Grace Saves

“He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” II Peter 3:9 (NLT)

From the Old Testament of the Bible comes a story of incredible pain
Painful, not as much for the listener, but for the one who told it
God understands that no one tells a story better than someone who has lived it

So, God asked his prophet Hosea to do something no parent would ever ask
To marry an openly promiscuous woman
A woman with a reputation of being available, a woman with a history of adultery

For Hosea, it had to have been exciting in the beginning
Who wouldn’t want Gomer
She was hot
Her every move communicated sexual interest
Her eyes said, “I want you” to every guy she looked at

So he married her
And a pain he could never have dreamed of entered his life
He gave her his entire heart
But she had no heart to give him back
There was something broken inside her that all his love couldn’t fix
She could give him her body, but never her heart
No one could ever touch her heart
But her body was available for every man who gave her an admiring glance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaHhWTahYQM

You know the meaning behind the story
Hosea, the wounded husband, was living out a story that wasn’t his alone

God explained to Hosea
I want you to live my story, experience it with me
Then you can tell the people how I really feel
Because you will feel it as well

Before living this, Hosea was probably like you and me
Convinced that God was a non-involved judge
Making the rules and carrying out the punishment
Unaffected by the pain of our disobedience

Watching us sin with an attitude of disgust
Then handing us a painful punishment to teach us a lesson with no more emotion than a judge in traffic court
“That will be $200 plus $50 court costs
Will you be able to pay that today Mr. Heese?”

God isn’t detached
His heart is attached to ours
He can’t let us go
He can’t toughen up and deal with our decision to choose another path in life
He wants us back

The story of God and mankind is a mirror of your story
A journey from innocence to guilt
“where sin increased, grace increased all the more”
Romans 5:20-21

Every one of us has struggled with the question, “Why is there evil?”
Few of us struggle with the question, “Why am I evil?”

When we look at the Adam and Eve story, it is usually from their perspective
We read the conversation with Eve and Satan, and wonder how she could have fallen for it
We follow her choice to take the bite of the apple, and dismiss it as a minor act
She was just impulsive, curious, unaware
This was no premeditated, violence act of defiance against God

She was as innocent as a two-year old picking up a piece of candy off the table
God should have been smarter than to leave it out where she would see it

But as her life progressed, she became more expert at her sin
Planning it in advance, being sneaky, acting out of bitterness and anger

Her story isn’t a lot different than yours
Your first lies were innocent and almost humorous
Your first theft would probably have been a winner on America’s Funniest Videos

I was watching my grandson and counseling with a friend in my living room at the same time
The little guy was on my bed, watching Dumbo, and probably safe for at least an hour
I heard a cupboard door open, and box hit the floor
He was into Grandma’s cookies

When my friend left a little later, I walked into the bedroom
“Did you get cookies without asking?”
His eyes went to the package on the nightstand
There was chocolate on his face
And his little mind was working furiously on a defense

Do you remember your first boy-girl encounter in adolescence?
You were nervous, scared, surprised at the feelings you felt
And a door was opened in your life that has never shut

You became an expert liar
An accomplished thief
Your sexual appetite grew and wouldn’t be denied

As your life moved from innocence to guilt
As you discovered the attraction of sin, and willingly volunteered for the excitement, risking the punishment promised
God turned up the grace output

Grace is unconditional love that responds with full forgiveness
Undeserved favor

Jim Cymbala leads the Brooklyn Tabernacle, a congregation in the inner city
Because of their location, they have a lot of diversity in their congregation
From the wealthy to the poorest of the poor

A few years ago on an Easter, Jim preached several times to a packed house
And he was done for the day
Many had come to the front for prayer after his last message of the morning, and while counselors talked with them, he sat down with his feet hanging over the edge of the stage, loosening his tie, relaxing and taking it all in
From the back came a man who was clearly from the streets, and he walked up to Jim
His aroma preceded him, but Jim was used to that

He asked the man his name, and the man responded “David”
Jim wanted to be kind and help the man out, so he asked, “How long have you been on the
street?”
“Six years”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty two”
“Where did you stay last night?”
“Abandoned truck”

Jim had to turn his head to breathe
This guy was at the bottom – missing teeth, alcohol on his breath, eyes bloodshot and glazed
over”

The church has a policy that they don’t give anyone cash, they offer to take them to eat
But this was Easter, and Jim had a family dinner waiting for him
He reached into his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill
“Get yourself some lunch, David”

David pushed his hand with the ten in it away and said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.”
Jim was embarrassed and ashamed of himself
This man wanted Jesus, and he was wanting to get rid of him with a ten dollar bill

Jim said, “I forgot all about David, and I began to ask God to forgive me”
“I couldn’t help it, but my eyes filled up with tears. Now I was even more embarrassed”
Seeing Jim’s tears, the homeless man began to cry as well, and soon he and David were embracing
David became a Christian that day, and his life changed dramatically
He began to memorize verses from the Bible
Soon, he was quoting entire chapters

The church hired him to help out with cleaning and maintenance
They helped him find a place to live, sent him to a dental surgeon to get his teeth fixed
He spent Thanksgiving at Jim’s house, then Christmas
He gave Jim a white handkerchief as a gift – all he could afford

David is now serving as an Associate Pastor in a sister church in Newark
Saved by grace

Reconciliation begins with a decision in the heart
And on it’s way home, it finds grace!
“By grace are you saved, through faith”
Ephesians 2:8-9