Incongruous Grace

Was that hymn familiar to you?

Marvelous Grace.

If you grew up in the church,

a church like I grew up in,

and you sang that a lot,

and you probably also sang Amazing Grace,

there's just a lot of hymns

with the word grace in it, right?

And I wonder if we tend to forget what grace means,

or I wonder if we've ever really understood it

in the first place.

So let me ask you, what does grace mean?

Just in your minds right now,

just define it, see if you can define it.

If you're struggling with that,

let me help you by giving you a different word.

So in Greek, we use,

in English, there's two translations

of one Greek word, charis.

We use the word grace,

and we use the word gift.

And oftentimes, they are interchangeable,

and there's semantic overlap between those two words.

It's a simpler word, I think,

one that we're more familiar with.

So why don't we try defining the word gift?

See if you can, in your mind,

think what a gift really is.

What's the definition of the word gift?

Now, children, when you think of the word gift,

what do you think of?

You probably think of a box with shiny wrapping paper

and a bow that you open up at Christmas

or on your birthday.

Adults, how about you?

I wonder if you defined it

how I would probably define it, okay?

This would have been my definition of gift

up through this week.

I would have defined it.

A gift is a thing given generously to someone

without any expectation of return.

That sounds about right, right?

A gift is a thing given to someone generously

without any expectation of getting something back.

Now, that's probably a similar definition

that a lot of you had,

that a lot of you had,

but in studying Romans 5,

it's made me question that definition.

So we're gonna keep that attempt

at a definition in mind

as we look at Romans 5 together,

the Romans 5 which Ellen read for us.

And we're gonna do an overview of this passage

and then we'll home in on this word gift.

And then we're going to explore

the implications on our lives

of God's grace to us.

Before we do that, let's pray.

Lord, we hear that word of grace all the time

and perhaps it doesn't marvel us.

Perhaps it doesn't amaze us.

Perhaps we have been marveled

or amazed at your grace

and it's not like that for us anymore.

We've grown accustomed to it.

Lord, I would ask that

for these next few minutes,

you would amaze us,

surprise us,

particularly me, Lord.

Amaze me, astound me at your grace.

Lord, I ask you would forgive the sins

of the preacher

and may your word be clearly heard

as we look at Romans 5 together.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

So before we dive in,

I wanna first address the children.

Children, you should have received packets

as you checked in

and perhaps you have hopefully pens and pencils.

All right, there's lots of activities,

but there's also three,

there should be three blank sheets of paper.

Is this sounding about right?

Everyone has packets of paper?

Kids, can you hold yours up for me?

Show them to me.

There, oh, thank you.

Thanks, Judd.

Judd's gonna put it to good use.

All right, so find something to draw

because I have three things

I need you to draw, right?

And the first is this.

I want you to draw

on one side of this piece of paper

a mountain, okay?

And on the other side,

I want you to draw a molehill.

I don't know if you've heard your parents say,

you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

Well, hopefully this will help

understand the difference.

Draw a mountain is really big, all right?

Include lots of details,

snow caps, trees, bears, whatever you want.

And on the other side, draw a molehill

and you can have like a mole peeking out.

But this is your challenge.

You need to draw them to scale, okay?

Mountain needs to be as big

as it should be compared

to the little tiny molehill.

That's what you need to do, all right?

You ready?

Go.

And Judd, you can do that too.

All right, so adults,

let's explore chapter five,

verses one through 11 really quick.

Many of Paul's letters were written

to churches that Paul helped to found.

But the church in Rome,

he wasn't there for the founding.

What we think happened,

what is a likely explanation

for why a church developed in Rome

is after Pentecost,

when the gospel was preached

to people of all tribes and nations,

Jews went home to Rome

and founded a church there.

And over time,

Gentiles came into the church.

But in 49 AD,

the Jews in Rome were expelled.

Over time,

the Jewish Christians returned to this church

probably to find that it had

a distinctly Gentile flavor to it.

And so one could imagine

the sharp differences

between the attitudes and beliefs

and practices of those Jewish Christians

and those Gentile Christians.

And so Paul's writing

to both resolve these differences

and also to address the suffering

that they had probably endured

and would undoubtedly face in the future.

So that's the letter to the Romans.

Now in chapter five,

Paul explains that their comfort,

as they face troubles

and trials and suffering,

their comfort comes from having been justified.

In other words,

they are found right with God.

Their justification comes with two benefits.

One is in the present

and one is in the future.

The present benefit of justification

is reconciliation.

As members of the human race,

we find ourselves

in rebellion against God.

This rebellion has made us his enemies.

But through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross,

we now have present peace and reconciliation.

We are reconciled to the Father.

The other benefit comes in the future.

If we're at peace with God now,

then our future with him is secure.

Christians need not fear a future wrath.

So Christians have reconciliation with God in the present

and we have hope for the future.

We access this reconciliation

and this hope by faith.

In other words,

we trust in God's promises

that we are reconciled and saved by his grace.

There's that word again,

God's grace.

We saw that in verse two of Romans chapter five.

So before we talk about grace,

I have another assignment for the children.

How did the ocean and,

no,

how did the Mountain Mole Hill project work for you?

Okay,

I have another assignment

on another sheet of paper.

I need you to do another drawing, kids.

In the summer,

if you weren't aware,

we have the kids with us in the service.

So on one side of the piece of paper,

you need to draw an ocean.

Okay.

You can include a lot of details in the ocean,

fish,

coral,

mermaids that sing

and obey their parents.

And on the right side,

on the right side of the piece of paper,

you need to draw a puddle.

Okay.

And again,

it needs to be to scale.

Okay.

A really huge ocean

and a really tiny puddle.

Go.

Go.

All right.

Back to the adults.

Like I said earlier,

one word in Greek

is translated both grace and gifts.

So I'm gonna use those words interchangeably.

But for now,

I'm focusing on the word gift.

I'm gonna ask,

what makes a gift a gift?

What makes a gift different than,

say,

a loan

or a tax

or a salary?

What does Paul mean

when he uses the word gift?

And does that differ

from how everyone else

in his day used the word?

And do we use it the same way as Paul?

We're gonna explore all that.

But first we need to

kind of figure out what gift is.

And so we're gonna turn to a scholar

named John Barclay.

He explored the meaning of the word gift

in his book,

Paul and the Gift.

And he examines the word,

excuse me,

he examines the works

of anthropologists

who have studied

this concept of gift

across different ages

and different cultures.

And Barclay identifies

six of what he calls

perfections of gift.

That is six different meanings of gift

that are taken to

their logical extreme.

So I think it'd be helpful

to look at all six

because it's gonna clarify

some things later.

So we're gonna look

at this first one here.

It's called superabundance.

All right?

This idea refers to

the content of a gift.

Excuse me,

not the content of a gift,

but to the scale of a gift.

In ancient times,

big men would prove

their superior status

by the overwhelming scale

of their gifts to people.

All right?

Superabundance.

Next is singularity.

This refers to the gift giver

and not the gift.

It's when the gift giver's

sole and exclusive mode

of operation

is benevolence

and generosity.

The third is priority.

That is grace

or a gift

is especially gracious

when the gift is given

prior to the initiative

of the recipient.

All right?

We see this most clearly

in the parent-child relationship.

Parents give to you

and provide for their children

before the child

has an awareness

to ask for a gift

or to give thanks

for the gift.

Okay?

The fourth is incongruity.

Incongruity refers

to a gift given

without regard

to the worth

of the recipient.

Fifth is efficacy.

A perfect gift

is one that does

what it's designed to do.

It achieves its purpose.

An extreme example of this

is if you were to show

the gift of saving

somebody's life,

right?

Well, then,

that life that's been saved

is accomplishing its purpose

because they're living.

Sixth is non-circularity.

Okay?

This is the aspect of gift

that my earlier definition

incorporated.

Do you remember that?

A gift given

without any expectation

of return.

In other words,

we are to expect

a circularity of giving

and that non-circularity

is what makes a gift a gift.

Now,

I was surprised to learn

that this is actually

a pretty modern notion

of the understanding

of what a gift is.

From ancient times,

when a gift was given,

one was expected in return.

It didn't mean it wasn't a gift.

A gift didn't make the recipient

a debtor to the giver

because gifts were understood

to strengthen social bonds

and relationships.

For instance,

a leader of a large clan

would give a gift

to the leader

of a smaller clan.

And that leader

would want to strengthen

the relationship

to the larger clan

so he would give

a gift in return.

not as a debtor

but as a member

of a relationship.

All right.

Tracking all of those.

I'm gonna put all six

on the board here

and then give the children

one last assignment.

Okay?

You need to draw

the sun on one side

and the light bulb

on the other

and it needs to be

to scale.

Okay?

All right?

Can you do that?

The solar flares

and the solar spots

and all that stuff.

The sun

and the light bulb.

Okay.

All right.

So we have these six facets

of gift or grace.

Now I'm gonna read

Romans 5 verses 6 to 8 again

Romans 5:6–8

what Ellen read earlier

and see if you can hear

which of these facets

Paul has in mind.

For while we were still weak

at the right time

Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will scarcely die

for a righteous person

though perhaps

for a good person

one would dare even to die.

But God shows

his love for us

in that while we were

still sinners

Christ died for us.

What did you hear?

I heard two of these.

The last one I heard

was priority, right?

While we were still sinners

Christ died for us.

But the big one here

is incongruity.

There's nothing about

non-circularity here.

For Paul

grace

is incongruous.

It's the central feature

of God's grace.

It doesn't exclude

the others per se.

But this understanding

of God's grace

would be both

counter-cultural

and scandalous

to his contemporaries.

And this is why.

In honor and shame cultures

like we find

in the ancient

Greco-Roman world

it would be

not just

morally acceptable

but it would be

morally good

for the rich

and noble

to safeguard

their worth.

Does that make sense?

Like when honor

is the highest good

to safeguard

one's honor

is a good thing.

To us it looks like

self-aggrandizement

or selfishness

but back then

it was a virtue.

Therefore

it would be

virtuous

for the noble

to draw attention

to

and magnify

their status.

And therefore

care had to be shown

to whom

the noble person

gave their gifts.

in his

Nicomachean

ethics

Aristotle

observed that

a generous person

will give

lavishly

but certainly

not indiscriminately.

In other words

and I quote

so he can give

to the right people

at the right time

and where it is

noble to do so.

Okay.

Aristotle

also said

that the person

who wants to be

magnificent

will not waste money

on objects

of small importance.

In other words

there was expected

a certain congruity

between the giver

and the recipient

that was virtuous.

That was the virtuous

thing to do.

Therefore

incongruity

refers to a gift

given

without regard

to the worth

of the recipient.

and that's what we find

in Romans 5

and all throughout

Paul's writings.

What makes

God's grace

amazing

is the difference

in the worth

between the giver

and the recipient.

that difference

is vaster

than a mountain

and a molehill

it's wider

than an ocean

and a puddle

it's more extreme

between a star

and a light bulb.

The giver

the creator

and sovereign

over all

perfect

in purity

in wisdom

and justice

and love

and the recipients

rebels.

slaves

to sin

and death.

This is what made

Paul's grace

his

preaching

of God's grace

sound so

foolish

to the Greeks

and the Romans

made it sound

scandalous.

So let's bring

this incongruity

of God's grace

into focus.

Okay?

Imagine that

you're a slave

in the Roman Empire

you were born

into slavery

somewhere on the

geographical fringes

of the empire

and you've been

caught up

in a rebellion

and you're undoubtedly

guilty of this crime

so you've been

sentenced

to death

and because

you're a slave

it's death

by crucifixion

that's the penalty

that's been given

to you.

the purpose

of crucifixion

is threefold.

First

the death

is unimaginably

excruciating.

You'll most likely

be whipped

with a cat

of nine tails

you'll carry

your cross

beam

to the place

of execution

and there

the executioners

will fasten

you to a pole

either by impaling

you

by hanging

you up

with ropes

or by nailing

you to the post

in a cross beam

and this is

the chance

for Roman

executioners

to be

especially

creative

with their

cruelty

and so your

body could be

twisted

in knots

turned upside

down

in all kinds

of positions

for the fun

and amusement

of the

executioners.

The fleshy

parts of your

body will serve

as a meal

for swarming

birds

and there

you'll hang

constantly writhing

in pain

until you die.

This could take

days

and the only

mercy that you

could hope

for

was the

executioners

to break

your legs

so that somehow

you could suffocate

and die

ahead of schedule.

The second

purpose of

crucifixion

is humiliation

and in Roman

society

this was viewed

as just

as terrible

as the

physical

suffering.

It's a

death

reserved

for the

lowest

of the

low

in society.

Your

suffering

and death

would be

elevated

for people

to gawk

at.

Onlookers

would

mercilessly

jeer

and insult

and curse

you and

laugh at

you.

Archaeologists

haven't discovered

many physical

remains of

crucifixions but

they have

found one

in Palestine

and another

in England.

Interestingly

the images

that we think

of a crucifixion

the way

the feet

are transfixed

are different

than what

they found.

We think

of the feet

in front

of the

victim

with the

legs crossed

but evidence

showed that

the nails

go through

the heels

and ankles

on either

side

so that

the legs

are on

either side

of the

post

and the

body is

hanging out.

And remember

the victim

is completely

naked.

So imagine

the humiliation.

Imagine

the humiliation.

The suffering

and humiliation

serve the

third purpose

of crucifixion

and that's

to reinforce

the social

structures

in Roman

society.

This kind

of execution

would deter

slaves from

trying to

rise above

their rank.

So let's

bring it back

to you.

You're a

condemned

slave.

This is

what you

can expect

as you

languish

in prison

awaiting

your

execution.

But then

something

happens.

You get

word that

you've been

pardoned.

The jailer

comes,

opens the

door,

takes the

chains off

your wrists

and your

feet,

and you're

free to

walk out.

Imagine

the release

of emotions.

Along

with the

shackles,

you've been

set free

from the

fear and

anxiety.

And terror

that you

were feeling

awaiting for

a most

terrible death.

That would

be an

amazing gift,

yes?

But that's

not the

grace of

God.

You're fully

pardoned,

but you're

still a

slave.

And as you

walk out of

jail,

you're informed

that the

governor,

he's granted

you citizenship

in the empire.

So now you're

no longer a

slave.

You're

completely free.

You've been

both unshackled

physically and

socially.

That's an

amazing gift,

isn't it?

But that's not

the grace of

God.

You might be a

citizen, but you

have nothing to

your name.

No possessions,

no real status,

no prospects.

But then after

learning you've been

granted citizenship,

you're escorted to

a palace.

It's the palace of

the governor.

He welcomes you

in and he

gives you a

ring.

It's his ring.

He's just

adopted you.

He had a son

who died and

he's given you

that son's

status.

So now you

become the

firstborn,

you become his

heir,

you receive his

son's name,

you sleep in his

bed,

you even wear his

clothes.

Not only has your

current status

changed,

but your future

has changed.

You will always

be an heir to a

fortune and you

will always bear

his name.

That's an amazing

gift, right?

But that's not the

grace of God.

Because you know

what justice is.

And you've gotten

to learn how your

father,

your new

governor father,

is both merciful

and he's just.

So how was it

then that you

could just go

free?

Did your just

father not care

about the law?

did he think

himself above

the law?

So you dig

deeper and you

learn the whole

story.

You learn what

happened to the

governor's deceased

son.

While you were in

jail, the father

decided to save you

and it's the son

that made the way.

Without you ever

having met him,

the son volunteered

to receive the

judgment and

execution that

belonged to you.

The heir to a

fortune endured the

lashings, the

nails, the

suffering, and the

utter humiliation

of a slave's

death so that you

could have a seat

at the father's

table.

Now that's the

grace of the

father.

That's amazing.

Incongruous grace.

So what now?

What is your

response?

If you were told

you don't have to

do anything in

response, if you

were told that gift

is non-circular,

what would you

say?

Like you're crazy.

How can I not

spend the rest of

my days in

gratitude and

obedience to this

most amazing

person?

This father wouldn't

want that for you.

The father wants to

be close to you and

you to him.

He wants you to

thank him in

response to him and

to obey him in

response.

And take the love

he's shown you and

to show it to

others in response.

His love for you

does not depend on

your response, but

your connection to

him does.

You see, that

sixth aspect of the

gift, non-reciprocity,

is a very new

definition of the

word gift.

Gifts have always

been understood as

reciprocal.

Because one of the

primary purposes of

a gift is to

strengthen and

solidify the

relationship between

the two parties.

Our gifts back to

God are very

incongruous with the

gifts that he

shows us.

Of course they

are.

How could we ever

repay God?

But it's that

incongruity between

the worth of the

giver and the

recipient, between

the worth of his

gifts and what we

could give back that

serves as fuel for

our obedience.

It fuels our

response.

The late Sim

Keller wrote,

you will love

Christ and commit to

him to the degree

you see the depth

of your own sin

and the application

of the cross to

that sin being

final.

Did you hear the

incongruity there?

And how it's the

fuel for our

obedience?

Let me read it

again.

You will love

Christ and commit

to him to the

degree you see the

depth of your own

sin, right?

And the application

of the cross to

that sin being

final.

So because

incongruous grace

is our fuel, we

keep this

incongruity at the

center of our

worshiping life

together.

We proclaim God,

at the beginning of

the service, we

proclaim God as

Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit.

We read his law and

we ask him to show

us mercy.

We confess that we

sin in thought,

word, and deed.

And remember that

his incongruous grace

grants us forgiveness

and eternal life.

We come to his

table not trusting in

our own righteousness

but in your what?

Abundant mercies.

We remember that

we're not worthy to

gather up the crumbs

from under his

table, but remember

it's in God's

character to always

show mercy.

And because of the

circularity of grace,

he sends us out in

the power of his

Holy Spirit to

live and work for his

praise and glory.

So incongruous grace

has been the fuel for

the church's obedience

since the very

beginning.

It's been the fuel for

caring for the poor,

the refugee,

the widow,

the orphan,

the unborn,

and those in prison.

It's been the fuel for

Christians to dismantle

slavery and racism

and to work for justice.

Incongruous grace

has been the fuel for

men and women as they

consider how to live out

their vocations Monday

through Friday with Jesus

as their king.

More locally,

incongruous grace has been

the fuel for our people as

we serve in the city

working with DC 127,

Little Lights,

Antioch Ministry,

Refugee Ministry.

This summer we're seeing

several of our families

move away,

families that have been

part of the vibrancy of

this church and its

leadership.

They've all played key

roles in serving here

and loving our city

long term.

I'm thinking of

Karina Asal,

the Holbys,

the Sayos,

Daniel Hall and Brittany

Netzel,

the Grutzmachers,

and there's others.

And who is going to

fill their shoes?

Who is going to respond

to God's incongruous

grace by bringing the

love of Jesus to this

parish and to our city?

I'm going to close with

a scene from one of my

favorite films.

It's Ben-Hur,

the real one that was

with Charles and Heston.

I haven't seen the new

one, forgive me.

I'm sure it's fine.

But in Ben-Hur,

Ben-Hur is a Jewish

noble.

He becomes a slave on a

galley in a battle.

He's set free from his

chains.

He sets free his fellow

prisoners and then he

sets free the guy in

charge, Arius.

Arius is tempted to kill

himself.

Ben-Hur rescues him from

that, saves his life,

perserves his life.

They get rescued and then

Arius adopts Ben-Hur.

And Ben-Hur goes from

slave to son.

And he's given a ring.

He's given his father's

ring.

And this is what Ben-Hur

says.

It's a strange destiny that

brought me to a new life,

a new home, a new father.

It brought me here.

It may take me away, but

wherever I may be, I shall

always try to wear this ring as

a son of Arius should, with

gratitude and affection and

honor.

forever.

So may we, as recipients of

God's incongruous grace, always

be aware of the vast distance

God traveled to make us his

heirs.

And may we bear his name with

gratitude, affection, and

honor.

In the name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit, let's

pray.

Lord, we would respond to your

grace with gratitude.

We thank you.

We thank you.

We thank you for rescuing us,

loving us,

adopting us.

We thank you for the benefits of

our justification of being

reconciled with you and hope of

eternal life.

Lord Jesus, that is our prayer,

that we would bear your name with

gratitude, affection, and honor.

Amen.