October 27

A reminder... dinner at my house next Thursday, Nov. 5th 7:00. Let me know if you are attending.

The Message of Grace

A church leader died and in a nanosecond he was standing directly in front of the pearly gates. Saint Peter met him and said, "It takes 1000 points to get in. So tell me something about yourself."
The man said, “I had perfect attendance in church for 14 years and I served as a trustee for 15 years. I also cut the church grass for 20 years. I visited the sick each week and was a youth sponsor for 30 years.”
Saint Peter said, “That's extremely good, let me add that up. The total of all those actions is 1 point. So tell me something else about yourself.”
The man continued, “I went to the annual business meeting each year. I sang on the worship team. I gave 10% of income all my life and I was a lifetime church member.”
“That is truly remarkable,” Saint Peter replied "That gives you another point. Tell me something else about yourself."
By this time the man was getting a little desperate, and if the truth were known, a little irritated. He blurted out to Saint Peter, "Look, at this rate the only way I'll ever get into heaven is by the grace of God."
“BINGO!!! That's worth a thousand points,” answered St. Peter. "And with the two you earned, that makes 1002. Would you like to come in now?”

If we were to have a Cliff notes of the message of Jesus it could be reduced to one word; Grace. That is the core message of what Jesus was communicating. It was a scandalous, outrageous, offensive message 2000 years ago. The message of grace is still as controversial today. We live in a world filled with people who like a very measurable way to determine who matters? Who's important? And who is going to heaven?

In the story of the anointing of the sinful woman we see the scandalous message of grace. Jews in Jesus' day envisioned a ladder reaching higher and higher towards God, a hierarchy expressed in the very architecture of the temple. Gentiles and half-breeds like the Samaritans were permitted only in the outer Court of the Gentiles. A wall separated them from the next partition, which admitted Jewish women. Jewish men could precede one stage further, but only priests could enter sacred areas. Finally only one priest, the high priest, could enter the Most Holy Place, just once a year on Yom Kipper.
Jewish society was in effect, a religious caste system based on steps towards holiness, and the Pharisees scrupulosity reinforced the system daily. 620 rules on holiness were their guide on who was important. All of these rules were an attempt to make themselves acceptable to God. But what was obviously clear was that there was no room for sinner, no room for prostitutes in the hierarchy.

Now Jesus appears on the scene with this message of Grace. This message was radical. It moved from exclusion of undesirables to their inclusion. Instead of the message "No undesirables wanted” Grace gives the message "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest." Jesus was always hanging around the undesirables, losers, and outcasts. This message was considered outrageous, dangerous; it could cause the destabilization of society. No wonder 20 times the Gospel writers talk of the religious leaders conspiring against him.

We need to grasp the impact of this message in Stamford today. Go out on the street and ask 100 people how they are going to get into heaven and 95 of them will say the same thing as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Everyone of the world the religions are based on works. Religion is people struggling to do something, striving to earn something, to earn the favor of God. Pray the Tibetan prayer wheel. Light candles. Say so many rote prayers. Perform certain amount of good deeds. Cycles of reincarnation or whatever…. They are attempts by people to reach out to God. Grace is God reaching out to us. Grace is the opposite of what those other religions are saying. What Grace says is that no one can do anything to merit heaven so you might as well stop trying. We are all guilty of religious prostitution. None of us can say we have never sinned. We all know that. Our only hope is God's grace. The bottom line is this... all of the religions of the world are spelled “DO” because they teach that people must DO a bunch of things to work their way to God. But GRACE is spelled “DONE” because Jesus has done what needed to be done on the cross. And we just need to receive it. This is the radical message we must tell a lost and hopeless world.