Well, welcome to Church of the Advent.
Welcome back if you're returning.
Especially welcome if this is your first time.
I know many of us were potentially traveling this past week,
and we still have a lot of people on the road,
so we'll pray for their safe return and navigation
through the inevitable traffic that they will face today.
We celebrated Thanksgiving this past week in this country,
and it's a time, hopefully, amid all of the travel and stress and logistics,
where we had a moment to reflect on things we're thankful for.
And that's an appropriate thing to be thinking about
as we open God's Word together this evening,
because we are coming to the end of a series
that we started a few weeks back on stewardship.
And gratitude is a very important, very central idea
when you talk about stewardship,
because this series has been an exploration
of the truth that God actually owns everything.
And anything that we have in our lives
is something that has been entrusted to us by God
to be used in ways that reflect His heart.
And so we've been exploring that.
We talked about what it means to steward the world and creation.
We talked about what it means to steward our time,
to steward our bodies,
to steward our wealth and privilege.
We've looked at this through a number of different lenses.
And tonight, it culminates in a topic
that I think draws a lot of these themes together.
And so we're going to draw together a lot of the things
that we've talked about over the last few weeks.
We see this realm of stewardship
in 1 Peter 4, verse 10,
which is going to be our focus.
Peter says this,
As each has received a gift,
use it to serve one another
as good stewards of God's varied grace.
So this is our final topic of stewardship,
the stewardship of grace.
And we'll see three things looking at 1 Peter 4, 7 through 10.
We'll see first, what does this mean?
What does it mean to be a steward of grace?
It's a little more esoteric than wealth or time.
What does it mean?
Why is it so difficult to do?
And then lastly, how do we do it well?
What does faithful stewardship look like
when it comes to grace?
Let's pray.
Our Father, thank you.
As we have perhaps said thank you
for many things this week,
chiefly we thank you
for your presence among us,
that we can gather in a building like this
on a Sunday night
and know that regardless of how distracted
or torn or spread thin we might feel,
that you are fully present here.
Lord, we crave and we hunger for your voice.
We thirst for your word.
We pray that you would speak to us, Lord.
We pray this in your Son's holy name.
Amen.
So stewardship of grace,
what does that even mean?
1 Peter 4, chapter 4, verses 7 through 10
is a summary passage.
It's summarizing the Christian life.
This book is about Christians.
It's a letter from Peter to Christians
who were living in the diaspora,
the dispersed body of Christ,
living all around the known world
in places that are either indifferent
or maybe even hostile to the Christian faith.
And this is a pastoral letter of encouragement.
This is how you should live.
And he's laid out the gospel,
the beauty of our salvation in Jesus.
He's then talked about what it means
to face suffering
and to grow up into salvation.
And now as we get to chapter 4,
he's giving us a vision of the Christian life.
Verse 7 says,
the end of all things is near.
In other words, he's saying,
until Jesus comes again,
this is how we should live.
And then he lays it out.
And he says that above all,
Christians must love one another.
We must love one another.
What's important to note is that
when we think of love,
we think of a feeling.
Like I feel love for my wife,
for my kids, or my friends.
But when he talks about love,
he's talking about something that is active,
a verb.
Love one another.
And then he defines what that means.
Okay, what does that love look like,
expressed?
And he gives us two things.
Show hospitality,
which we've talked about a number of times
in our church.
And then the second thing,
is he says that we are to use
the gifts of grace that we've been given
to serve one another
as good stewards of God's varied grace.
So hospitality and then stewardship of grace.
And I think the two are connected.
I'll show you a little bit later
why I think hospitality,
how that figures in here.
But what I want to talk about now
is the fact that when we talk about God's grace
and stewarding that grace,
we're not just talking about the grace
that enables us to be saved.
God's grace that comes through Jesus
that saves sinners and reconciles them to God.
That's the beginning,
but there's more to it.
God's grace is actually
that which enables us to grow
and to mature
and the term is to be sanctified,
to become more like Jesus.
His grace coming into our lives
is what enables that to happen
in the power of the Spirit.
And so what Peter is saying
is that when God
pours his grace into his church,
he does it through
individual Christians.
He pours his grace through us
into one another's lives.
We're all made stewards of this grace.
And that happens in the form of gifts,
spiritual gifts.
So if you're a follower of Jesus,
if you've been baptized,
you have spiritual gifts.
You are in many ways,
and these gifts in you
are like channels of grace.
Or to use a different image,
when Jesus wants to shine
the light of his presence
into his church,
just as a light shines through a prism
and white light will be refracted
into all manner of hue,
so Jesus shines the light of his presence
through his church.
And each person is like a facet
of that prism.
And that light shines
in a slightly different hue.
So when God wants to shine his grace,
pour his grace,
it happens through our spiritual gifts.
And Peter speaks in generalities.
He says, you know,
there's essentially two categories of gifts.
He says there are those who speak,
speaking gifts,
and those who serve,
serving gifts.
And they work together.
If you look at other places
like Romans chapter 12,
or 1 Corinthians chapter 12,
and 13 and 14,
Ephesians chapter 4,
you see some of the more specific gifts
listed out.
These aren't exhaustive lists,
but they give us some specific examples
of what spiritual gifts
we're talking about.
So speaking gifts might include
prophecy,
right,
applying God's word
in ways that pierce hearts
and expose sin.
That's a speaking gift.
You might have a gift of teaching,
or of exhortation.
Exhortation is sort of strong encouragement,
or encouragement,
right?
These are speaking gifts.
Right alongside those,
there are serving gifts,
like service,
like healing,
like giving.
We're all called to give,
but some people are extraordinarily gifted.
They're extraordinarily generous,
and their gifts bear much fruit.
It's a spiritual gift.
The gift of mercy.
These are service-oriented gifts.
But the point that I want to dwell on with you
for just a few minutes
is this,
that God has designed His community,
communities like ours,
to be interdependent,
where each person
both needs and is needed.
Interdependent communities.
And being a loving community
means being an interdependent community.
That's what Peter's saying.
So there's a couple of implications
just to push this
into the realm of our lives
a little deeper.
First implication is this.
You need other Christians in your life.
You need Christians in your life.
And I'm not just talking about
Christians' friends
that you see once or twice a week.
I'm talking about spiritual friendships.
People who,
with whom you have
an explicit understanding
that you desire
to be used by God
in their life.
And you desire them
to be used in your life
to grow.
That you have committed to
not just being friends
but seeking
one another's growth
and maturity
in Christ.
You need those kind of people
in your life.
And if what Peter says
is true,
it means that as we read
over the list of spiritual gifts,
normally we read
over the list of spiritual gifts
and the main question
at least in my mind is
I wonder which ones I have.
And that's kind of human nature.
Maybe I have this.
And that's really important.
We'll talk about that
in just a little while.
But there's another way
to read the list of gifts.
And that is
it's a list of needs.
It's a list of things
that I need.
Right?
So this means that
as I look down the list
of spiritual gifts,
I realize
I need people
to teach me
things that I don't know.
I need people
with the gift of teaching
in my life.
I need people
with the gift of wisdom
to share wisdom
that I may lack.
I need people
with the gift of prophecy
who can speak prophetically
into my life
and pierce my heart
and expose sin.
I need people
to exhort me
at times.
To encourage me
at times.
I need people
sometimes to serve me.
to pray for me
to be healed.
To show me mercy.
It's a list of needs.
Does that make you
uncomfortable at all?
Just the idea
that you would need
things like that
from people.
And I think
for most of us
it's hard to really admit.
To acknowledge,
yeah,
there are times
when I just don't know.
There are times
when I have no idea
what to do.
There are times
when I need to be called out.
There are times
when I need to be
taken care of.
There are times
when I need people
to pray for my healing.
I think it's human nature
and especially
in our culture
to spend most of our time
convincing people
that we don't need anything.
You know,
most of my time
I want people to know
that I've kind of
got it together.
That I'm kind of good.
I don't,
you're,
you know,
I don't really need anything.
Things are fine
in my life.
And I think
that's because
we live in a culture
that rewards autonomy
and rewards self-sufficiency.
I mean,
what does it mean
to be an adult
in our culture?
A lot of people
in this room
are,
you know,
sort of transitioning
or kind of
in what might be called
early adulthood.
What does that mean?
I mean,
what's the goal
of being an adult?
What is adulting
all about?
It's self-sufficiency,
isn't it?
I mean,
isn't being an adult
really just not needing
anything anymore?
You no longer
need parental support.
You no longer,
you kind of can do it
all yourself.
I mean,
that's essentially,
I think,
how we think about it.
So the idea
that I would need anything
is pretty uncomfortable.
But what we need
to understand
is that Peter
is totally shattering
that whole idea
of self-sufficiency.
And one implication
of what he's saying
is unless there are
other believers
pouring grace
into your life,
your growth
is going to be stunted.
It's going to be stunted.
So that's the first thing.
You need other Christians
in your life.
The second point
I want to make
is that other Christians
need you
in their life.
You know,
other Christians
need you
in their life.
There are specific ways
that God's,
if you're here
and you're a Christian,
there are specific ways
that God's grace
is meant to flow
through you,
through your personality,
through your quirks,
all the things
that make you you.
So there are needs
in this church
that only you
are able to meet.
And there are hands
that only you
can hold
and spaces
and roles
that only you
can fill.
And it's very important
to understand that,
that when you look
around this room,
every single person
who's here,
if you're here,
chances are
you're not just
randomly here,
that you're here
because God
has given you
as a gift,
that he looked
at the church
and saw the needs
and said,
this person
would fit very well
here.
They have gifts
that are needed
by this community.
There are no accidents
in God's kingdom.
So we need other Christians
in our lives,
other Christians need us
in their lives.
And this is what it means
to be a steward
of God's grace.
God's grace pours
through us
into one another's lives.
Now,
it's all well and good,
nice and clear.
Why is it so hard to do?
What is the major challenge?
And I think that there
are a number of ways
we could go,
a number of reasons
why it's hard,
but I just really want
to focus on what I think
is a core challenge
of interdependence
and why you don't often
see this happening
well in churches.
And that's this fact,
that the whole idea
that we need other people
to pour grace
into our lives,
and more to the point,
the whole idea
that we need to change
or that we need to grow
or that we need to transform
runs completely
against our culture.
We live in a culture
that has been termed
more and more
the age of authenticity.
I don't know
if you've heard this term,
but here's what Jonathan Grant,
here's how he defines it.
Modern authenticity
encourages us
to create our own beliefs
and morality.
The only rule being
that they must resonate
with who we feel
we really are.
The worst thing we can do
is to conform
to some moral code
that is imposed on us
from the outside,
by society,
our parents,
the church,
or whoever else.
It is deemed
to be self-evident
that any such imposition
would undermine
our unique identity.
So this is the culture
that we live in,
that I have a moral obligation
to be true
to what I feel
on the inside
and to express that,
and the less polluted
it is by outside influence,
the more authentic
and the more true
it is.
So why would I let you
speak into my life
and pollute
my sense of self?
I need to keep myself
clear of all of that,
right?
And think about
the stories that we tell,
the movies that come out
these days.
I mean,
really,
the only remaining
hero narrative
in our culture
is the narrative
of the person
who has the courage
to be themselves
no matter what.
You know,
that's the hero story
that we like to tell.
I mean,
virtually every movie
that I watched
with my kids
over Thanksgiving
was that story.
Just swap out
different animals
or creatures,
but that's essentially
the story that was being told
over and over and over.
And so one of the worst crimes
that you can possibly commit
in our culture
is to question
or challenge
someone else's choices.
That is the unpardonable sin
in our culture
is to challenge
or question
or push back
somebody else's
lifestyle choices.
You just don't do it.
There was a Barna study
that came out
where they made this statement
and they wanted people
to agree or disagree.
And here's the statement.
People should not criticize
someone else's
lifestyle choices.
Eighty-nine percent
of U.S. adults
agreed with that.
Right?
So the overwhelming
majority of people
would agree with that statement.
You should not ever
criticize other people's
lifestyle choices.
That's not surprising.
What may be a little
more surprising
is that 76%
of Christians
agreed with that.
Right?
So the vast majority
of people,
both secular
and Christian,
agree with that statement.
And so this sentiment
that love means,
you know,
if you really love someone,
you should affirm them
exactly as they are,
that's how the thinking goes.
That's what love
looks like in our culture.
And so what we need to see
is that when you look
at 1 Peter 4
and when you compare
the two,
you realize that we are
dealing with two
completely opposite
definitions of love.
They're two
diametrically opposed
ways of defining love
and they coexist.
Right?
The culture of authenticity
says,
this is who I am
and if you truly love me,
then you will affirm
and accept me
exactly as I am.
That's what love means.
1 Peter,
by contrast,
says,
this is who I am
and if you truly love me,
you will use your gifts
of grace
to speak into my life,
to challenge me,
to expose sin,
to exhort me,
to encourage me
so that I can grow
and transform
and mature
and become more
like Jesus.
You see,
they could not be
more opposite
one another.
And so someone,
you know,
I know you might be
hearing this
and thinking,
what's the big deal?
Well,
the thing is,
as a result,
the church
is deeply confused
over what it means
to love people well.
I think right here
in our church,
there's a lot of confusion.
I think there are
a lot of people
who really want
to be loving,
but I think that
we're very confused
as to what that
actually looks like
on the ground.
So you have someone
making decisions
and,
I don't know,
they're making decisions
that are hurting
their relationship
with God
and hurting
their relationships
with other people
and maybe even
hurting themselves.
That's essentially
what sin is.
It's doing things
that hurt those relationships.
Right?
And they're making
these decisions
and,
you know,
you see this
from time to time
where there'll be
somebody making
these decisions
and they're literally
surrounded by Christians.
They're surrounded
by Christians.
You know,
they're in small groups
and,
you know,
and all of the people
around them
are concerned.
And all of those people
are talking to one another
about how concerned
they are,
but nobody dares
say anything
to the person
in question.
And so,
and then,
you know,
and you say,
well,
you know,
don't you think
you should say something
if you're so concerned?
Shouldn't you maybe
sit down
and have a conversation
and people say,
well,
you know,
I just really think
what they need is,
I just want to be
supportive right now.
Well,
I just don't know
if it's my place.
You know,
I just think
that they need to know
that they're loved
no matter what.
And on it goes.
And,
and I think that
all of this reflects
a deep confusion
about what love
actually looks like.
It reflects actually
the culture of authenticity.
Loving someone,
supporting them
means never questioning them.
So someone says,
okay,
well,
okay,
I get that,
but what's the big deal?
And maybe you're here
and you're listening
and you're not really sure
if you buy the whole
grace,
Jesus,
gospel thing.
And you say,
well,
if I'm not a Christian,
then what does it matter?
And I would say,
even if you don't buy
all of that,
it still doesn't work.
There's still a serious flaw
with this way
of thinking about relationships.
And here's the flaw.
Here's the problem
with the culture of authenticity.
When you say,
this is who I am,
you must affirm
and accept me
exactly as I am.
When that's what you say
to people,
what you really have
is openness
without vulnerability.
You have openness
without vulnerability.
And that makes
real relationships
completely impossible.
Because you're being open,
you're saying,
this is who I am,
I'm being totally honest
about who I am.
But you're not allowing
that person
to have any meaningful
impact
on your life.
And that's the
vulnerability piece.
And if you're open
and yet you're not vulnerable,
it's not openness
that makes relationships
possible,
real relationships,
it's vulnerability.
Because vulnerability
is the core
of intimacy.
And so you can be open,
but if you're not vulnerable,
there's no chance
for intimacy.
And so it may feel
like you're intimate,
but if there's no possibility
that anybody can actually
impact you
or change you,
then there's really
no intimacy.
You're really not
asking for a friend,
you're asking for a yes man,
you're asking for somebody
to come along
and rubber stamp
your life.
And so instead of
building a relationship
on intimacy,
you're actually building
it on an ultimatum.
And ultimatums
really aren't good
for relationships.
It doesn't work.
Right?
So I think
this is one reason
why so many people
these days,
especially in a place
like D.C.
where this way of thinking
is so prevalent,
there's a lot of loneliness
out there.
A lot of people
with a lot of friends
who are still lonely.
And I think part of it
is because we like
the idea of openness,
but we don't like
the idea of vulnerability.
And so we're alone.
There's no intimacy there.
And this attitude,
by the way,
not only makes
relationships
with other people
impossible,
but if you come to God
and you say,
well, I believe that God
is a God of love,
and I believe that
if God is truly loving,
then God should accept me
and affirm me
exactly as I am.
You're not going to have
a relationship
with any God
other than the God
of your own imagination.
It makes a relationship
with God utterly impossible.
So the gospel offers us
a better way,
and that's what we're going
to spend the rest
of our time looking at.
How to be faithful
as stewards of grace,
and that begins
with understanding
the gospel.
It begins with,
first thing we have to do
to be stewards of grace
is to recognize
that we need grace.
Right?
So before I pour grace
into the lives of others,
I need it myself.
By the way,
every week,
this is why
when we come up
for communion,
we come up
and say Dan
is celebrating communion.
The first thing Dan does
after he sits everybody down
is he takes a bite
of the bread himself,
and then he takes
a drink from the cup,
and then he'll give me,
if I'm helping,
assisting with distribution,
he will give me
the bread and the wine,
and then we give it
to the chalice bearers,
and then we come
and we begin to give it
to all of you.
Why?
It's because we need
to receive before we can give.
That's what that's meant
to model.
We're only able to give
what we've received.
And so the first thing
we need to do
is to recognize
that we need grace.
You know,
Jesus said in the Gospels,
those who are well
have no need
for a physician.
I came to call
not the righteous,
but sinners.
So in order to receive
God's grace,
you have to recognize
that you need it.
You have to ask for it.
God's grace,
which means,
first of all,
admitting that we're
hopelessly addicted
to self and idols,
that we are powerless
over sin in our lives.
It means coming to Jesus
and admitting that we need
the free grace
that he offers
to become free and whole.
And then it means
turning our will
and our lives over to him,
saying,
please take this,
take me,
and change me,
transform me.
And you know,
that's what happens.
It's essentially giving Jesus
a blank check
to the rest of your life
and saying,
here's a blank check.
Whatever you call me to do
from this point forward,
I will do it.
I have no idea
what that's going to be,
but I'm saying yes now.
So whatever it is
that comes down the road,
I say yes.
That's what it means.
And you know that Jesus
is going to then
begin to work in your life
to change and to transform you,
using other people
to do that.
But we have to receive
God's grace.
And then once that happens,
then we have to recognize
the purpose of grace
to begin with.
That ultimately,
this is not about us.
And Peter makes this
abundantly clear.
Who's it about?
Well, he says,
in order that in everything,
God might be glorified
through Jesus.
To him belong glory
and dominion
forever and ever.
Amen.
So that's why he's saying
faithful stewards of grace,
you know,
when you speak,
speak oracles of God.
When you serve,
serve with the strength
that God provides.
Lest you ever,
for a moment,
forget and think
that it's about you.
Because in fact,
it's not.
You know,
the essence of sin
is essentially
that we're all addicted
to self.
We want it to be about us.
We're kind of self-aholics,
you know.
That's our addiction.
And Peter says,
no,
it's not about you.
And so when you do
bear fruit
and when you are
stewarding grace
and you see other people
grow as a result,
don't take credit.
Recognize that it's God
who provides grace.
That we're merely
the stewards.
Right?
So it's not about you.
Recognize the purpose
is to glorify God.
So the first couple of things,
to be stewards of grace,
we recognize
that we need grace.
We recognize
the purpose of grace
to glorify God.
Number three,
recognize and use
your own gifts of grace.
recognize and use
your gifts.
I don't know
what they are.
But you can discover
what they are.
You know,
there are lots of
inventories out there
that you can take
to discern your spiritual gifts.
We did one a year ago
when we had a retreat
on this topic
for this very reason.
But by far,
a better way
is to sit down
with people,
Christian brothers and sisters
who know you,
and to begin to ask them
to prayerfully help you
discern what your gifts are.
You know,
where do you bear fruit?
Where,
when you're doing
your thing,
where do you see fruit
and growth
and flourishing happen?
Where do your
natural inclinations
meet fruitfulness
when you're being
faithful to Jesus?
And prayerfully
discern what those are.
And then,
once you begin
to know them,
use them.
That's the key.
You have to use them.
They're meant to be used
for the life of the church.
Sometimes,
using your gifts,
sometimes that means
that you're going to get
to serve people
and take them food
and encourage them
and pray for them
to heal
and pat them on the back
and help them get up
and say it's going to be okay
and dust them off
and help them down the road.
Sometimes, though,
it's going to mean
having hard conversations.
Sometimes,
using your gifts
and being a faithful
steward of grace
means that you have
to sit down
and you have to speak
prophetically
into somebody's life.
You have to exhort them
in things that they
don't want to hear.
You have to challenge
and question
and nobody enjoys
those conversations.
But I just want to say
this as strongly as I can.
Don't avoid
hard conversations.
If we are a church
that avoids hard conversations,
we will not be
stewarding grace.
Our growth will be stunted.
I'll give a big caveat.
I can't believe
I'm quoting Tim Ferriss,
but here it goes.
Sort of a self-styled guru.
Somebody described him
the Tony Robbins
for people under 45
and I guess
that's probably true.
He says,
a person's success in life
can usually be measured
by the number
of uncomfortable conversations
he or she is willing to have.
That's a pretty bold statement
because I think most of us
avoid hard conversations.
We just put them off,
put them off,
and avoid them altogether.
And he says,
a person's success
hinges largely
on their willingness
to do that.
I think 1 Peter 4
would amend that slightly
to say the sincerity
of a person's love
is measured largely
by their willingness
to have hard conversations.
You know,
Proverbs 27.6,
I love it.
It says,
faithful are the wounds
of a friend,
profuse are the kisses
of an enemy.
And that is absolutely
brilliant wisdom.
Faithful are the wounds
of a friend.
You know,
faithful friends
are friends
who are willing
to say things
that might wound you
or offend you
or hurt you.
That's what love
looks like, right?
So faithful friends
might say,
I notice that when we go out,
every time we go out,
you know,
we all have a couple of drinks
and then you just
don't ever seem to stop.
You have three,
four, five,
and I never,
I don't know what happens
to you after that.
We all go home,
but you always kind of stay out.
What's going on?
Faithful friends say,
you know,
ever since you've been
dating that person,
you've just started to change
and you're more distant
and I'm just,
you know,
I'm not seeing you around as much
and what's going on?
You know,
that's a faithful friend
is somebody who's willing
to sit down and say,
you know,
I'm not sure this decision
is having the best influence
on your family.
You're on the road a lot.
You and your wife
seem really distant.
Do you guys get any time together?
I'm concerned.
Can we talk about it?
Notice that that
it's not saying,
I'm condemning your choices.
It's not coming at somebody
with an attitude of condemnation.
Remember,
the overarching ethic
is one of love.
Right?
But what this does look like
is the posture
that you should have
is not condemnation,
but it is curiosity.
I'm curious.
Tell me more.
Help me understand
this decision
because there are a lot of people
that are concerned
about this decision.
Can you help me understand
your thinking?
How does this decision
resonate with your relationship
with Jesus?
Do you feel like
your relationship with Jesus
is stronger
as a result of this?
If not,
then why are you doing it?
That's curiosity.
It's just,
help me understand.
Let me in.
Do we have vulnerability or not?
That's what it looks like.
And by the way,
you're also being curious
because,
remember,
it's not about you.
It's about how God
might use this relationship.
It's how God
has designed us
to be faithful stewards
of grace.
And so,
if God's grace
is trying to break
into this person's life,
you're curious.
How's that going to happen?
What is God doing
in you right now?
Can we talk about that?
Faithful are the wounds
of a friend.
This is going to hurt,
but it's because I love you
and because God's grace
is trying to be poured
into your life.
What's that look like?
Profuse are the kisses
of an enemy.
If all someone does
is affirm you
and build you up
and no matter what,
I just want you to be happy
and you do what you think
is best
and you're going to make
great decisions
and I'm not,
that's not really a friend,
right?
Because that's not
actually loving you.
If I'm just affirming,
affirming,
it's not really about you,
I'm loving me
because I don't want
to have to stress about it,
I don't want to have
to think about it,
I don't want to lose sleep
over it,
I've got too much
going on in my life,
I don't have the time
and energy to really
get into this with you.
So hey,
just whatever makes you happy,
I've got this thing
over here.
That's not friendship.
Profuse are the kisses
of an enemy.
By the way,
I said earlier,
I think there's a connection
with hospitality.
I think there's no coincidence
here that Peter says
show hospitality
and then steward
your spiritual gifts,
which means sometimes,
many times,
having hard conversations
like this.
Because these kinds
of conversations
should always take place
in the context
of hospitality,
right?
If you're going to have
a conversation like this
with somebody,
it should be in your living room,
you know,
with some food
that you've prepared,
right?
That's where this is
meant to happen,
that's where loving
relationships play out.
So you need to
recognize your gifts
and use them,
even if it means
doing uncomfortable things,
because you actually
love your brothers
and sisters.
And then lastly,
number four,
recognize grace
when it comes to you.
Right?
So don't just be willing
to have the hard conversations,
receive them
when they come
into your life.
You know,
sometimes grace comes
in the form
of gentle encouragement,
praise God,
wonderful times.
But other times,
it comes in the form
of a hard conversation,
somebody being willing
to challenge you.
And you know,
over the years,
I've seen this play out
again and again and again.
Somebody will come
into our community
and they make friends
and they're great
and for maybe several years,
they're active
and involved
and every time you ask them
how's it going,
they say,
oh, everything's great,
totally fine.
I'm totally fine,
everything's great
and they're like a star.
You know,
they just got it all together.
And then something happens,
crisis,
bottom drops out
and all of a sudden,
their sin gets exposed,
their brokenness gets exposed,
the need gets exposed,
the fact that they don't
have it all together
and they're actually
kind of a mess,
all that comes out
and maybe a few people
learn about it,
right?
And in that moment,
when you're sitting there
and all of a sudden,
you're just,
your crap is just out there,
every single human being
on the planet
wants to run and hide.
Ever since Genesis chapter 3,
that's what human beings
have been doing.
The moment we get caught,
the moment God comes along
and says,
what have you been doing?
We run and we hide,
right?
That's human nature.
And so,
many people,
when they finally get exposed,
will do just that
and they'll go
and they'll start
to fade away.
They come less
and less and less.
They start kind of
dropping out of their small group.
Their kind of friends
see them less
or they'll start being
more selective
about who they talk to
and they'll start
cutting some people out
and talking to other people.
And then eventually,
people say,
you know,
I just think it's time
for a fresh start.
I think I just need
to go to another church
and I just need a fresh start.
So,
time in my life
where I'm just looking,
I just need a change,
you know?
And,
you know,
I mean,
call me cynical
and I am.
I'm a cynic
and it's something
I need to repent of.
But,
so I'll admit that.
But a lot of times
when I hear that,
I think,
what you're really saying
is you want to go
to a place
where people don't know you
so you can continue
to try to convince people
that you've got it
all together.
You can buy
a few more years
of hiding behind that facade.
So,
so,
so some people do leave,
you know?
And that's okay
because,
again,
it's not about us.
It's about God
working His grace
in His way.
So,
they still belong to God,
right?
So,
it doesn't depend on us.
But I will tell you
that sometimes,
miraculously,
people stay.
They stay.
They get exposed
and all their crap
is out there
and people,
you know,
people start to surround them
and start to step
into their life
and they want to run
but they say,
no,
I'm just going to stay.
And it's like staying
on the operating table.
And God is this surgeon
and He's starting to go to work
and they're freaking out
and they're scared
but then they begin
to look around
and they begin to realize.
Look at this community
that God
in His infinite wisdom
has surrounded me with.
Well,
here's a person
who can pray for me to heal
and here's a person
who has faith
beyond anything
that I've ever seen
and here's a person
who's going to show up
late at night
to do my laundry
to make sure I have
something to wear to work
and here's somebody
who's going to bring me food
and here's somebody
who's going to organize
a prayer chain
so that people are praying for me
around the clock
and here's somebody
who can actually counsel me
and help me work through this
and here's somebody
who's going to speak
and teach God's Word
in a whole new way
and all of a sudden
you begin to realize
God actually knows
what He's doing.
He's on to something
because all that time
that it was great
and you were coming
and everything was fine
and you're, you know,
coming to church every Sunday
and leading small groups
and everything's great,
all that time
your growth
had really plateaued.
You know,
growth in the Christian life
isn't just like this.
At least in my life
you kind of go along,
go along, go along
and it's in those crisis moments,
right?
The Bible calls time,
you know,
not chronos time
but kairos time.
It's this divinely appointed moment
where the bottom drops out of your life
and you stay on the surgeon's table
and you stay under the knife
and you trust the community around you.
Those are the times that you grow.
So every now and then people stay
and they grow.
I can tell you from my own life
that my growth has happened
not when I was cruising along,
not when people were encouraging me
or complimenting me
or telling me ways that, you know,
things that I want to hear.
Almost exclusively,
whatever growth I've experienced in my life,
I've experienced when people have called me out,
called me to the mat,
challenged me,
or they've been there
when something got exposed in my life
that I needed to deal with.
That's when it happens.
So this is what it means
to be stewards of grace.
It means loving each other
and serving each other with our gifts
as an interdependent community.
And we do this all
because Jesus was willing to love us
and serve us
by giving us
the ultimate gift of his own life,
which is what makes all of this possible.
Heavenly Father,