July 18, 2015

You’re Over Your Head in God’s Grace!

8th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/19/15
Ephesians 1:7-10


You’re Over Your Head in God’s Grace!
I. Redeemed and forgiven
II. Enlightened regarding God’s will
III. Part of God plan for all things


It’s almost hard to believe. Our area of the country has seen far too much rain in the past four weeks. Farm fields are flooded. Swollen, raging rivers have ruined homes and caused the loss of human life. Meanwhile, the State of California is in its fourth year of extreme drought. This spring California’s governor imposed a 25% reduction in water usage on all communities and will impose heavy fines for non-compliance. What were once enormous reservoirs of water are now small lakes surrounded by cracked, bone-dry lakebed.

If you had to choose either extreme, which one would you choose? I’m almost certain we’d all choose too much water over far too little water.

In a way, there’s a reference to water in this morning’s text from Ephesians 1. Did you catch it? Maybe not. Let me help you. Paul wrote about “the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” Lavished on us. That’s not a phrase we hear or use often. The word Paul used has the idea of overflowing, such as filling a cup with water and continuing to pour out that water even though the cup is full so that water covers everything in the vicinity.

But we’re not talking about water here; we’re talking about God’s grace, his undeserved favor, his loving disposition toward us due to nothing good we have done for him, but solely due to who he is.

With water, too little or too much can pose grave problems. Not so with God’s grace. God’s grace always abounds. He pours it out on us and it surrounds us. In fact, you’re in it over your head. That’s one of the many truths Paul presents to us this morning. In a world that’s so uncertain, so fickle, so problematic, so disheartening and, at times, even so disgusting, you live in God’s grace. In fact, you’re over your head in it. May that truth bring comfort and strength to you as you live each day to the glory of Jesus!

Part I.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a slave? Hard to imagine, isn’t it? Here’s a brief description from John Atkinson, who escaped slavery in 1855, “I escaped from Norfolk, VA. A man who has been in slavery knows, as no one else can know, the yearnings to be free, and the fear of making the attempt.”

One of the points Paul makes about God’s abundant, overflowing grace is that it has set us free. Did you realize you were enslaved? Far too many people don’t. They’re under the false impression that they are spiritually free, that they’re the masters of their own spiritual destiny.

Nothing could be further from the truth. If it were true, a Savior named Jesus would be unnecessary. But listen again to what Paul says, “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

You have redemption. You’ve been redeemed. From what? Slavery in Satan’s kingdom. We’re born with a sinful nature and that sinful nature reveals itself every day by the sins we commit. Our sin—original sin and actual sins that we commit—make us guilty. That guilt is Satan’s claim on us. We belong in hell with him forever, not with our loving God. So Jesus paid the price to redeem us—his holy precious blood and his innocent sufferings and death. He bought us back solely by God’s grace, not because we were so good or lovable.

And in that grace we also have the forgiveness of sins. If sin is our greatest problem—and there’s no debate about that—then the forgiveness of sins is our greatest need. But you can’t pay anything to get it. No amount of money is enough. But here’s the good news—God gives it to you freely every minute of every day by grace. Our God is not in the business of withholding his grace; he’s in the business of dispensing it—freely.

You’re over your head in God’s grace—redeemed and forgiven.

There’s a strong tendency for us to spend our lives becoming someone. Think about all the different persons you have struggled to become: friend, musician, athlete, student, spouse, parent, employee, employer, manager, supervisor, executive. The list goes on and on and might even change daily. We scratch and claw to become someone only to realize we didn’t accomplish it, or, if we did, it’s not what we thought it would be. And we’re exhausted. We’re fed up. We’re disillusioned. What should we do? In the word of a famous quarterback, R-E-L-A-X. You’re over your head in grace. God has already made you the person he wants you to be—redeemed and forgiven. What else matters? Yes, you should apply yourself to the best of your abilities in whatever station of life God has placed you in right now, but do so realizing that you belong to Jesus now and forever. That you live each day with the forgiveness of sins. Your God is watching over your life to carry you to the next one with him. You’re over your head in grace!

Part II.

But we can’t help it. We know we belong to our God now and forever, but we want to scrutinize the inscrutable. We’re on a lifelong quest to find out why things are the way they are in our lives. We ask ourselves daily, “Is this what God wants for me?” Or, we try to tell ourselves, “This is what happened so this must be what God wants for me.” That’s not biblical. That’s not what God says in his word.

So, what does he say? Listen to what he says through Paul, “He made known to us the mystery of his will.” But didn’t we just state that we spend so much of our lives trying to figure out what God wants? Indeed, we did. Paul states he has made it known to us. So, why isn’t it apparent to us?

Paul is speaking about a very specific part of God’s will that he has made known to us. He calls it a mystery. Just what does he mean? God states clearly in his word that his will is to save all people through faith in Jesus Christ. That will is a mystery to countless millions of people. It still needs to be revealed to them. They can’t come to know it on their own.

But by God’s grace, you do know it and you do believe it. It’s why you’re here and not somewhere else this morning. God has used his word and sacraments to bring you to faith in Jesus and to keep you in that faith. He has accomplished his saving will in you. He will accomplish that will fully when he brings you home to heaven. I know it’s hard to think this way, but everything else in your life falls a distant second to that. And it’s all because you’re over your head in grace—enlightened regarding God’s will for you.

So stop the fretting. No more worrying. Stop looking for answers your God isn’t going to give you. Stop the incessant rushing from here to there, thinking you’ll find complete happiness. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that your contentment lies over the next hill. Stand still for a second and drink deeply from this great truth: The greatest thing God wants for you he has already accomplished. You’re over your head in his grace! It’s so profound yet so simple that even our children here today can declare to you, “Jesus is my Savior and God wants me in heaven with him.” Sure there will be troubles along the way, but our God is an ever-present help in trouble. Jesus has overcome our world with all its trouble. You’re over your head in grace! In his grace he has already revealed what he wants most of all for you. That enables us to overcome every unknown.

Part III.

When we were young, we were so busy living and enjoying life that we barely thought about next week, let alone next year. But now that we’re older and we’ve experienced life, we wonder, “What will our world be like in 5 years? 15 years? 50 years?” And our answers at times fill us with fear.

Instead of speculating about what might be and becoming paralyzed with fear, listen to what God says and be filled with hope. “When the times will have reached their fulfillment, [he will] put all things in heaven and on earth under one head—Christ.” When all is said and done, when every earthly and anti-Christian power has done all they can to derail, denounce and defeat Christianity, then our almighty God will show once and for all who is the one in control. Above everything—all time, all effort, all power, all space, all wisdom—will stand your Savior, Jesus Christ, who will declare before everyone that you belong to him by faith in him.

You see, the plan Paul writes about here also includes you. In a spiritual but absolutely real way, he is the Head and you are a part of the body—the Church. In other places of the Bible he refers to himself as the groom and you as his bride. His plan is for you to be connected to him forever. And nothing can stop that. That plan began before time—in eternity. It was fulfilled in time—when Jesus suffered, died and rose again. That plan will realized beyond time—in the eternity of heaven. And you do nothing to achieve it. It’s all by grace, God’s amazing grace.

You’re over your head in God’s grace—part of God’s plan for all things.

How long has it been since you felt as if you were an after-thought to God? How long has it been since you were certain God had forgotten your plight? When is the last time you wondered if God cared anymore? That’s what our troubles and disasters do to us. They draw our attention to the moment and cause us to forget the big picture, the one our Lord spreads out before us this morning. All things will reach their fulfillment in Christ. Your God hasn’t forgotten you. He’s still working his plan out for you. He doesn’t fill you in on the details about tomorrow but he does reveal the fulfillment. Jesus wins and you win with him. And the amazing thing about that victory is that you don’t do anything to achieve it. It’s all been done for you by Christ, who lived and died and rose again for you. You’re not just standing in God’s grace. You’re not just wading in God’s grace. You’re over your head in it! Rest your soul on that great truth! Amen.