Extending Grace to More and More People... today's sermon at White Oak UMC

Today I had the opportunity and honor to preach once again at White Oak UMC as the pastor (Amy Whatley) headed up to Annual Conference.  It was good to be back among folks that I've gotten to worship with in the past and see them again, and to meet some new folks.  Several folks came to hear and support me this morning as well and that was an encouraging.  Thanks Riley, Charlotte, Val, Gail, Jim, and Bonnie!

Tony Burgess ran sound and did a great job, as usual.  He also had some help from Robert, a youth who is in training.  That's great!

David Kammerdiener led worship and had picked some great worship songs from The Faith We Sing: "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord", "He is Exalted", "I Love You, Lord".  The choral worship song was "The Heart of Worship".  It was a blessing to worship in song.

Lynne Corvin gave the children's message and it was a wonderful story on the different types of "taters"/ "tators" in our lives.  Though I couldn't see all the decorated potatoes, I know that there was a Mr. Potato Head in there as well as some decorated potatoes to represent IMItator, COMMENtator, DICKtator, etc. and a sweet potato to show that as Christians, we are different on the inside.  At the end, Ms. Lynne gave out Hershey candy to all the kids.  Next time, I'm going to be a kid!! ☺

Thanks again White Oak UMC for welcoming me and my family to worship with you today!

Below is my sermon (more or less):

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION:

Living God,

help us so to hear your Word

that we may truly understand;

that, understanding, we may believe;

and believing,

we may follow your way in all faithfulness,

seeking your honor and glory in all that we do.  Amen.

http://www.browndowntown.org/files/Liturgist_Resources.pdf

“Extending Grace to More and More People”

White Oak UMC

June 10, 2012

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

¹³But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke” —we also believe, and so we speak,¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.¹⁵Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.¹⁶So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.¹⁷For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,¹⁸because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

5For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

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LEADER: THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

ALL: THANKS BE TO GOD.

Today is the 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost.  This Scripture reading is one of the Lectionary choices for today.  As I’ve been reading, studying, and praying through these Scriptures in preparation for this morning’s service, I struggled with where to place the message focus.  Maybe you didn’t hear or see all the sermon possibilities in that short passage that I did, but here are the sermon titles that I came up with from it:

·       “If you believe, speak up!”

·       “Faith that prompts you to speak out”

·       The ongoing effect of grace”

·       “Don’t lose heart”

·       “Renewed daily”

·       “This tent is temporary”

You see what I ended up with: “Extending Grace to More and More People”, taken from verse 15.  Oh, don’t worry, I don’t plan on preaching every sermon that’s found in this passage.  Hopefully, we’ll see how the themes come together to help us live out our faith in the world around us—our church, our homes, our places of work, where we shop and play, etc.

Let’s take another look at verse 15: “so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”  As grace is extended to more and more people, it will increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.  

What is “grace” and how do we extend it?  

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, grace is: “unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification”.  

Sanctification--the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion

You may have heard this explanation before for the GRACE acronym: God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.

Grace at its simplest form can mean “gift”.  

While I was researching for this sermon, I came across a book, the butterfly effect of Grace, by Rex Russell.  Through his teaching and now through the stories in this book, Rex has tried to get the message of grace across to others.  He boils it down to this statement: “Nothing I will ever do, good or bad, will ever cause the heart of God to love me any more or less than He does right now.”  That, my friends, is GRACE!  Hear it again, with a slight change:  “Nothing you will ever do, good or bad, will ever cause the heart of God to love you any more or less than He does right now.”  What do you think?  How does that make you feel?  Do you get it?

NOTHING you or I will ever do, good or bad, will ever cause the heart of God to love us any more or less than He does right now.

Again, this is grace!

Once we “get it” and accept it and start living it, then we can extend it to others.  As we live out the grace of Christ in our own lives, we automatically extend it to others.  [NOTE: I shared some personal testimony here about the biggest example of me learning to accept God’s grace in my life through my pregnancy in 2000.  I don’t remember all that I shared, but the bottom line was that even though it was difficult for me to accept God’s grace, once I did, I was able to extend grace more easily to others.]

An example of sharing grace intentionally in community is from just this past week when all the churches in the Chattanooga District joined in with the Hands-on Mission for the Holston Conference and loaded up food buckets for Zimbabwe on Thursday, June 7^th at the Chattanooga District.  Last I heard, the District Office was expecting about 800 buckets; 500 over the initial 300 goal.  That’s grace extended to more and more people as these buckets will join with other buckets and will travel across the world to feed many!  Thank you for your involvement in this effort!

Every time we celebrate the sacraments of baptism or communion, grace is being extended.  We come together in community to celebrate these sacraments and recognize the grace of Christ that is extended to the one being baptized, to the family, and to the entire community that is promising to raise up that child in their faith or support that person in their decision to grow in their faith journey.  In communion, we take the elements of bread and fruit of the vine and remember our relationship with Christ and what Christ has done for us and what Christ means for us.  This, too, is an act of grace.

In Rex Russell’s book, the butterfly effect of Grace, Rex shares 12 stories of how the grace of God has affected lives and how that grace touched not only the one life, but many others.  There are stories that made me think, laugh, and cry in this short book.   What they all shared was making the most of everyday encounters with people—because those seemingly insignificant moments do matter.  And, we need to be willing to risk, to step out of our comfort zones because in those moments, things happen.   Rex puts it this way: “The most important thing about the butterfly effect of grace is that it starts when you and I simply open our eyes and notice the world around us.  It is about God using us to reach out to hurting people.  It is about helping them connect the dots back to God because you took the risk to flap your wings one more time.” (xxiii)

Think about your world for a moment.  Your home.  Your work.  Your daily commute.  Your shopping places.  Your church.  Your community.  Your ministry opportunities.  Are there people in your life to whom you can extend grace?  Think about your gifts and passions as you seek to extend grace as a way of ministry outreach.  

Maybe you are at a place in your life where you need to accept grace.  Maybe hearing those words earlier that there is nothing you can do to cause the heart of God to love you any less or more was difficult for you.  If so, allow grace in.  Don’t run from it.  Accept it.

No matter where you are in your walk with Christ, undoubtedly you have experienced grace at some point.  Has that grace prompted you to speak out?  Have you felt the effects of grace helping you to not lose heart and to be renewed daily?  Remember, this tent in which we live is temporary.  But the ongoing effect of grace will last long beyond the time our tent is gone.

As you sing the hymn “Help Us Accept Each Other”, look closely at the words.  See, hear, and experience the grace that is offered. [ALTAR CALL for those who wish to pray.]

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ fill each of you to overflowing as you seek to share the love and grace of Christ with those around you.

AMEN!

BENEDICTION: (from United Methodist Book of Worship, #559)

Serve your God with patience and passion.

Be deliberate in enacting your faith.

Be steadfast in celebrating the Spirit’s power.

And may peace be your way in the world.  Amen.       (Glen E. Rainsley, U.S.A., 20^th Century)