January 7, 2024 "Grace Works"

Readings: Psalm 29, Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11 Ephesians 1:3-14
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on January 7, 2024

The start of a New Year … and who knows what it will be bringing our way? I have no intention this morning of contradicting anything that Nostradamus or the ‘Farmers Almanac’ may be suggesting, but I do want to plant in your minds one particular thought.

It’s neither a new thought nor even an original thought, but a thought that appears in different ways throughout much of the New Testament. It’s a thought that crops up in a number of different ways in the bible reading that we had from Ephesians.

Simply stated the thought that I’d like to focus on as we start a New Year is this.
“Grace Works”

To enlarge on that thought .. not only has God’s Grace worked in the past, .. not only is God’s Grace working in the present but God’s Grace will continue to shape our future. God’s Grace has worked, is working and will work. It is the Grace of God that bought us to the beginning of a New Year, it is the Grace of God that sustains as we begin a New Year and it is God’s Grace that will get us through a New Year.

Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with a eulogy regarding the purpose and plans of God, as they are enacted through God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He uses such grand words as ‘predestination’ and ‘redemption’, and phrases such as ‘according to His high intention which he purchased in Him’ and.. ‘with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times’

If you think this passage is wordy in English, bear in mind that in the original Greek the whole section from verse 3 through to verse 14 is one single sentence. It’s not the sort of passage that you can read without taking a breath.

If you can spend the time to really to chew on it, it’s a passage full of spiritual meat. We don’t have that time right now, so rather than delving into all the intricacies and theological twists and turns in this rich passage, allow me to just highlight some of the main items on the menu. In true Trinitarian fashion Paul speaks of the Grace of God under three headings.

The Grace of God the Father

It has become politically incorrect within some theological circles to talk of God as Father. Some prefer the term parent, or speak of the feminine aspects of God. Others ignore the concept altogether and speak in terms God as Creator or Redeemer.

Paul makes little sense if you take away from his words his concept of the Fatherhood of God. Had he been writing today he may have phrased things a little differently, but at the time he wrote, ‘Fatherhood’ had particular functions and responsibilities that he relates to the God who creates us and sustains us.

 A primary function of the father’s task was that of making plans. It was through the father’s life that not only his wife, but also his children were blessed. Back then women and children had no status of their own. Who they were was directly related to who their husband or father happened to be and what that husband or father had achieved. The father’s plans were crucial for the well-being of the whole household.

So, Paul speaks of ‘Our Father’s’ of God’s plans. He does so in terms that are warm and nurturing. This is the Father who has already blessed us and continues to try and overwhelm our hard hearts with blessing upon blessing. This is a Father who has chosen us specifically to be His children. Paul uses the term ‘adoption’ to describe how we are drawn to be a part of the family of God, not by our own will, but by God’s gracious desire to nurture our lives.

He speaks of the Father as having chosen us from before the foundation of the world to be His own. Of how this Father desires that we grow and grow in our spiritual lives, so much so that we appear to be holy and blameless before Him. Paul speaks of the “Good Pleasure” of the Father’s will. He speaks of us as “God’s Beloved”, as those to whom He will freely give all that love had to offer. Most of all this Father God is one who plans all things and achieves all things through the ‘riches of His grace’ (v7).

Grace Works. Why? Because that’s the way God works. That like an exemplary father at the time Paul wrote, God wishes us to have lives that are molded and nurtured and formed by that Grace. That’s the Master plan. That’s where God is directing us.

In practical terms, it does not mean that life this year will be hassle free. It will have the usual ups and downs and probably some unanticipated turns that may be awful or wonderful. Yet behind it all and through it all we have an opportunity to discover throughout the coming year that Grace works.

How do we connect with this Grace of God? How do we get it to work for us? Maybe that’s the pressing question. The simplest answer is that we do so through seeking to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Because it is in Him and it is through Him that Grace becomes focused upon our lives.

The Grace of Jesus Christ

It is Jesus who opened the gateway for Grace to flow to our lives. He did so at great cost. He did so through the price He paid at Calvary and the Cross where He suffered for our sins. This is not cheap grace but costly self-sacrifice on the part of God.

It has to be that way because of the enormity of sin. One thing for sure that you are going to have deal with in this coming year is the fact of sin. You will be sinned against and you will sin against others. No matter how lofty your resolutions or high your intentions your are going to mess up. You did last year and you will this year.

Man’s nature is a sinful nature. We are neither basically good nor basically bad, we are basically sinful. Sin is usually underestimated. We think we can classify our actions by filing them in either the “Good” or the “Bad’ cabinet.

“Today, I gave an extra dollar in collection at church.” GOOD file.
“Today, I could have given two extra dollars at church.” BAD file.
“Today, I slammed my finger in the car door and said some words that I don’t usually say. Put that in the “BAD” (but not as bad as if I’d kicked the cat) file. It was GOOD that I didn’t kick the cat. But..“today I got mad at the cat anyways. “BAD”.. but only because the cat ate the goldfish. “GOOD” for you…offering moral guidance for the cat, “BAD” for the cat for eating the goldfish. VERY BAD all round for the goldfish!

It’s hardly surprising the cat ate the goldfish. Cats like fish. They taste good to cats. It’s in a cat’s nature to eat them. It’s also in a cat’s nature to play with their food. Ever seen a cat with a mouse? Oh, they are mean! They’ll catch them. Let them go a little. Then “ME-OW” got you again, “Just when you thought you were getting away with it.” They can be horrible.  What’s with that?

It’s the way they are. Part of being a cat.  It goes beyond good or bad. It’s their nature. In a similar way, sin is a part of our nature. It may disgust us. It may trouble us. It can be controlled to a lesser and a greater extent. Even Paul realized that often he was a loser when it came to battling with sin.

Elsewhere in Scripture he bemoans his fate in terms of saying how he just couldn’t do the good he wanted to do, but often ended up doing the stuff he didn’t want to, even though he was trying his hardest to do the right thing. “Who can deliver me? From this body of death?” he cries out. “Only Jesus” is the answer that he reassures himself with. Forgiveness is not dependent on us. It’s dependent on God. It is entirely through the Grace of Jesus Christ imparted to our lives through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for us. Sinners we are and sinners we will always be. But Christ died to free us from sin.

Some people look at that and say, “Well if Jesus died to free me from sin, how come I keep sinning?”  We keep sinning because we are sinners. We shall remain so till the day we depart this life for glory. To be freed from sin, does not mean having a life that is completely free from sin, but rather that we no longer orientate our lives on the basis of sin, but from the basis of grace. Another biblical writer, in I John, Chapter 3, draws a distinction between those who ‘practice sin’ and those who ‘practice righteousness’. As we stand near the beginning of the New Year, it’s important that we get in the game. And to be in the game.. means.. guess what?

If you are selected to play for a team, Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Cheerleading, Golf, LaCrosse, Tennis, whatever the team…what have you got to do? You have to go to practice! And what happens if you don’t practice? You’re not on the team. Right?

If you are going to be a concert pianist and your teacher tells you to practice this scale and that scale and these exercises and that exercise but you say,  “No. to heck with that, I’m graced by God, I’m gifted, I don’t need to practice… well  no matter how gifted or graced you may be, if you don’t do the practice, then the day you get up on stage, the crowd waiting, the orchestra all tuned up, the conductor waves the baton, and you will flunk out in the first few bars… and the whole world will laugh and say, “Man, what a waster!”

God has gifted us with salvation. Through God’s Grace we are free and forgiven. Don’t waste that Grace. We need to practice our righteousness. Otherwise we fool nobody but ourselves. To enable us to do, God offers:-

The Grace of the Holy Spirit

Paul speaks in verse 13 of “Being sealed in Him (Christ) with the Holy Spirit of Promise.” Wow! There’s another whole sermon in there! But this sermon has come to an end. All that I’ll say about that is that as you allow God’s Grace to work in your life, as you practice those things you believe.. there comes from God a sense of reassurance, a conviction that is hard to frame with words, a boldness and confidence about our Christian walk, that we had never before realized or recognized.

At the same time knowing ourselves sinners, we also know ourselves forgiven. At the same time knowing our limitations, we are discovering that with God the impossible often comes to be. Knowing that all the time we are making choices and coming to decisions and working things through in the dark, yet at the same time, are discovering that we are not alone, that there is a plan and a purpose, and the light is shining in unexpected ways in unexpected places.

In conclusion… my prayer for our churches this year... is that we may each discover... as God leads us... that Grace Works. That grace works wherever we work. That Grace works in our relationships with each other and with others. That grace works in our worship and in our service, and in our giving and receiving.  

Grace Works. Thanks Be to God. AMEN.

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.

July 16, 2023 PATRIARCHAL PONDERINGS 4. "Jacob and Esau"

Readings: Psalm 119:105-112, Romans 7:14-19, Matthew 13:1-23, Genesis 25:19-34
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on July 16, 2023

We continue our series on Patriarchal Ponderings, today looking at the sons of Jacob and Rebekah, Jacob and Easau. If there were one word to describe todays reflection it would be “Conflict.” Conflict.

Jacob and Esau never could get along. Even before they were born, they fought for position in Rebekah’s womb. After they were born, things just got worse. As different as chalk and cheese, one favored by mum, the other favored by dad, they were a disaster waiting to happen.

It wasn’t that one was the sinner whilst the other was the saint. They were both equally capable of irresponsible and devious acts, a fact made worse by the fact that in Jacob’s case his mother positively encouraged his wrongdoing. Yet…both were also recipients of God’s blessing and destined to become the fathers of great nations.

There’s a lot of different ways of looking at this story. On one level it’s about the sort of troubles that can arise in any family. The hierarchy and chain of command amongst older and younger brothers and sisters can be a tremendous source of conflict. It often seems people born into the same families just can’t get along and the passing of years can harden their animosity.

I was reading one commentary on this story that focused on the changes that were to come in the nation of Israel. It saw Esau as representing the old agricultural ways, his whole personality being associated with the red earth. Jacob on the other hand represented the new economic order that would come into being, a life based around cities and settlements and the opportunities trade would bring.

How ever you interpret the passage, one thing remains the same. The central image is that of conflict. There is conflict between Isaac and Rebekah. There is conflict between the lifestyles of Jacob and Esau. There is conflict between the purposes of God and the cultural traditions that society held regarding inheritances.

Even the naming of Jacob is a source of conflict. In Hebrew his name means, “he who grabs by the heel‘ or ‘the one who supplants’. Hebrew names carried with them a sense of character and purpose. Maybe giving a second born twin such a name as ‘Jacob – “the one who is grasping after his brothers’ rightful dues” was inviting trouble!

Esau, on the other hand, simply had the meaning ‘Red’. That ‘red’ theme reappears several times. We’re told he is born ‘red all over, like a hairy garment”. At the end of the story Esau wants the ‘red soup’ so badly that he’s prepared to give up his birthright for it! The red hairy guy loses it all for the sake of a pot of red stuff! Eventually he becomes so red mad in rage that he would happily spill some of Jacobs red blood as an act of revenge, a fact that causes Jacob much to worry about further down the road of his life!

The picture of conflict is everywhere in this story. Conflicting loyalties. Conflicting ideas. Conflicting desires. Conflicting loves. The first signs of conflict appear in the womb of Rebekah. Jacob and Esau were in conflict before they were born!

Scripture suggests that we are all conflicted people. In Paul’s letter to the Roman church, chapter 7, verses 14-19 he speaks of a conflict that, like the fighting twins in Rebekah’s womb, took place deep in his own life.

“For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”

Quite some conflict going on there with Paul! It’s a conflict that seems to be a fundamental part of his growth towards Christian maturity; that he recognizes that whilst he aspires to great things, his life didn’t always come up with the goods. This tension, between ‘how we feel should be’ and ‘how we actually are’ can be a frustrating inner conflict that we never seem to master.

It is a conflict that is birthed in us from the moment we arrive on the planet. You see… I reckon that there’s a bit of the Jacob and a bit of the Esau in us all. Both their good points and their bad points!

We are told that Esau was the skillful hunter. He was the outdoor one, ‘the man of the field’. Yet he was also the one driven more by appetite than thought. His desire for ‘the red stuff’ led him to squander his birthrights. He lived only for the day and gave too little thought to the consequences of his actions.

Do we see a bit of Esau in ourselves? On the positive side, there’s a part of us that just wants to get the practical things done. You’ll work hard to get what you want. You are impatient with those who seem to be ‘all talk, but no action’. But on the negative side, a little voice now again whispers in your ear, “Just satisfy that immediate need you sense, and never mind the consequences!”

What about Jacob? Well, he was the thoughtful one. Different translations use such words to describe him as ‘peaceful’, ‘plain’, quiet’ and ‘mild’, all of which are an attempt to translate the Hebrew word ‘tal’, which can mean ‘innocent and upright.’ Later in the story, in the King James Bible it is explained that his brother was a “an hairy man” whilst he was “a smooth one.” He’s a planner, which is good, but he’s also a schemer, a smooth talker, prepared to take advantage of others to get what he needs.

Is there something about Jacob in the way we are? We have those reflective moments when all is well with the world. But underneath the surface things are not always so pretty. There are motivations and desires that move us in the wrong direction. There is a devious side to Jacob. The Jacob voice whispers, “Just wait for the right time… and when it comes, forget about what’s right and what’s wrong, the end will justify the means.”

What to do about all this conflict? What happens in their story is this. Humanly speaking they are hopeless. It’s a wonder they never murdered each other. This is not though, simply a human story. It is not just a story about conflict. It’s an account that speaks to us about the Grace of God. That God could take these two feuding brothers and, despite their animosity, still work towards the founding of Israel, is nothing short of a miracle, a miracle of grace.

It is in the grace of God that we also should place our hope as we travel through whatever conflicts touch our own lives, be they within us or around us. At the end of the day Jacob and Esau are what they are by the Grace of God. In our lives it can be no different.

As I reflect on my own life, it’s obvious to me who has been responsible when things have gone wrong.  I take full responsibility for the mess ups! But those times when things have gone well? I always feel that those times are the result of God’s grace working in my life.

Like Paul I’ve often felt like “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.” Like the fighting twins in Rebekah’s womb, it sometimes seems that that’s the way things have to be. Maybe we should give up on ourselves and just live as we please. Not so! In verse 24-25 of Romans 7, Paul speaks of his reason for not being frustrated by the conflict his life experienced. “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“Thanks be to God!” declares Paul. In the midst of his struggle the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ was working. During our conflicts, grace can also do amazing things. The fact that we are in the struggle at all is testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit within and around our lives. If God were not on our case, we wouldn’t be concerned to even make the slightest effort to live in a Christian way.

This is where the parable of the Sower can be helpful. “He who has ears, let him hear” invites Jesus. All the time into our lives God’s Holy Spirit is sowing seeds of love, grace, hope and joy. But different influences work upon our lives. And the combination of all these influences creates conflict. In what way?

Sometimes we are just too preoccupied to listen. Our minds are conflicted by dealing with other things than the word God speaks. The world is too much with us. We just don’t hear it.  It goes in one ear and out the other and leaves no trail in our minds along the path. I’ve experienced that. I’ve been listening to a message that could help, but my mind has wandered and I’m not paying attention.  I am in conversation later in the day or week and somebody says, “Well, that’s exactly what we need to do, like we heard in the message.” And I’m like… “What message?”

Sometimes it’s more like the rocky ground. I hear it. I get it. But then I become busy with something else and forget all about it. Like it’s never been spoken. It doesn’t take root.

Some seed fell among the thorns. I think of the thorns as being my prejudices and misunderstandings. Ideas that I hold so strongly that they blind me to receiving truths that I seem incapable of grasping yet. We all have this picture in our minds of how things are meant to be and at certain points it contradicts with the way Scripture tells us things should be. For example, “Love your enemies” Jesus tells us. “Nah, not going there. Never work. Not even going to try” whispers the thorny voice. And that’s it. That seed is never going to grow into anything. Yet.

Thankfully, there is the fourth category. “Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Times when we actually get it. When we actually, by grace, break through to some new revelation about ourselves or our situation, it is always far more influential upon us than we dared imagine.

That growing seed process. It’s about conflict. How God sows good seeds in our lives, but there are things that come along and conflict with their ability to grow. It can be random. It can be chaotic. It can be a struggle.

Yet because God loves us, because Christ died that we might live, because the Holy Spirit is still the great creative force that enables order to emerge from out of chaos, we, with Paul, say “Thanks be to God!”

God was at work in the conflicts of Jacob and Esau. So don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on others either. Conflict is an inevitable part of discipleship. There will be those times when, because we are human, our actions are more like those of Jacob and Esau, than what we would expect of a disciple of Jesus.

The great news is …
God’s Grace is greater than our sin.
Such is a theme reflected time and time again in the bibles story.
It’s there in the conflict of Jacob and Esau.
The grace of God brought them through!
There was conflict in the life of Paul.
God bought him through!
God sows into our lives seeds of spiritual love.
God wants to bring us through!
“He who has ears, let him hear”

That Grace is there for us. As we commit our lives to Christ.
In His strength … Through His grace…
Praise God…
We can grow through the conflicts of our own lives!

Though the story of Jacob and Easu is one defined by conflict,
it is ultimately ‘GRACE’ that has the last word.

As we place our lives under God’s influence,
may ‘Grace’ become the word that defines our discipleship journey.

AMEN.

The Reverend  Adrian J Pratt B.D.