with the world is firm. A foundation, though invisible to world, firm from within.
In her book, The Scars that have Shaped Me, Vaneetha Rendall Risner writes, “… grace. That’s an invisible healing. To an outsider, nothing looks different. Life still looks shattered and God may seem uninvolved. But that’s just to the casual observer. In reality, we are profoundly changed. Grace gives us the courage to face anything, healed from the inside out. For this healing is not just for this life but for the next. It is Spirit-breathed, not humanly understandable. It is permanent, not temporary.”
****************************************
May we come to understand that nothing can and nothing will ever separate us from the love of God… May we come to trust in that everlasting promise… May our lives be transformed by God’s Grace… And may we ultimately say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Amen!
