Sanctifying Grace

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 9/23/18

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^NRS Exodus 19:16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

^NRS 2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. ¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

When I was growing up, my mother always had roses. When I was young, I remember her having me help her. I might add, not always willingly. I was not always eager to work with the roses mind you, but she was always eager to teach me. I used to think that she was trying to get me interested in roses, but I think in retrospect, she was trying to teach me about life. There are some important lessons that you need to know to grow beautiful roses in your garden. First, you must work the soil to assure that it is ready for the rose before you plant it. Make sure the soil is rich and soft, adding good soil with fertilizer before planting and then plant the rose. Water it sparingly for too much water or too little water will kill the rose and bring on disease. As the rose begins to grow, you must give it constant attention but not over nurture it. The rose must grow some on its own. There are Japanese Beetles to worry about as well as black spot disease. As the roses bloom, you must deadhead the old buds lest the rose will spend more energy on the dead bloom than a new bud. As you constantly prune the rose bush, cutting the dead away and making room for the new, your rose bush will begin to take on the color and aroma of the flower and enhance your life. Always be mindful that just below that beautiful flower are the thorns. Today I want to talk to you about Sanctifying Grace.

Sanctifying grace is that journey where we are transformed into the image of God through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us and empowering us to love as God loves. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus tells us to go and be perfect. He believed in us, as He loved us unconditionally. If we look at the Greek, we see that the word used could easily be interpreted as mature, complete or full-grown. Jesus is telling us to go and be mature in our faith. However, in order to be mature in our faith, in order to achieve perfection in our relationship with God we need five things. We need a willingness to share this journey with God and other Christians who want to be in close relationship with God. We cannot do it alone nor can we suddenly be transformed if our hearts are closed to the transformation. Willingness to follow Jesus in the same way that the early disciples did, a willingness to drop everything they know and go where He is calling them and us to go. No doubt, you are thinking, Pastor, I cannot do that. Yet, we have the stories of Abraham and Joshua who willingly abandoned what they thought and went where God sent them. We are here today because of that. Imagine what the world would be like if all the people who called themselves Christian actually did.

We must surrender ourselves to the will of God. That means we pray for discernment, go, and do what God is calling us to do wherever and however that call is asking of us. As a church if God is asking us to change, then whether we are 16 or 91, we surrender to that call and go. Change is what caused the world to follow Christ even though in the earliest of times, they did not know Christ.

We then seek the vision that God has set before us. Perfection is not being sinless and doing everything, exactly the way God wants it. We are human after all. Perfection is listening to God and following what God wants. I will talk more about that in a moment. God has set a vision for us individually and corporately. The issue is whether you want to follow that vision.

Remember when you fell in love? Remember how much you wanted to be with the object of your love. How you wanted to share their desires, the things that were important to them and every moment of the day with them. We desire to be in the presence of God, we want to know what God is like, and how to build a relationship with God. However, just like our human love, our Godly love requires of us study, prayer and finding places where that love can develop and be nurtured. God is already there with gloves on, fertilizer in hand. Notice that God also has the pruning shears. I remember a number of years ago I had a business, a six figure income, a nice house in Birkdale on the golf course. Life was good as the marketing people at Birkdale used to say. God was calling for the third time. I allowed God in this time completely. I had received God into my heart when I was a teenager but just as we have shared, there are obstacles or baggage that keeps God out. I had become a weekend dad traveling across the country. Golf, business and anything else was more important than family or God. Funny thing happens when you let God in. You see, sanctifying grace is the work of the Holy Spirit rooting out sin – moving us closer to the image of God that God intended. So little by little, I began to change. Change is good! But change can be painful. Pruning clears away the things that prevent us from being in the kind of relationship that God wants, one of complete love and headed on a path of righteousness and perfection. When Adam and Eve were created, they were protected, loved and nurtured in the Garden. They were created in the image of God. God desires that we return to that place where the soil is rich, the sky blue and the air clean. Sanctifying grace restores us to our original righteousness.

The fourth element in this journey is alignment. We structure our lives to align them with the vision that God has set before us. For each of us that vision entails following Christ where Christ is leading us. Jesus said to us to Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach them to love God with all their hearts, minds, souls, and love you neighbor in the same way. Jesus could not have been clearer. When, not if, we align ourselves with that mission our vision becomes clear. God has a plan for you using your gifts, skills and talents that allows you to align with that mission. Whether it is teaching, engineering, carpentry work or ushering, there is a purpose for which you are good at that God is calling you to. When you are willing to surrender to that calling, the vision will be clear and you then align yourselves to that vision.

Finally, we need discipline. Daily discipline where we spend time with God. We must live lives of worship, worshipping God not only on Saturday or on Sunday but every day, all day. A life of constant prayer where we connect with God. A life of daily Bible reading where we learn more about God. Finally a life of participating with the Body of Christ where we are recharged and dig deeper. If you are not in a small group, do so. If you are not reading your Bible daily, start. If you are not praying, begin.

We are on paths to perfection you and I. At least I hope you are on this journey with me. That is what true discipleship means. As a church, we are on this journey too. The early disciples would not have differentiated between their church life and their own lives; they would have thought them one and the same. Wish more people felt that way today. I share with you a story.

If I were to say, Kodak moment, what would that mean to you? If you are like me and remember the commercials, we would think of a life moment caught by the camera and saved forever. At the time of those commercials, Kodak was the second largest US Corporation, second only to IBM. They thought that cameras and film were the thing, now and forever. In their labs folks were developing, a new thing called digital photography but the higher ups thought what they had was all they needed. Funny thing about that. On January 18^th, 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy. You see they had forgotten or not understood their “WHY.”

What is our “WHY?” Jesus said it is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to love God and neighbor. I believe with all my heart that this is our why. It is why we exist, why we gather and is our purpose on our journey to perfection. If we forget or misunderstand our why we die. Plain and simple. Many churches across the country are dying because they think there why is to take care of the folks inside the building, to nurture and care for them. We were dying because we had come to believe that we were here not for Christ but for ourselves. When we fail to practice radical hospitality and have passionate worship, we die. When we fail to step out in risk taking mission where we do what makes us uncomfortable we die. When we decide we do not like the direction of the church at the moment and try to subvert it back to the old way of thinking, we die. Churches that are dying believe with all their heart that their priorities, desires and goals are what is necessary for the church, not God’s. Sydenstricker is not a small family church and has not been since Jack Martin was here. Maybe that is why for so many years we have been declining from our high point of 518 average worship attendance under the pastorate of Mike Houff around 1999.  We think we are here for us, not God. Let us move on to a path of perfection with passionate worship, radical hospitality, risk taking mission and intentional discipleship. We know our why. We know our purpose. We know what Christ is calling us to do in perfection. Let us come together and share the journey.