Humble Grace

Matthew chapters 5-7 record for us what is called the Sermon on the Mount.  It begins with the lovely blessings of Christ called the Beatitudes.  Isaac Watts took these beautiful promises of Jesus and set them to music in his hymn “Blest Are the Humble Souls That See”.  In this eight stanza hymn, one stanza per Beatitude, he makes a poetic melody of the rich blessings of Christ.

He keeps the focus clearly on the spiritual nature of these phrases which is right where Christ had placed it.  Christ did not bless the poor in this passage but rather the poor in spirit.  This is the humble who understand their need for God’s love and grace.  The self sufficient man can be poor or rich so this is not a denouncement of the wealthy.  It is a call for us to see and acknowledge our need of God.  Of the poor in spirit Watts wrote, “Blest are the humble souls that see their emptiness and poverty; treasures of grace to them are giv’n, and crowns of joy laid up in Heav’n.” 

Again Jesus did not bless those who appear pure hearted by earthly standards.  There are none who are pure hearted by God’s standards.  All have sinned and come short of His glory.  Jesus blessed those whose hearts were made pure by God’s cleansing.  Watts said of them, “Blest are the pure, whose hearts are clean from the defiling powers of sin;
with endless pleasure they shall see a God of spotless purity.”

Lastly we see that Jesus did not bless those who suffer for what may be deemed a righteous cause.  He did not condone or promote every cause of human imagination as a just one or that suffering for the causes of human design would bring eternal reward.  Jesus clearly stated that the suffering would be for His name sake.  It is His name that saves sinners and His name that is glorified in heaven.  Watts said, “Blest are the suff’rers who partake of pain and shame for Jesus’ sake; their souls shall triumph in the Lord,
glory and joy are their reward.”  The Beatitudes are wonderful promises of Christ and His grace for those who find their spiritual comfort and hope in Him.  Let us rejoice in the great promises of His grace as given to His children in the Beatitudes.  Sing these beautiful lines of Isaac Watts to a tune of another of his famous hymns, “Jesus Shall Reign”.  

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Proclaiming Grace

In Mark 3 Jesus called and sent the 12 apostles to go and proclaim His Name and do His work.  In an ancient hymn of the church, a hymn now 1000 years old, we see this call on them and on us.  “Let All on Earth Their Voices Raise” emphasizes in the first stanza that their call to serve was a call made by grace and accompanied with grace.  Here is the first stanza, “Let all on earth their voices raise, re-echoing heav’n’s triumphant praise
to Him who gave th’ apostles grace to run on earth their glorious race.”

We first remember that we were unfit to be used by God until He intervened by grace in our lives through the cross of Jesus Christ.  Being cleansed and forgiven of our sins through faith in Him we now are called to service for Him.  When we see the calling of the apostles, it is not just a passage in Scripture that reflects God’s actions at another time and place; it is the same God doing the same calling of us to the same service today.  By His grace we are saved, and by His grace we are sent. 

This ancient hymn continues with the nature of the ministry with which Christ charged them.  First they were to proclaim the gospel.  Every person on earth needs the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is not a complicated message.  It is the simple story of how God called us to His Son and how faith in Him has made us new people.  Everyone has their own story of faith to tell how God worked and wooed and made Christ real to them.  Tell your story and you will have shared the gospel.

Second they were called to care.  We get so busy that we often forget to care.  There are people all around us who are hurting, sick with disease of body and soul.  They hurt in their hearts as much as in their flesh.  Stopping to give an embrace of love, even if that embrace takes an hour, is not interrupting our lives, it is living our lives for Jesus.  It is being His disciple.  Caring for those outside the church and encouraging those inside the church is our call of grace to serve Him. 

When all this is done we will find the final call of grace, the grace to rest forever in Him.  The last stanza of this hymn presents this great hope, “And when the thrones are set on high and judgment’s awful hour draws nigh, then, Lord, with them pronounce us blest,
And take us to Thine endless rest.”  Let us labor and rest in His abundant grace.  

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Grace to the Least Renowned

In the Gospel of Mark Jesus began calling His disciples in chapter 1.  He called fishermen.  He didn’t call scholars or noblemen; He called fishermen.  In chapter 2 He again called a disciple.  This time it was a tax collector.  This man was on the bottom rung of Jewish society.  Jesus had not called a synagogue ruler as a disciple or a Sanhedrin ruler as a disciple; He had called a tax collector as a disciple.

Philip Bliss was a prolific hymn writer.  One of his many still well known hymns is “Whosoever Will”.  The calling of Jesus’ disciples reflects the truth of this song.  The first stanza of the song shouts out the joy to the common man that whosoever will may come. “Whosoever heareth, shout, shout the sound! Spread the blessed tidings all the world around; tell the joyful news wherever man is found, ‘Whosoever will may come’.” 

The grace of God in Christ is not exclusive.  Jesus called all people to Himself.  Some came and some did not.  He called a rich young ruler, but he loved his money too much and God too little and declined the invitation.  He stood before the Pharisees, a leading religious group of His day, and offered them the Kingdom.  They preferred their rules and laws and declined His invitation.  He stood before the Sanhedrin, the key religious rulers of Israel and declared that He was the Son of God and they condemned Him to death. They did not come when called.  He told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world and that He had come from God.  Pilate had Him crucified.  He did not accept the call.

Just because they didn’t accept the call doesn’t mean they weren’t invited.  God’s grace is as vast as His creation and as great as His love.  Therefore He can embrace and receive all who will come.  God’s grace sent His own Son to die for our sins.  With that death and resurrection of Christ comes the wonderful invitation.  “Whosoever will, whosoever will, send the proclamation over vale and hill; ‘tis a loving Father calls the wanderer home: Whosoever will may come.”  Rejoice in such great grace that gives such a wonderful invitation and make sure you have responded to His RSVP of grace with the affirmation of faith. 

                                              The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

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Compassionate Grace

Turning once again to Mark 1 we find Christ at Peter’s house in the evening hours of the day.  He had healed the demon possessed man at the synagogue earlier in the day.  Then he had healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Then the crowds began to appear and he was busy healing them.  It had been a long day.  He had preached, gathered disciples, healed and healed some more.  Now in the evening of the day He was still at it.  There were no complaints on His part, only more ministering.

Henry Twells wrote a classic hymn about the care and gentle ministering of Jesus.  In “At Even, Ere the Sun Was Set” Twells outlined the care of Christ to the hurting and the great joy they had in receiving the grace of His ministry.  Then Twells presents the truth that we are not done with being needy today.  For five stanzas he lists the many ills of mankind expanding on the ideas presented in his third verse, “O Savior Christ, our woes dispel; for some are sick, and some are sad; and some have never loved Thee well, and some have lost the love they had.”  From physical illness and emotional illnesses and spiritual illnesses Twells called upon Christ to cleanse and heal. 

Christ, of course, can do it all.  He did it all outside Peter’s door.  He did it all in the highways and byways of ancient Galilee and Judea.  But He also sent out 70 others to do it as well.  He is still sending today.  He is sending His people, His church to demonstrate His grace to a world that is still sick and hurting.  As the 70 who went out returned to Jesus He told them that He had watched Satan fall as they ministered.  When He sends us, we do not go out alone.  He goes with us.  He heals through us.  His grace extends out from our lips and hands and lives to those who are sick with illness of body, mind and spirit. 

Twells reminds us in his last stanza that Christ still can do what He always did.  “Thy touch has still its ancient power. No word from Thee can fruitless fall; hear, in this solemn evening hour, and in Thy mercy heal us all.”  We go today in the same power of the same Christ.  We go to extend His grace of caring that we might extend the grace of His saving.  It is evening and the day of His appearing draws near.  Let us extend His grace while it is still today.  

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Grace in Humility

Imagine a movie star or a major league athlete who didn’t want or have a publicist to spread their fame.  Imagine them telling those who notice their greatness to be quiet about it.  Imagine them going to a place where they could play in the smallest market and even then shunning the spotlight.  Now you are imagining Jesus.

O glorious King without a crown, who spurned the fame, despised renown,

Majestic glory veiled in Thee, O Manhood of divinity,

Humility didst clothe the rays of angel choirs proclaiming praise,

As with the softest touch of love, You raised humanity to God. 

In Mark 1 we find the great Son of God from heaven healing a demon possessed man in the synagogue.  When the demon wanted to declare before all who it was that defeated him, Jesus silenced him.  Later in Mark 1 when Jesus met the leper on the road and healed him, He gave the healed man stern warning not to make Him known.  Indeed it was a pattern of Jesus not to send out press releases.

Quiet humility is a rare commodity today.  It is a product of grace.  It says, “Let God shine and I will be but a candle holding up His light.”  The grace of Jesus Christ was not seeking admiration.  It was not seeking a greater place at the world’s table.  It was saying that, “I know who I am and I know whose I am” and that was all that needed to be said.  There was no grandstanding.  There was quiet ministering.  There was no showboating.  There was service.  There was no earthly crown.  There was an earthly cross.  Grace was in each aspect of His humility.  Grace needs to work its way into each aspect of our lives.  We need to make His praise glorious and not our own. 

O glorious King who wears a crown, who in bright heaven is renown,

Guide me, my Lord, to live aright, always to share Your glorious light,

To magnify Your Name divine and not to make so much of mine,

To work with You in touch of love, to raise humanity above.  

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A Gracious Invitation

The 17^th Century hymnist, Johann Rist, gave the church a number of beautiful hymns depicting Christ.  One of those is “Arise, The Kingdom Is at Hand”.  This hymn is taken from Jesus’ first sermon as recorded in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.”  With this simple message Jesus introduced Himself, His ministry, His purpose and His hope.  It was a gracious invitation declared to all who heard Him.

In the first stanza of his hymn Rist announces, “Arise, the kingdom is at hand
the King is drawing nigh; arise with joy, thou faithful band, to meet the Lord most high!
Look up, ye souls, weighed down with care, the Sovereign is not far; look up, faint hearts, from your despair, behold the Morning Star!”  The whole world lay in darkness.  Hope was hard to come by in the early 1^st century.  The Jewish religion had become form without substance.  Roman paganism offered nothing to cheer about.  Greek philosophy contradicted itself at every turn.  The poor grew poorer while the rich abused them in every way they could.  Religion, knowledge, economics and politics all offered no hope. 

Then Jesus came.  The Kingdom of God, the bright hope of mankind had arrived.  He offered it to all who would repent and believe.  There would be no more night, no pain, no fear, no despair and no more cares.  He didn’t exclude any from His invitation.  By grace He offered it to rich and poor, Jew and Greek, educated and illiterate, men and women and all, each and every one who would hear, repent and believe.  In a society with strict lines of separation along religious, economic, social, cultural, national and philosophical positions, Jesus’ offer of grace to ALL was the ultimate offering of hope.

Rist’s 4^th stanza reads, “Hope, O ye broken hearts, at last! The King comes on in might, He loved us in the ages past when we sat wrapped in night; now are our sorrows o’er, and fear and wrath to joy give place, since God hath made us in His grace
His children evermore.”  Notice the grace with which Christ came.  It is the same grace He offers to us today in every need of our life.  Rejoice, the King of grace is come. (This hymn may be sung to the tune “O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”.) 

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Marriage: A Scene of God's Grace

Weddings are grand and wonderful occasions.  We celebrate together the beginning of something new and beautiful in the sight of God.  One man and one woman united in an earthly picture of Christ the great Groom and the church His pure bride.  In all weddings where the bride and groom are God’s children by faith in Christ, we can see Christ sitting in the seat of honor as an invited guest.  In John 2 Jesus was an invited guest at the wedding in Cana.  It was the beginning of the working of miracles in His ministry.

Adelaide Thrupp and Godfrey Thring combined their talents in the mid 19^th century to give us a lovely wedding song, “Lord, Who at Cana’s Wedding Feast”.  This song reminds us of our bonds as husbands and wives, not just partners but a couple, with God given roles in a God created institution.  It reminds us also of the presence of Christ in each wedding of His children.  The hymn clearly calls on each partner in a Christian home to be zealous to stir up ever greater faith in the one with whom God has sealed them in the marriage covenant.  Lastly it speaks of the hope that we have in our true marriage with Jesus Christ and the eternal home we have with Him. 

God’s grace in Christ is richly evident in this hymn.  We, the sinners of the world (meaning all mankind) were alienated by our sins from the hope of God.  God, in Christ, took our sins rightful punishment and made us acceptable to Him.  He just didn’t “make us acceptable”; He took us as His very own bride.  Now we are wedded to Him; that is an eternal covenant and there will be no separations.  In this beautiful marriage Christ labors in us to produce His grace to a lost world.  We are joined with Him in the purpose and work of life.  That is what marriage is – being joined in purpose and work with Christ always in view.  He calls us to both this earthly and heavenly joy by His wonderful grace.

Let us enjoy together a verse from Thrupp’s wedding song. “Lord, who at Cana’s wedding feast didst as a Guest appear, Thou dearer far than earthly guest
vouchsafe Thy presence here. For holy Thou indeed dost prove the marriage vow to be,
proclaiming it a type of love between the Church and Thee.”  

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