Relentless Grace
Sermon
The Courage to Carry On
Sermons for Lent and Easter During Cycle B
The story of old Noah and his ark has been told to children and adults for centuries. It has intrigued us, taught us, and even amused us. Bill Cosby's depiction of the dialogue between Noah and God is classic! So are other cartoons and renditions.
The Lord said to Noah, "Where is the ark I commanded you to build?" And Noah said, "Verily, I had three carpenters off sick and the gopherwood supplier hast let me down, even though gopherwood hath been on order for nigh on twelve months." And God said to Noah, "I want the ark finished before seven days and seven nights," and Noah said, "It will be so." And it was not so. The Lord said to Noah, "What seems to be the trouble this time?" And Noah said, "My subcontractor hath gone bankrupt, the pitch for the outside hath not arrived, the glazer departeth on holiday, yea though I offered him double time. Lord, I am undone." The Lord grew angry and said, "What about the animals? Two of every sort I ordered. Where are the giraffes?" And Noah said, "They have been delivered to the wrong address but should arrive on Friday." On and on the story goes, one mishap after another.1
The Noah's ark story is a wonderful story. On the one hand, it relates humankind's relentless determination to resist and even abuse its relationship with God. On the other hand, the story reveals a very significant truth about God's persistent love and eagerness to ensure a faithful relationship with all his children.
It has been reported over and again that God's people are stiff-necked, impatient, sinful, unfaithful, disobedient, and selfish. Such was surely the case in our story. God is displeased and heartbroken because of it. Certainly it occurs again and again throughout history.
Have you ever been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC? It is a gray, graphic memorial to the horrors of the World War II death camps. It will take your breath away. The walls and corridors are filled with reminders of man's inhumanity to man. As one visits places like that, it is easy to understand how at some point in history God might have said, "I can't take it anymore. Enough is enough. I shall destroy this creation that has become so evil."
Such was the case in our story of Noah, but it never happened again. In fact, God's promise to Noah was so strong that God promised that the flood would never be repeated.
God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature ... for all future generations. I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth" (vv. 12-13).
The promise as revealed in the rainbow is yet another example of how God is determined to save us. The salvation history of God throughout scripture tells one story after another of God's relentless grace. Covenant after covenant, God takes initiative. Forgiveness and renewal are offered. New beginnings are negotiated. God never gives up.
The cycle continues until finally God sends his only Son to establish an everlasting covenant ... a covenant that is permanent!
Jesus Christ is our ark -- our salvation.
The cross of Christ, like the rainbow, is our sign of hope and promise.
We will never get it right by ourselves. But through Christ our Lord we have assurance, the baptismal promise of redemption and the everlasting presence of one who will always love us and set us free.
God's grace is a powerful reality in our lives! It's a mystery, but as it unfolds we discover a wonderful relief from the notion that we must do something to save ourselves.
Robert Capon expresses it so beautifully.
The salt mine is closed. You are dead to the law by the body of Christ. This means that it is not only you who are dead and beyond the orbit of blame; but God, too. God, himself, the supreme lawgiver, blamefixer, and guiltspreader, has died to the whole sorry business in the death of Jesus. There is, therefore, no condemnation. It does not matter what the universe thinks. It does not matter what other people think. It does not matter what you think. It does not even matter what God thinks because God has said that he was not going to think about it anymore. All he thinks now is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; and Jesus is now all your life. You are therefore free.2
We are truly free to live a new life in Jesus Christ our Lord!
That's the gospel to the fullest!
Sometimes it takes a lifetime to surrender and embrace this overwhelming gift but as we do life is never the same.
A letter from Nadine Star, an 85-year-old woman in Kentucky, puts the insight of freedom in vivid terms. If she could live her life over again, she says, she would.
Dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I'd climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I'd eat more ice cream. I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. You see, I'm one of those people who lives sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. I would travel lighter next time ... If I had my life to live over, I'd start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I'd go to more dances; I'd ride more merry-go-rounds; I'd pick more daisies.3
The new life in Christ may offer such perspective, as Nadine Star would have it. But it goes even further, doesn't it? God has fixed everything in Jesus Christ. We have life now and forever in his name.
____________
1. Bruce Larson, My Creator, My Friend (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1986), pp. 42-43.
2. Robert F. Capon, Between Noon and Three: A Parable of Romance, Law, and the Outrage of Grace (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), p. 118.
3. William Lenters, The Freedom We Crave (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985), p. 123.
The Lord said to Noah, "Where is the ark I commanded you to build?" And Noah said, "Verily, I had three carpenters off sick and the gopherwood supplier hast let me down, even though gopherwood hath been on order for nigh on twelve months." And God said to Noah, "I want the ark finished before seven days and seven nights," and Noah said, "It will be so." And it was not so. The Lord said to Noah, "What seems to be the trouble this time?" And Noah said, "My subcontractor hath gone bankrupt, the pitch for the outside hath not arrived, the glazer departeth on holiday, yea though I offered him double time. Lord, I am undone." The Lord grew angry and said, "What about the animals? Two of every sort I ordered. Where are the giraffes?" And Noah said, "They have been delivered to the wrong address but should arrive on Friday." On and on the story goes, one mishap after another.1
The Noah's ark story is a wonderful story. On the one hand, it relates humankind's relentless determination to resist and even abuse its relationship with God. On the other hand, the story reveals a very significant truth about God's persistent love and eagerness to ensure a faithful relationship with all his children.
It has been reported over and again that God's people are stiff-necked, impatient, sinful, unfaithful, disobedient, and selfish. Such was surely the case in our story. God is displeased and heartbroken because of it. Certainly it occurs again and again throughout history.
Have you ever been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC? It is a gray, graphic memorial to the horrors of the World War II death camps. It will take your breath away. The walls and corridors are filled with reminders of man's inhumanity to man. As one visits places like that, it is easy to understand how at some point in history God might have said, "I can't take it anymore. Enough is enough. I shall destroy this creation that has become so evil."
Such was the case in our story of Noah, but it never happened again. In fact, God's promise to Noah was so strong that God promised that the flood would never be repeated.
God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature ... for all future generations. I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth" (vv. 12-13).
The promise as revealed in the rainbow is yet another example of how God is determined to save us. The salvation history of God throughout scripture tells one story after another of God's relentless grace. Covenant after covenant, God takes initiative. Forgiveness and renewal are offered. New beginnings are negotiated. God never gives up.
The cycle continues until finally God sends his only Son to establish an everlasting covenant ... a covenant that is permanent!
Jesus Christ is our ark -- our salvation.
The cross of Christ, like the rainbow, is our sign of hope and promise.
We will never get it right by ourselves. But through Christ our Lord we have assurance, the baptismal promise of redemption and the everlasting presence of one who will always love us and set us free.
God's grace is a powerful reality in our lives! It's a mystery, but as it unfolds we discover a wonderful relief from the notion that we must do something to save ourselves.
Robert Capon expresses it so beautifully.
The salt mine is closed. You are dead to the law by the body of Christ. This means that it is not only you who are dead and beyond the orbit of blame; but God, too. God, himself, the supreme lawgiver, blamefixer, and guiltspreader, has died to the whole sorry business in the death of Jesus. There is, therefore, no condemnation. It does not matter what the universe thinks. It does not matter what other people think. It does not matter what you think. It does not even matter what God thinks because God has said that he was not going to think about it anymore. All he thinks now is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; and Jesus is now all your life. You are therefore free.2
We are truly free to live a new life in Jesus Christ our Lord!
That's the gospel to the fullest!
Sometimes it takes a lifetime to surrender and embrace this overwhelming gift but as we do life is never the same.
A letter from Nadine Star, an 85-year-old woman in Kentucky, puts the insight of freedom in vivid terms. If she could live her life over again, she says, she would.
Dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I'd climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I'd eat more ice cream. I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. You see, I'm one of those people who lives sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. I would travel lighter next time ... If I had my life to live over, I'd start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I'd go to more dances; I'd ride more merry-go-rounds; I'd pick more daisies.3
The new life in Christ may offer such perspective, as Nadine Star would have it. But it goes even further, doesn't it? God has fixed everything in Jesus Christ. We have life now and forever in his name.
____________
1. Bruce Larson, My Creator, My Friend (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1986), pp. 42-43.
2. Robert F. Capon, Between Noon and Three: A Parable of Romance, Law, and the Outrage of Grace (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), p. 118.
3. William Lenters, The Freedom We Crave (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985), p. 123.
