Was that hymn familiar to you?
Marvelous Grace.
If you grew up in the church,
a church like I grew up in,
and you sang that a lot,
and you probably also sang Amazing Grace,
there's just a lot of hymns
with the word grace in it, right?
And I wonder if we tend to forget what grace means,
or I wonder if we've ever really understood it
in the first place.
So let me ask you, what does grace mean?
Just in your minds right now,
just define it, see if you can define it.
If you're struggling with that,
let me help you by giving you a different word.
So in Greek, we use,
in English, there's two translations
of one Greek word, charis.
We use the word grace,
and we use the word gift.
And oftentimes, they are interchangeable,
and there's semantic overlap between those two words.
It's a simpler word, I think,
one that we're more familiar with.
So why don't we try defining the word gift?
See if you can, in your mind,
think what a gift really is.
What's the definition of the word gift?
Now, children, when you think of the word gift,
what do you think of?
You probably think of a box with shiny wrapping paper
and a bow that you open up at Christmas
or on your birthday.
Adults, how about you?
I wonder if you defined it
how I would probably define it, okay?
This would have been my definition of gift
up through this week.
I would have defined it.
A gift is a thing given generously to someone
without any expectation of return.
That sounds about right, right?
A gift is a thing given to someone generously
without any expectation of getting something back.
Now, that's probably a similar definition
that a lot of you had,
but in studying Romans 5,
it's made me question that definition.
So we're gonna keep that attempt
at a definition in mind
as we look at Romans 5 together,
the Romans 5 which Ellen read for us.
And we're gonna do an overview of this passage
and then we'll home in on this word gift.
And then we're going to explore
the implications on our lives
of God's grace to us.
Before we do that, let's pray.
Lord, we hear that word of grace all the time
and perhaps it doesn't marvel us.
Perhaps it doesn't amaze us.
Perhaps we have been marveled
or amazed at your grace
and it's not like that for us anymore.
We've grown accustomed to it.
Lord, I would ask that
for these next few minutes,
you would amaze us,
surprise us,
particularly me, Lord.
Amaze me, astound me at your grace.
Lord, I ask you would forgive the sins
of the preacher
and may your word be clearly heard
as we look at Romans 5 together.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
So before we dive in,
I wanna first address the children.
Children, you should have received packets
as you checked in
and perhaps you have hopefully pens and pencils.
All right, there's lots of activities,
but there's also three,
there should be three blank sheets of paper.
Is this sounding about right?
Everyone has packets of paper?
Kids, can you hold yours up for me?
Show them to me.
There, oh, thank you.
Thanks, Judd.
Judd's gonna put it to good use.
All right, so find something to draw
because I have three things
I need you to draw, right?
And the first is this.
I want you to draw
on one side of this piece of paper
a mountain, okay?
And on the other side,
I want you to draw a molehill.
I don't know if you've heard your parents say,
you're making a mountain out of a molehill.
Well, hopefully this will help
understand the difference.
Draw a mountain is really big, all right?
Include lots of details,
snow caps, trees, bears, whatever you want.
And on the other side, draw a molehill
and you can have like a mole peeking out.
But this is your challenge.
You need to draw them to scale, okay?
Mountain needs to be as big
as it should be compared
to the little tiny molehill.
That's what you need to do, all right?
You ready?
Go.
And Judd, you can do that too.
All right, so adults,
let's explore chapter five,
verses one through 11 really quick.
Many of Paul's letters were written
to churches that Paul helped to found.
But the church in Rome,
he wasn't there for the founding.
What we think happened,
what is a likely explanation
for why a church developed in Rome
is after Pentecost,
when the gospel was preached
to people of all tribes and nations,
Jews went home to Rome
and founded a church there.
And over time,
Gentiles came into the church.
But in 49 AD,
the Jews in Rome were expelled.
Over time,
the Jewish Christians returned to this church
probably to find that it had
a distinctly Gentile flavor to it.
And so one could imagine
the sharp differences
between the attitudes and beliefs
and practices of those Jewish Christians
and those Gentile Christians.
And so Paul's writing
to both resolve these differences
and also to address the suffering
that they had probably endured
and would undoubtedly face in the future.
So that's the letter to the Romans.
Now in chapter five,
Paul explains that their comfort,
as they face troubles
and trials and suffering,
their comfort comes from having been justified.
In other words,
they are found right with God.
Their justification comes with two benefits.
One is in the present
and one is in the future.
The present benefit of justification
is reconciliation.
As members of the human race,
we find ourselves
in rebellion against God.
This rebellion has made us his enemies.
But through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross,
we now have present peace and reconciliation.
We are reconciled to the Father.
The other benefit comes in the future.
If we're at peace with God now,
then our future with him is secure.
Christians need not fear a future wrath.
So Christians have reconciliation with God in the present
and we have hope for the future.
We access this reconciliation
and this hope by faith.
In other words,
we trust in God's promises
that we are reconciled and saved by his grace.
There's that word again,
God's grace.
We saw that in verse two of Romans chapter five.
So before we talk about grace,
I have another assignment for the children.
How did the ocean and,
no,
how did the Mountain Mole Hill project work for you?
Okay,
I have another assignment
on another sheet of paper.
I need you to do another drawing, kids.
In the summer,
if you weren't aware,
we have the kids with us in the service.
So on one side of the piece of paper,
you need to draw an ocean.
Okay.
You can include a lot of details in the ocean,
fish,
coral,
mermaids that sing
and obey their parents.
And on the right side,
on the right side of the piece of paper,
you need to draw a puddle.
Okay.
And again,
it needs to be to scale.
Okay.
A really huge ocean
and a really tiny puddle.
Go.
All right.
Back to the adults.
Like I said earlier,
one word in Greek
is translated both grace and gifts.
So I'm gonna use those words interchangeably.
But for now,
I'm focusing on the word gift.
I'm gonna ask,
what makes a gift a gift?
What makes a gift different than,
say,
a loan
or a tax
or a salary?
What does Paul mean
when he uses the word gift?
And does that differ
from how everyone else
in his day used the word?
And do we use it the same way as Paul?
We're gonna explore all that.
But first we need to
kind of figure out what gift is.
And so we're gonna turn to a scholar
named John Barclay.
He explored the meaning of the word gift
in his book,
Paul and the Gift.
And he examines the word,
excuse me,
he examines the works
of anthropologists
who have studied
this concept of gift
across different ages
and different cultures.
And Barclay identifies
six of what he calls
perfections of gift.
That is six different meanings of gift
that are taken to
their logical extreme.
So I think it'd be helpful
to look at all six
because it's gonna clarify
some things later.
So we're gonna look
at this first one here.
It's called superabundance.
All right?
This idea refers to
the content of a gift.
Excuse me,
not the content of a gift,
but to the scale of a gift.
In ancient times,
big men would prove
their superior status
by the overwhelming scale
of their gifts to people.
All right?
Superabundance.
Next is singularity.
This refers to the gift giver
and not the gift.
It's when the gift giver's
sole and exclusive mode
of operation
is benevolence
and generosity.
The third is priority.
That is grace
or a gift
is especially gracious
when the gift is given
prior to the initiative
of the recipient.
All right?
We see this most clearly
in the parent-child relationship.
Parents give to you
and provide for their children
before the child
has an awareness
to ask for a gift
or to give thanks
for the gift.
Okay?
The fourth is incongruity.
Incongruity refers
to a gift given
without regard
to the worth
of the recipient.
Fifth is efficacy.
A perfect gift
is one that does
what it's designed to do.
It achieves its purpose.
An extreme example of this
is if you were to show
the gift of saving
somebody's life,
right?
Well, then,
that life that's been saved
is accomplishing its purpose
because they're living.
Sixth is non-circularity.
Okay?
This is the aspect of gift
that my earlier definition
incorporated.
Do you remember that?
A gift given
without any expectation
of return.
In other words,
we are to expect
a circularity of giving
and that non-circularity
is what makes a gift a gift.
Now,
I was surprised to learn
that this is actually
a pretty modern notion
of the understanding
of what a gift is.
From ancient times,
when a gift was given,
one was expected in return.
It didn't mean it wasn't a gift.
A gift didn't make the recipient
a debtor to the giver
because gifts were understood
to strengthen social bonds
and relationships.
For instance,
a leader of a large clan
would give a gift
to the leader
of a smaller clan.
And that leader
would want to strengthen
the relationship
to the larger clan
so he would give
a gift in return.
not as a debtor
but as a member
of a relationship.
All right.
Tracking all of those.
I'm gonna put all six
on the board here
and then give the children
one last assignment.
Okay?
You need to draw
the sun on one side
and the light bulb
on the other
and it needs to be
to scale.
Okay?
All right?
Can you do that?
The solar flares
and the solar spots
and all that stuff.
The sun
and the light bulb.
Okay.
All right.
So we have these six facets
of gift or grace.
Now I'm gonna read
Romans 5 verses 6 to 8 again
what Ellen read earlier
and see if you can hear
which of these facets
Paul has in mind.
For while we were still weak
at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will scarcely die
for a righteous person
though perhaps
for a good person
one would dare even to die.
But God shows
his love for us
in that while we were
still sinners
Christ died for us.
What did you hear?
I heard two of these.
The last one I heard
was priority, right?
While we were still sinners
Christ died for us.
But the big one here
is incongruity.
There's nothing about
non-circularity here.
For Paul
grace
is incongruous.
It's the central feature
of God's grace.
It doesn't exclude
the others per se.
But this understanding
of God's grace
would be both
counter-cultural
and scandalous
to his contemporaries.
And this is why.
In honor and shame cultures
like we find
in the ancient
Greco-Roman world
it would be
not just
morally acceptable
but it would be
morally good
for the rich
and noble
to safeguard
their worth.
Does that make sense?
Like when honor
is the highest good
to safeguard
one's honor
is a good thing.
To us it looks like
self-aggrandizement
or selfishness
but back then
it was a virtue.
Therefore
it would be
virtuous
for the noble
to draw attention
to
and magnify
their status.
And therefore
care had to be shown
to whom
the noble person
gave their gifts.
in his
Nicomachean
ethics
Aristotle
observed that
a generous person
will give
lavishly
but certainly
not indiscriminately.
In other words
and I quote
so he can give
to the right people
at the right time
and where it is
noble to do so.
Okay.
Aristotle
also said
that the person
who wants to be
magnificent
will not waste money
on objects
of small importance.
In other words
there was expected
a certain congruity
between the giver
and the recipient
that was virtuous.
That was the virtuous
thing to do.
Therefore
incongruity
refers to a gift
given
without regard
to the worth
of the recipient.
and that's what we find
in Romans 5
and all throughout
Paul's writings.
What makes
God's grace
amazing
is the difference
in the worth
between the giver
and the recipient.
that difference
is vaster
than a mountain
and a molehill
it's wider
than an ocean
and a puddle
it's more extreme
between a star
and a light bulb.
The giver
the creator
and sovereign
over all
perfect
in purity
in wisdom
and justice
and love
and the recipients
rebels.
slaves
to sin
and death.
This is what made
Paul's grace
his
preaching
of God's grace
sound so
foolish
to the Greeks
and the Romans
made it sound
scandalous.
So let's bring
this incongruity
of God's grace
into focus.
Okay?
Imagine that
you're a slave
in the Roman Empire
you were born
into slavery
somewhere on the
geographical fringes
of the empire
and you've been
caught up
in a rebellion
and you're undoubtedly
guilty of this crime
so you've been
sentenced
to death
and because
you're a slave
it's death
by crucifixion
that's the penalty
that's been given
to you.
the purpose
of crucifixion
is threefold.
First
the death
is unimaginably
excruciating.
You'll most likely
be whipped
with a cat
of nine tails
you'll carry
your cross
beam
to the place
of execution
and there
the executioners
will fasten
you to a pole
either by impaling
you
by hanging
you up
with ropes
or by nailing
you to the post
in a cross beam
and this is
the chance
for Roman
executioners
to be
especially
creative
with their
cruelty
and so your
body could be
twisted
in knots
turned upside
down
in all kinds
of positions
for the fun
and amusement
of the
executioners.
The fleshy
parts of your
body will serve
as a meal
for swarming
birds
and there
you'll hang
constantly writhing
in pain
until you die.
This could take
days
and the only
mercy that you
could hope
for
was the
executioners
to break
your legs
so that somehow
you could suffocate
and die
ahead of schedule.
The second
purpose of
crucifixion
is humiliation
and in Roman
society
this was viewed
as just
as terrible
as the
physical
suffering.
It's a
death
reserved
for the
lowest
of the
low
in society.
Your
suffering
and death
would be
elevated
for people
to gawk
at.
Onlookers
would
mercilessly
jeer
and insult
and curse
you and
laugh at
you.
Archaeologists
haven't discovered
many physical
remains of
crucifixions but
they have
found one
in Palestine
and another
in England.
Interestingly
the images
that we think
of a crucifixion
the way
the feet
are transfixed
are different
than what
they found.
We think
of the feet
in front
of the
victim
with the
legs crossed
but evidence
showed that
the nails
go through
the heels
and ankles
on either
side
so that
the legs
are on
either side
of the
post
and the
body is
hanging out.
And remember
the victim
is completely
naked.
So imagine
the humiliation.
Imagine
the humiliation.
The suffering
and humiliation
serve the
third purpose
of crucifixion
and that's
to reinforce
the social
structures
in Roman
society.
This kind
of execution
would deter
slaves from
trying to
rise above
their rank.
So let's
bring it back
to you.
You're a
condemned
slave.
This is
what you
can expect
as you
languish
in prison
awaiting
your
execution.
But then
something
happens.
You get
word that
you've been
pardoned.
The jailer
comes,
opens the
door,
takes the
chains off
your wrists
and your
feet,
and you're
free to
walk out.
Imagine
the release
of emotions.
Along
with the
shackles,
you've been
set free
from the
fear and
anxiety.
And terror
that you
were feeling
awaiting for
a most
terrible death.
That would
be an
amazing gift,
yes?
But that's
not the
grace of
God.
You're fully
pardoned,
but you're
still a
slave.
And as you
walk out of
jail,
you're informed
that the
governor,
he's granted
you citizenship
in the empire.
So now you're
no longer a
slave.
You're
completely free.
You've been
both unshackled
physically and
socially.
That's an
amazing gift,
isn't it?
But that's not
the grace of
God.
You might be a
citizen, but you
have nothing to
your name.
No possessions,
no real status,
no prospects.
But then after
learning you've been
granted citizenship,
you're escorted to
a palace.
It's the palace of
the governor.
He welcomes you
in and he
gives you a
ring.
It's his ring.
He's just
adopted you.
He had a son
who died and
he's given you
that son's
status.
So now you
become the
firstborn,
you become his
heir,
you receive his
son's name,
you sleep in his
bed,
you even wear his
clothes.
Not only has your
current status
changed,
but your future
has changed.
You will always
be an heir to a
fortune and you
will always bear
his name.
That's an amazing
gift, right?
But that's not the
grace of God.
Because you know
what justice is.
And you've gotten
to learn how your
father,
your new
governor father,
is both merciful
and he's just.
So how was it
then that you
could just go
free?
Did your just
father not care
about the law?
did he think
himself above
the law?
So you dig
deeper and you
learn the whole
story.
You learn what
happened to the
governor's deceased
son.
While you were in
jail, the father
decided to save you
and it's the son
that made the way.
Without you ever
having met him,
the son volunteered
to receive the
judgment and
execution that
belonged to you.
The heir to a
fortune endured the
lashings, the
nails, the
suffering, and the
utter humiliation
of a slave's
death so that you
could have a seat
at the father's
table.
Now that's the
grace of the
father.
That's amazing.
Incongruous grace.
So what now?
What is your
response?
If you were told
you don't have to
do anything in
response, if you
were told that gift
is non-circular,
what would you
say?
Like you're crazy.
How can I not
spend the rest of
my days in
gratitude and
obedience to this
most amazing
person?
This father wouldn't
want that for you.
The father wants to
be close to you and
you to him.
He wants you to
thank him in
response to him and
to obey him in
response.
And take the love
he's shown you and
to show it to
others in response.
His love for you
does not depend on
your response, but
your connection to
him does.
You see, that
sixth aspect of the
gift, non-reciprocity,
is a very new
definition of the
word gift.
Gifts have always
been understood as
reciprocal.
Because one of the
primary purposes of
a gift is to
strengthen and
solidify the
relationship between
the two parties.
Our gifts back to
God are very
incongruous with the
gifts that he
shows us.
Of course they
are.
How could we ever
repay God?
But it's that
incongruity between
the worth of the
giver and the
recipient, between
the worth of his
gifts and what we
could give back that
serves as fuel for
our obedience.
It fuels our
response.
The late Sim
Keller wrote,
you will love
Christ and commit to
him to the degree
you see the depth
of your own sin
and the application
of the cross to
that sin being
final.
Did you hear the
incongruity there?
And how it's the
fuel for our
obedience?
Let me read it
again.
You will love
Christ and commit
to him to the
degree you see the
depth of your own
sin, right?
And the application
of the cross to
that sin being
final.
So because
incongruous grace
is our fuel, we
keep this
incongruity at the
center of our
worshiping life
together.
We proclaim God,
at the beginning of
the service, we
proclaim God as
Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit.
We read his law and
we ask him to show
us mercy.
We confess that we
sin in thought,
word, and deed.
And remember that
his incongruous grace
grants us forgiveness
and eternal life.
We come to his
table not trusting in
our own righteousness
but in your what?
Abundant mercies.
We remember that
we're not worthy to
gather up the crumbs
from under his
table, but remember
it's in God's
character to always
show mercy.
And because of the
circularity of grace,
he sends us out in
the power of his
Holy Spirit to
live and work for his
praise and glory.
So incongruous grace
has been the fuel for
the church's obedience
since the very
beginning.
It's been the fuel for
caring for the poor,
the refugee,
the widow,
the orphan,
the unborn,
and those in prison.
It's been the fuel for
Christians to dismantle
slavery and racism
and to work for justice.
Incongruous grace
has been the fuel for
men and women as they
consider how to live out
their vocations Monday
through Friday with Jesus
as their king.
More locally,
incongruous grace has been
the fuel for our people as
we serve in the city
working with DC 127,
Little Lights,
Antioch Ministry,
Refugee Ministry.
This summer we're seeing
several of our families
move away,
families that have been
part of the vibrancy of
this church and its
leadership.
They've all played key
roles in serving here
and loving our city
long term.
I'm thinking of
Karina Asal,
the Holbys,
the Sayos,
Daniel Hall and Brittany
Netzel,
the Grutzmachers,
and there's others.
And who is going to
fill their shoes?
Who is going to respond
to God's incongruous
grace by bringing the
love of Jesus to this
parish and to our city?
I'm going to close with
a scene from one of my
favorite films.
It's Ben-Hur,
the real one that was
with Charles and Heston.
I haven't seen the new
one, forgive me.
I'm sure it's fine.
But in Ben-Hur,
Ben-Hur is a Jewish
noble.
He becomes a slave on a
galley in a battle.
He's set free from his
chains.
He sets free his fellow
prisoners and then he
sets free the guy in
charge, Arius.
Arius is tempted to kill
himself.
Ben-Hur rescues him from
that, saves his life,
perserves his life.
They get rescued and then
Arius adopts Ben-Hur.
And Ben-Hur goes from
slave to son.
And he's given a ring.
He's given his father's
ring.
And this is what Ben-Hur
says.
It's a strange destiny that
brought me to a new life,
a new home, a new father.
It brought me here.
It may take me away, but
wherever I may be, I shall
always try to wear this ring as
a son of Arius should, with
gratitude and affection and
honor.
forever.
So may we, as recipients of
God's incongruous grace, always
be aware of the vast distance
God traveled to make us his
heirs.
And may we bear his name with
gratitude, affection, and
honor.
In the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit, let's
pray.
Lord, we would respond to your
grace with gratitude.
We thank you.
We thank you for rescuing us,
loving us,
adopting us.
We thank you for the benefits of
our justification of being
reconciled with you and hope of
eternal life.
Lord Jesus, that is our prayer,
that we would bear your name with
gratitude, affection, and honor.
Amen.