"God's Grace Is Outside the Lines"

Dangerous Wonder Series

Sunday, June 22, 2008; Luke 14:15-24

Introduction: (Show Playdoh Creations picture) I have here a picture my children made for me on Father’s Day many years ago. Around of the outside of the picture you can see some scribbling. Tami then wrote what the kids told her it said: “This says, ‘Happy Father’s Day until your birthday comes. I love you to the sun and to God and Jesus and all the way down to our house!’” Now, I could look at this and think that is not good writing at all. I could look at this, and criticize it, and then go over to my kids and try to teach them how to write better. But of course, as their father, I think that it is the most beautiful scribbling in the world!!

For a child, it is okay to scribble or to color outside the lines. To a child, their scribbling and coloring is wonderful work. They are naïve about life and about what is good. And the good news is, that when it comes to God’s grace, there is much naivete. He looks at much of our work and thinks: “Hmmm. You certainly like to do things the same way all the time. I love your effort. You definitely put lots of passion into your work. I like it!” SO, this morning, I want to talk about how God’s grace is outside the lines of our understanding, so much so, that all we can do is stand in awe and wonder. It is like us trying to understand the coloring of a little child.

I. God’s Grace Legitimizes- (Romans 8:15-16)

I finished seminary in 1995. After that I began to look for a call to a church,

which I got in February of 1996, in Pueblo West, Colorado. On Sunday, February 11, 1996, I had my ordination and installation service. It is a wonderful and humbling service, because it is designed all for one person; ME. Of course, it is a service that honors God and the call God has given me for ministry, but the goal of the service is to recognize how God has called me into service as a minister. At one point, near the end of the service, there is a “charge” that is given encouraging me about what it means to be a minister. And then after the charge, all those who are ordained ministers are to come forward, lay hands on me, and pray for me.

Before this day, I had been doing ministry in many capacities for 15 years. But in one sense, I was not a “legitimate” minister. There were things that I couldn’t do (like marriages and communion)./ I had actually started as the minister of this church on February 4, but I couldn’t serve communion until after this service; I hadn’t been legitimized by the church yet. However, more than legitimizing me as a minister, this service, and the confirmation of others helped me to see myself as a minister for God.

While technically illegitimacy refers to children who are born out of wedlock, there are many ways in life where people might feel illegitimate. There are people serving in ministries who aren’t ordained. There are children who are a step-child, who don’t feel like they belong. There are even people who might feel like a step-child in the family of God.

Even, more, we as Christians can be seen as illegitimate in the family of God, since it was Israel who was to be “God’s people.” But God has made it so that we are all part of the family of God. The apostle Paul makes this clear in the book of Romans, chapter 8:15-16, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” We have been adopted into God’s family, and thus legitimized.

Do you feel like there is an area in your life where you aren’t legitimate? Maybe you feel less capable than you ought to, or maybe you don’t feel accepted somewhere. This can be difficult, but this feeling of illegitimacy will keep you from being able to live fully. Or maybe you feel like you have to “color within the lines,” and you don’t always get it right. WHEREVER you might feel illegitimate, give it to God, and God will help legitimize you!

II. God’s Grace Equalizes- (John 3:16; Luke 14:15-24)

Another aspect of God’s grace is that God loves everyone. We all know this

because we are familiar with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” God is not careful who He calls to His church or who He calls to be His friend.

We see this illustrated in our scripture passage for this morning, Luke 14:15-24. In this passage Jesus tells the story of a wealthy man who threw a lavish banquet. On the day of the event he sent out his servant to invite many honored guests to come and enjoy this banquet with him. However, as the servant connected with the people, they all had excuses of why they could not come. They seemed to be legitimate reasons: weddings, business, land deals… However, this angered the host, and so he said to the servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' Now, we might not think that the poor, crippled, blind, and lame are appropriate guests for a nice banquet, especially when they don’t seem to have a relationship with the wealthy man.

Think about this banquet for a moment; maybe even think of yourself throwing this banquet. What would it be like to have all these guests you didn’t know? What would it be like to have all these people with special needs? What might your friends think when they see who you have at your party; what the world would call uncivilized rejects.

But if we are to understand this parable, Jesus is saying that this is the make-up of the church. Jesus is making it very clear that “ALL” are welcome in the church. It doesn’t matter your physical condition, your mental condition, your status or abilities, all are welcome. The only criteria is to accept the invitation of Jesus!

Jesus makes it clear that there is no room for arrogance in the kingdom of God. Jesus makes it clear that there is no room for elitism in the church. Jesus makes it clear that there is no status in the church. All are welcome, AND all are considered equal. This is a bold concept in our world, because our world is full of position and status. There are presidents, and there are peons, and peons are not on the same level as presidents. This self-righteous snobbery will not be accepted. When it comes to God and God’s kingdom, God’s grace equalizes the unequal. How wonderful this is for you and me. When it comes to God, we are not lower than anyone else. When it comes to God, His grace is there for us just as much as it is for anyone else.

III. God’s Grace Evens Out-

For most people, grace is difficult to believe and difficult to accept. We want so desperately to believe that God loves us unconditionally, yet we keep trying to add conditions to God’s love. We might say, “Okay, once I get my act together, God will love me.” OR, “Once I am on my feet God will love me.” OR “Once I am past this one sin I keep doing, God will love me.” We want to be worthy of God’s grace. We have difficulty believing that God shows grace to us in our failures.

EX. A few years ago, at the Northern California State track finals, there were participants from all over the state competing against each other. The criteria to be invited to this race was that you had to have won at least one event in the regional competition. When it came time for the 3200-meter race (which is 8 laps around a track), there was one girl who limped badly. It didn’t make sense how she made it to the state finals (it turns out that she was the only person in her region to run the 3200 meter race). People in the crowd wondered if she was able to overcome this limp once it came time to run. But when the race began, she limped even when she ran. After the first lap she was a quarter of a lap behind the other runners. By the time the other runners had finished she still had a lap to go all by herself. As she came down the backstretch there was agony on her face, but she was determined to finish. At this point the crowd stood and started to yell, “Go! Go! Go!” When she finally crossed the finish line the crowd erupted with an ovation. Afterward, people remarked how they couldn’t remember who won the race, but they remembered the determination of this girl./ Most girls with her disability would have declined to run in a state final. But how wonderful it was for her, and for the crowd, that she chose to run that day!

The grace of God says to you and me, “I can make last place more significant than first place. I will use those who are down, those who are social outcasts to teach others about gratitude. I will use lepers as examples of cleanliness. I will take men (like Paul) who persecute the church, and turn them into pillars of the church. I will take the dead and give them life. I will take uneducated fishermen and make them fishers of men.” God’s grace does not exist to make us successful. God’s grace seeks to even out that which is uneven, if not in this world, then definitely in the next. God’s grace exists to point people to a love like no other love they have ever known; a love that is outside the lines.

IV. God’s Grace is Inclusive- (Matthew 25:31-40)

The wonderful truth about God’s love, is that when you start to understand how God loves you outside of the lines, you start to live outside of the lines. And one of the biggest ways we do this is by how we love and do ministry.

In life, we tend to be friends with people we connect with and have something in common with. In church life, we tend to go to churches that have people that are similar to us. That is why Sunday morning is the most segregated day of the week! But this is not what God desires from us. The wonder of God’s grace is that He accepts all who call on Him. And as God’s children, we need to accept, love, and connect with all who need the Lord.

EX. When I was considering this church 91/2 years ago, I began to investigate the church and the community. I found out that this church had declined from over 1000 members in the late 60’s, early 70’s, to 140. I also discovered that the surrounding area had changed from being a white middle-class neighborhood, to being multi-ethnic. I knew that when I was called to this church, and accepted this call, it would take a significant change to again be a community church. As I look at our church today, I think that we are making strides forward, and that is pleasing to God. As I look at our church today, I see that we are coloring “outside of the lines.” As I look at our church today, I think that we are seeking to show God’s grace./ In my time here, we have established a relationship with the church called “His Nesting Place,” which houses and helps unwed mothers. Many of these mothers would have to, or would choose to get an abortion if it were not for “His Nesting Place.” We are allowing the Vietnamese church to rent our facilities. They are reaching out to the Vietnamese speaking people in this community, and are doing a great ministry for the kingdom of God. We have established a relationship with the WomenShelter of Long Beach. By giving them love, support, and clothes, we help them to further their mission of helping abused women get free from their abusive relationships. AND, we are currently moving forward in our ministry to the Hispanics in our community!

Listen to these words of Jesus in Matthew 25:31-40, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' ⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

Naïve grace is the kind of love that wants EVERYONE to be included instead of finding ways to exclude. Jesus Christ gave us the example of welcoming everyone.

Conclusion: Grace is receiving a gift that you do not deserve. If I am honest with myself, I know that I do not deserve God’s love; I do not deserve God’s blessing. There is nothing that I do that is extraordinary, and there are many things that I do that is not good. But the truth is, we don’t have to earn God’s grace, we don’t have to be worthy of God’s grace. God’s grace comes to all who ask for it, all who come to Jesus.

In fact, when we see God’s grace, we realize that it is indiscriminate, foolish, impractical, crazy, and naïve. But that is the beauty of it, it is not determined by you and me who will get God’s grace, it is determined by God. And hopefully, if we look carefully enough, people like you and me might actually believe Jesus Christ is winking at us, letting us know that we have all the grace we need. And if we taste of this grace long enough, we might even share with others how they can taste the grace of God as well! Amen.