You Would be Nothing Without the Grace of God

(Romans 12:3 NIV)  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.”  In “The Jesus I Never Knew” Phillip Yancey tells a true story of something a friend of his encountered as he worked with the down-and-out in Chicago.  He friend said, “A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter.  Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter— two years old!—to men interested in kinky sex.  She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night.  She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit.  I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story.  For one thing, it made me legally liable—I’m required to report cases of child abuse.  I had no idea what to say to this woman.  At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help.  I will never forget the look of pure, naive shock that crossed her face.  “Church!” she cried. “Why would I ever go there?  I was already feeling terrible about myself.  They’d just make me feel worse.”  Yancey then makes this statement, “What struck me about my friend’s story is that women much like this prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him.  The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge.  Has the church lost that gift?”

Like Yancey’s friend, the story of the woman renting out her two-year-old daughter for kinky sex is hard to even think about.  But it is a sad commentary that the woman did not see the church as a place of unconditional love, reconciliation, and restoration.  Why is that?  I believe it is because we have not placed enough emphasis on grace.  The more I think and meditate on this (and it’s all I’ve been doing lately), the more I understand how easy it is to avoid the thought of grace.  Our children are graded for their accomplishments in school and the teachers highlight what they got wrong, not what they got right.  Every grade they make must be earned.  After school our kids participate in sports and they must earn their spot on the team, and then earn the right to start.   The grading does not stop when we step into the workplace.  As a matter of fact, it is amplified.  As soon as someone does not seem to be earning their position they are asked to find employment somewhere else.  So it is easy to understand why a Christian in his/her 30s, 40s, or 50s can turn down their nose at someone.  The woman who was selling herself and her baby to feed a drug habit already had run-ins with Christians who made her feel worse, and not better, about herself.  The Christians, without knowing it, immediately judged the woman’s life against theirs.  When we encounter a person like this woman, if we do a quick self-inventory and think of the grades we earned in school, the work we put in to get through college, and the long hours we invested to climb the corporate ladder, it’s far too easy to look down and her.  Even if that is not your intent and even if you wanted to share the love of God with her, if you don’t first check her heart and remind yourself that only are who you are by the grace of God, then you will not be able to share God’s love with the woman without offending her.

Paul, when writing to the believers in Rome, thought about the awesome privilege he had been given to write letters to the churches.  Paul recognized the fact that he was only saying what he said by the grace of God.  Paul had been to the best schools of his day and he had been mentored by the elite of his time, but he still acknowledged that he was only able to do what he did by God’s grace.  Flowing in that same vein Paul said, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.”

So what does this mean to you today?  A few quick things:

1.  In a society that focuses on earning everything you get, you must resist the temptation to attribute all the credit in your life to your own accomplishments and human effort.

2.  If you don’t remember and acknowledge God’s grace you will subconsciously look down on those who have not lived up to your internal standard.

3.  As much as you have accomplished, you would be nothing if it were not for the grace of God.

Closing Confession:  Father, I thank You for this reminder.  You sent people to reach me when I was dead in my trespasses and sin.  I now ask You to use me to reach the lost.  As You do, I declare by faith that I keep a sober estimation of who I am and who You have made me to be.  You help me to remain humble in Your sight.  While I am committed to excellence and to maximizing my purpose and potential, I am careful to keep my heart humble and pure.  As You setup divine appointments for me with people who truly need Your love, I will resist every internal temptation to look down on them and I will become the conduit through which Your unconditional love can flow to them.  Send people to me like You sent them to Jesus.  I am ready to be used to make a difference, because I acknowledge the fact that I would be nothing without Your grace!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper!