God’s outrageous Grace.

A man arrives at the gates of heaven and rings the bell.  Peter arrives and explains, “Here’s how it works. You tell me all the good things you have done, and I will assign points to each one. If you get 1,000 points you are in!”

“OK,” says the smiling man “I was faithful to my wife for 50 years.”

“Wonderful! That’s 3 points” says Peter. The man was astounded.

“Well, all my church life I supported the church with my tithes, offerings, and service”

“That’s terrific” says Peter, “that’s another point.”

“One point? “The man laments.  “Well, I started a soup kitchen, and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.”

“Fantastic, that’s two more points.”

“Two points!” the man screams in despair, “At this rate the only way I will get in is by the grace of God.”

“Come on in!” Peter declares.

If you listen carefully to the loud whisper of the gospel, it clearly says I don’t get what I deserve! I deserve punishment not forgiveness. I deserve wrath, not love. I deserve the debtor’s prison, instead I get a clean credit history. I deserve stern lectures, and crawling on my knees repentance, instead I am invited to a banquet! My entry into heaven does not depend on my performance. It depends on His. We are not to achieve for salvation, but to follow in His footsteps. All that the sinner needs for salvation, Christ has already paid, He  achieved it on our behalf.

God is not a god who is weighing good deeds against bad deeds in a scale and always finding as wanting. The good news is that God is a God of mercy and generosity who keeps shattering the relentless laws of ungrace and tares up the mathematical tables of performance.

Grace means there is nothing I can do that will make God love me more. There are no spiritual calisthenics, no amount of knowledge, or crusading, there is no amount of good works that will get me into heaven.

Grace means there is nothing I can do that will make God love me less. NOTHING!!! Racism, pride, immorality, murder, and a long list of other things.

Let me be careful here, I am not saying it is OK to do those things. If we understand grace, we will forsake sin and repent. Repentance is just agreeing with God concerning our sin. There is no sin that God can’t forgive, if we ask. Consider King David’s adultery and murder, and then read his penitential psalms, Psalm 32 and 51. Paul used both in the book of Romans.

Forgiveness is an unnatural act. If you want a cure for your doubt about yourself, look at the people God loved in the Bible. Jacob was conniving, dishonest, and wrestled with God, but became the namesake of God’s people “the children of Israel.” Samson was a delinquent who would be arrested today. A murderer was chosen to lead God’s people out of Egypt. A murderer and adulterer became the greatest king in the Old Testament and greatly beloved. The church was led by an apostle who cursed and swore that he had never known Jesus. A great missionary was recruited from the ranks of a Christian hater and torturer. He became the greatest missionary of grace ever seen.

You along with these are invited to take your place at the table of God’s family. God’s grace is outrageous, He loves people I have problems with! Look at those Jesus loved: a prostitute, a wealthy exploiter, a demon possessed women, a Roman soldier, a Samaritan with running sores and another Samaritan with serial husbands. Jesus had a reputation, as stated by His enemies, of being “friends with sinners! He alone could see through the filth and crust of degradation. He saw the divine original hidden in every person. He wants us to use the same grace healed eyes to see the potential in others. 

A surprising fact as you study the life of Jesus is that the group who made Him the angriest was the group who, externally at least, He most resembled. Scholars agree that Jesus’ profile closely matched the Pharisees. He quoted the Torah and the mosaic law and took their side in public arguments. He lived a moral life.  He quoted leading Pharisees.  Yet he singled out His strongest attacks for them, calling then ‘snakes’ and ‘vipers’, ‘fools’ and hypocrites, ‘blind guides’ and ‘white washed tombs.’

Why? What provoked such outbursts? The Pharisees had much in common with Bible believing fundamentalists. They had devoted their lives to following God. They gave an exact tithe and memorized scripture. Pharisees obeyed every minute laws of the Torah, including the ones on health and diet. They sent out missionaries to gain new converts. Pharisees were model citizens who were rarely involved in sexual or violent crime. So, Jesus’ fierce denunciation of them shows how seriously he viewed legalism and salvation by works or getting to heaven by performance.

Jesus condemned an emphasis on externals. The proof of spiritual maturity is not how pure you are but upon your awareness of your impurity.