“God’s Grace Makes the
Difference” (Ephesians 2:1-10) March ’12 Series B
1.
Sanctify
us in the truth, O Lord, Your Word is truth.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. As we move further into Lent, the cross looms
ever larger before us. It was on that cross that the love, mercy, and grace of
God reached their climax. The Old Testament and Gospel readings for this day vividly
hold the cross before us. Our text from Ephesians 2 this 4th Sunday
in Lent gives us a “behind the scenes”
glimpse at what motivated God to sacrifice his Son Jesus on the cross for us. In
the first 3 verses of Ephesians 2 Paul reminds believers of their former
unspiritual condition. It’s not a pretty picture! He describes their former
state with phrases like “being dead in
transgressions and sins,” “following
the ways of the world,” “gratifying the cravings of the sinful nature,”
when they were “by nature objects of
wrath.” What follows in our text stands in sharp contrast to what used to
be. “God’s grace has made the difference.”
But, once we receive this grace from God in Christ what are we to do
with it? We’ll look at this a little
further in our message from God’s Word today.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
YouTube videos go viral all the
time, but sermons rarely do. Enter Jefferson Bethke, a young poet who posted
the video "Why I Hate Religion, But
Love Jesus." It’s been viewed more than 10 million times in a short
manner of time. The video opens with the
phrase "Jesus is greater than
Religion.” His poem begins, "What
if I told you, Jesus came to abolish religion?" In a hip style, he continues with such
controversial questions for four minutes: "If
religion is so great, why has it started so many wars? Why does it build huge
churches, but fails to feed the poor?" Mr. Bethke describes religion
as no more than "behavior
modification" and "a long
list of chores." This leads him to conclude, "Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums."
And his grand finale: "So know I
hate religion, in fact I literally resent it." We might consider that Bethke risks appearing arrogant
by claiming to love Jesus and hate religion, but this is an arrogance that I
think I’m as guilty as anyone. To separate Jesus from religion is to create an untrue juxtaposition of two
non-mutually exclusive concepts. Jesus didn’t come to abolish religion. He
didn’t come to abolish the law as Matthew 5:19 tells us. Jesus came to do what
He’s still in the business of doing: to
redeem you from your trespasses and sins by keeping the law perfectly in your
place.
3.
We
don’t get to separate ourselves from the Church, as Christians. As someone once
said, “to say that you love Jesus but
hate religion is like saying you love your best friend but hate his wife.” That
relationship won’t last. As Christians we aren’t required to check our brains at the door,
but we are to work together to be more loving, compassionate, humble, and
gracious in our spirits. We’re called to love one another, and we do so with
the power of our Lord Jesus who came to this earth and died for our sins and has
redeemed us by His death on the cross.
4.
But,
here’s the question: What’s religion? Is
it hypocrisy? By ‘religion,’ do we really mean the way of the Pharisees and the
Sadducees and the Westboro Baptist Church? Because if so, we’re in
trouble. Is it, like Bethke said, “putting perfume on a casket?” Is it
legalism – “behavior modification, like a
long list of chores?” Because if so, we’re in a lot of trouble. I’m guessing Bethke doesn’t actually
hate religion. In fact, I would bet that he loves it. As we are told in
James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” In fact, it sounds
similar to where Bethke claims ‘religion’
falls short: “Why does it build huge
churches, but fails to feed the poor/Tells single moms God doesn’t love them if
they’ve ever had a divorce?” It seems that in much discussion between
Christians about Jefferson Bethke’s YouTube video that what he really was
protesting is faith without works. Empty speech and selfish thinking.
Building monuments to our own greatness and abandoning the widow and the
orphan. What we need now is not less religion, but more than ever.
5.
And this is what leads us to our
Epistle lesson from Ephesians chapter 2 today.
Ephesians
2:1–2, “2
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in
which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the
ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient.” Although physically
they were alive and active, Paul tells the Ephesian Christians that spiritually
they’d been dead. Corpses can’t move. Dead people can’t do anything; they’re
totally unable to help themselves. Such was the spiritual condition you too
were in before God made you His own through your baptism and the hearing of His
Word. If any of the Ephesians questioned Paul’s diagnosis regarding their
spiritual bankruptcy, he urged them to take a look at their own lives. Like their friends and neighbors, the
Ephesians had shown the common weaknesses of gentile society much like
Jefferson Bethke was critiquing about the Christian church today. They’d been
godless, immoral, loveless, lazy, and disobedient. Society is that way,
according to Paul, because it follows “the
ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient.” That “ruler,” of
course, is Satan (John 12:31; 14:30). He’s a dangerous foe. Like a roaring
lion, he stalks about, seeking victims to devour (1 Peter 5:8). And the
Ephesian Gentiles had been easy prey.
6.
Ephesians
2:3 says, “3All of us also
lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of
wrath.” When Paul says, “We also lived among them,” he includes
himself and his fellow Jews with the disobedient Gentiles. God’s law, given to Israel on Mount Sinai,
guided and regulated nearly every phase of Jewish life. As such, the law held
in check among the Jews many of the coarse outbreaks of sin that were common
among the Gentiles. But, whether sins are done in the open or in secret,
blatant or subtle, sinful actions and thoughts infect every man, woman, and
child since the fall into sin. Sin is an inherited condition. We bring it with
us from birth. And it rightly earns us the anger of a holy and just God. With
Paul we too need to say, “Like the rest,
we were by nature objects of wrath.”
7.
Ephesians
2:4–5, “4But because of his
great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with
Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been
saved.” Paul tells us that God raising
Christ from the dead signaled the completion of Christ’s saving work and sealed
our redemption. It made possible our resurrection from spiritual death. When he says, “God … made us alive with Christ,” he’s referring to the miracle of
conversion. When we could not lift a finger to help ourselves, God through Word
and sacrament worked faith in our hearts, creating life where formerly there
had been none. In this way he “made us
alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.”
8.
Ephesians
2:8–9, “8For it is by grace
you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast.” Paul underscores the theme of his message by
repeating it: we’re saved by grace! Right now we’re “the saved ones.” There’s
no waiting, no trial period, no background check. We possess salvation right
now. But, Paul tells us this isn’t our own doing, it’s “through faith.” Faith is the hand that receives all the blessings
of God’s grace. It’s a gift given by God, worked in us by the Spirit. The
credit, the glory, the praise all belong to God.
9.
How
fitting that Paul should refer to all this as the gift of God. Think of
occasions when gifts are given. Seldom does one receive a gift from a total
stranger. They usually come from those who know and love us. It’s given freely
as an expression of love and friendship. In the same way the gift of salvation
is given by God the Father who knows us well and loves us dearly, and it’s
given unconditionally. We must also
remember that gifts aren’t earned. Paul was aware that work-righteousness is
deeply ingrained in the natural man. This is a condition to which Christians
can easily revert if they let down their spiritual guard. While good works do
play a part in the Christian’s life, they’re excluded when it comes to our salvation.
Paul’s words are emphatic: “And this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works.…” In the area of
justification works and faith are opposites. Relying on works would rob God of
the glory that is his.
10.
But,
notice how Paul doesn’t exclude good works from the life of the Christian. While
Paul tells us that our good works are excluded in justification, they’re
expected in sanctification, which is living out a holy and God pleasing life.
Those works are the Christian’s loving response to God and His grace. We not
only say our thanks to God; we live it every day. Here, too, notice the grace
of God. He not only enables us to do good works (Heb 11:6), but He also gives
us the opportunities for service. And such opportunities for service aren’t
confined to spectacular or unusual things. Every day, routine chores also offer
ways for glorifying God and serving our neighbor (1 Co 10:31). A Christian’s
life should bring glory to God. Our lives are to be reflections of His grace. For
remember, God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does and we do all
of this because of God’s grace given to us through our Lord Jesus. Amen.
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