Empowered by Grace in Christ

I was 17 years old when I felt a call to become a minister, and it took me some time to process

that before I actually responded to it or told anybody about it.

But of all the many, many, many reasons why I could find within myself why it was not

a particularly good idea, there was one unifying theme, and it was this.

I haven't got it.

What I mean by that was that every single reason that I could find was basically something

that I felt that I didn't have.

Not good enough.

Not confident enough.

Not spiritual enough.

Not holy enough.

My knowledge of the Bible and Christianity isn't enough.

I just haven't got it.

And it took me quite a long time to kind of process that and come to the point of realisation

that not only have I not got it, nobody has.

Nobody's got it.

But God's got you.

Firmly in his grip.

And that's what it's all about.

And I actually kind of wonder whether fairly early on in my life as a Christian and a sense

of being called into ministry, I don't know this, but I've often wondered whether just maybe,

just maybe the possibility exists that God wanted me to go through that struggle

in order to be able to perhaps present the Christian gospel as it's meant to be presented,

namely that it's not about what we have got.

Rather, it is about knowing that God has got us firmly in his grip.

And it's because we can know that we are in him that actually then strangely we can say,

yes, we have got it.

Christ is in you, the hope of glory, as Paul puts it.

The Holy Spirit is in you.

But the reason for that is not because of some innate thing that you possess or that any of us can possess.

Rather, it is because being a Christian is about being in Christ.

Now, I think this is so important.

This is why we've been following this series right through these last couple of months.

It's a recurring phrase that comes up time and time again in the New Testament, that we are in Christ.

Being a Christian is not just about something that you believe.

It's not just about subscribing to a set of doctrines, although it is that.

It's not about just living a morally good life, although it is that.

It's not about just worshipping God, although it is that.

It's not just about praying, although it is that.

It's about so many different things that we do, but most fundamentally, it's who you are.

It's about identity.

It's about that sense of relationship of actually being in Christ.

And that's so important to unpack, because I think probably, probably most of us, if not all of us, have this idea of what an ideal Christian should be.

And it's some kind of ideal that's up there, and what being a real Christian is about.

And then we look at our own lives, and it's kind of down there.

And there's this gap, this disconnect between the ideal of what we think we should be and the reality of what we are.

Now, there's a sense in which, in Christian hope, there is an ideal which God sees, because he knows everything that we can become and will become.

And ultimately, that will be an eternity, but we don't have to wait until then.

It's a lifelong process that begins right now, and he can make us into that person that he wants you to be.

But all the while, you know, the reality is we're not there.

We haven't hit perfection.

And we may be a really long way, and there's that gap in between.

And it may well be that we carry around with us that continual sense of, well, yeah, I know that I should be that, but I'm not.

And it might be because it's something that we've done in our past that we just find so hard to let go of.

Or it might be a present reality now, something that we know that we struggle with.

And if we're not careful, we can get this distorted idea that because we haven't hit that ideal yet, then somehow we're not in Christ.

And that's blatantly false.

Because as we come to the end of our series today, and the theme today is that we are empowered by the grace, by grace in Christ,

we're going to be thinking a bit about what that specifically means.

Let's share with you an image.

You might have heard this before, but if you imagine this piece of paper's you.

And this Bible I'm holding in my hand represents Christ.

When you follow Jesus, you are in Christ.

That piece of paper is now in the book.

It's not the book itself, although there's a sense in which it now forms part of it.

Where that book goes, that piece of paper's going.

It's not a case of you take Jesus wherever you go, but rather wherever you go, Jesus is surrounding you, but in a sense is in you.

But that's not because of something specific about you, but it's something amazing about Jesus.

In other words, you know, where that piece of paper is now going, Jesus is there.

Because that piece of paper is encased.

It's wrapped around.

To be in Christ

Christ

is to know that you are in him.

And there's nothing, therefore,

that can separate you from him.

There is no situation in which you can go

where he's not

simply with you, but actually

around you, because you are in

him.

Inseparable.

And yet we find this so hard

to accept and to come to terms with,

and so easily we become distracted and focused

on stuff about ourselves,

and all kinds of reasons why we can't really

say that with confidence.

Let me tell you a story.

There's a story years ago about somebody who was

actually making a journey

in the days of horses and carts.

And this guy was on his

cart, being towed along with his horse,

on his long journey.

And as he was making his way

along the track,

he saw a man walking along

who was carrying this massive

great big backpack,

and he looked very tired.

So he drew up on his horse and cart

alongside him, and he said,

do you want to climb on board?

The man looked absolutely stunned

that he'd been offered

to ride.

I said,

I can't pay you.

He said, no, that's fine.

Just jump on.

So this man in this huge

great big backpack climbed up

onto the cart,

and he sat down

next to the driver.

And off they went.

And they said nothing.

There was no conversation

or anything.

And yet, all the while,

this passenger

kept this backpack

on his back.

And he looked very,

very, very uncomfortable.

And after some time,

the driver of the horse and cart

said to him,

look, you know,

that backpack,

he said,

you don't have to keep

that strapped to you.

Why don't you just take it off

and put it in the back

with my stuff?

He said,

I couldn't possibly do that.

He said,

what do you mean?

Well,

he said,

it's kind and generous

enough of you

to just give me

a free ride as it is.

I couldn't possibly expect

you to also carry this.

When you're in Christ,

you are completely in Christ,

including all the baggage

that you may carry.

Even those things about you

that you don't really like

about you

and that you sense

should not be you,

they form part of you.

And when you're in Christ,

you are in Christ.

That may sound like

a bit of sloppy sentimentalism.

So let's turn to Scripture

to be sure that actually

that is not just sentimentalism.

It's about grace.

You see,

the thing is,

although Christ meets us

where we are at,

he doesn't necessarily expect us

to stay where we are.

But he meets us where we are

along with all our baggage

and carries that,

knowing that when we are in him,

those things are dealt with.

It may take a very,

very long time.

Indeed,

this is a lifelong process.

But nevertheless,

don't think for one moment

that because you're carrying baggage,

you cannot be carried.

Let's go to these verses

that we,

these few verses

from the opening chapter

of Paul's first letter

to Corinthians.

Paul was,

he planted the church

in Corinth.

We read about that

in Acts chapter 18.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

And he was there

for about 18 months.

So this was not just

a whistle-stop tour relationship

that he had

with these people.

He'd visited this place

and it wasn't without

its problems either,

but he stayed there

for 18 months.

And this church was planted.

Some time later,

Paul writes to the church

in Corinth,

knowing that there are

an awful lot of problems

to have emerged.

Now,

I want you to imagine

that you were Paul

and you had planted this church

and the news had reached you

that there were so many problems

going on in this church

that you had to write

and you had to address

the problems.

Here's just some

of the problems.

The church

was divided.

There was quarrelling

as well as division.

There was an awful lot

of arrogance

going on

within that church.

There was idolatry.

People were beginning

to get mixed ideas

about what they were worshipping,

who they were worshipping.

There was tolerance

of sexual immorality.

There was doubting

the resurrection of Jesus

upon which,

the very truth claim

upon which that church

was set up.

And there was general chaos

and carnage

in every direction

in the relationships

between people

in that church.

Where would you begin

if you were going to write

in order to engage

with those issues?

Well, here's how Paul begins.

I always thank God

for you

because of his grace

given to you

in Christ Jesus.

Not only does Paul

begin by saying

something warm and positive,

he actually says

that he thanks God

for these people.

In fact,

he doesn't just say

he thanks God for them,

but he always

thanks God for them.

And then he goes

even further,

he says,

you do not lack

any spiritual gift.

Now, coming from Paul,

that's quite a huge,

positive thing to say.

Now, as Corinthians goes on,

he doesn't pull any punches

when it comes to addressing

these massive issues.

But that's not

his starting point.

When he looks

at these people,

he doesn't see the issues.

He doesn't look

at the baggage.

He sees these people

as God sees them.

Yes, there's baggage.

Yes, there's mess.

But he starts

with that blessing.

And that's what grace is.

To know that we are

in Christ,

that we are empowered

by grace,

is to know

that yes,

there's the mess.

Yes, there's the rubbish

to be dealt with.

But it doesn't stop

God from loving you

right now.

There was a brother

and sister,

Johnny and Sally,

who years ago

were invited to stay

at their grandparents' farm.

Upon arrival,

Johnny was given

a slingshot

to play with.

He went out

into the woods

and as he was

playing with this thing,

he couldn't get it

to work properly

and he was really frustrated

and he was in a bit

of an angry mood.

He was making his way

back to the farmhouse

where him and his sister

were going to have

lunch with their grandparents.

And out of frustration,

he was messing

with his slingshot

and his grandma's pet duck

was making its way

along the farmyard

and he struck this thing

and it died.

He went into

a complete panic.

He picked up this duck,

didn't know what to do with it,

so he hid it

behind a pile of wood.

Just as he went

to run into the house,

not quite knowing

what he was going to do,

he just saw his sister there

and noticed she had seen

everything.

Just as they walked through,

she said,

I saw that.

He didn't know what to do,

he didn't say anything

during the meal.

But afterwards,

as grandma was clearing

the dishes,

she said,

I think it's Sally's turn

to help with the washing up,

isn't it?

And she piped up

and said,

actually,

Johnny was just saying

that he'd like to spend

some quality time

with your grandma

and he'd like to do

the washing up,

even though it's my turn.

Isn't that right,

Johnny?

Next day,

they got up

and grandpa came

down the stairs

and said,

okay,

kids,

who wants to go fishing

and taking the boat

out today?

They both got really excited

and then Sally said,

oh,

Johnny said that

he's not really

into fishing much

these days

and he'd actually

much rather stay at home

and spend some more

quality time

with grandma

and help out

with perhaps

some of the jobs

around the house.

Isn't that right,

Johnny?

Sally went fishing

and Johnny stayed at home.

She kept this up

for several days

and the week

that they were staying there

was drawing to an end

and young Johnny knew

that he could not

cope with this any longer

so eventually

he went down,

found his grandma,

burst into tears

and confessed the lot.

Before he even

got to the end

she put her hands

on his shoulders

and she said,

look,

I know what happened.

I was standing

at the window

at the time

and I knew straight away

that I'd forgiven you.

I was just fascinated

to know how long

your sister was going

to make a slave of you.

Isn't there something

similar that goes on

in our own relationship

with the mess

and the baggage

that, you know,

we hear this message

all the time,

you know,

that God loves you,

that God forgives you,

that he accepts you,

that it's all about grace.

But that's the message

we need to actually

not just be part

of our faith

but know that

that is the very thing

that underpins our faith.

It's about grace.

To be in Christ

means that every single

one of us

has the mess

from our past

and our present,

stuff that we still

struggle with,

stuff that we wish

wasn't there

but we know is,

stuff that we know

makes us not that

perfect person

that is up there

but the reality

of the person down here.

But when you are in Christ,

you are in Christ

and you are held

in Christ

including

the struggle,

including the mess,

including the baggage.

That is what it is

to be empowered

by grace

in Christ.

During the 1930s,

the Golden Gate Bridge

in San Francisco

was being constructed.

It took several years

to construct.

Progress was held back

because there were

numerous deaths

of workmen

working on the bridge

who fell.

It held back progress

and the investors

had to make a decision

what to do

and there was a very,

very long discussion

as to whether or not

they could justify

installing a safety net

because it was going

to be so expensive.

Eventually,

they took the decision

that they would do that

and they did.

There were

one or two falls

but actually

after that safety net

was installed,

progress on the bridge

continued

more or less

unhindered.

Why?

Because although

they were still

working in the same

conditions,

that sense

of confidence

overtook

the fear

and those workmen

could get on

and do their job

and live their lives.

Any analogy

breaks down

eventually

and I'm not suggesting

that Christ

is just a safety net

but he represents

freedom from fear

and to be

in Christ

is precisely that.

to be not

driven

or rather held

back by fear

and knowledge

of ourselves

that we know

all too well

and those struggles

and the mess

and all the stuff

that we would rather

wasn't there.

To be in Christ

means that

everything,

everything

about us

is in

his hands.

we are in

him

and because

we are in him

we may know

that he is

in us

and there is

nowhere

where you can

go,

no situation

that you can

face

where you are

not held

securely

in

him.

So let's

pray together.

Amen.

Lord,

over these

last few

weeks

we have

been

thinking

about

what it

means

to be

in

Christ.

Lord,

we know

that we

struggle

and we

know

that there

are so

many

things

that hold

us back

from being

the people

that you

long for

us to

be.

But Lord,

we thank

you that

the message

of Christ

is not

that it's

just alright

to have

these struggles

but that

you accept

us with

those struggles

and that

we can

know that

even though

we are

far from

perfect

that you

love us

and accept

us

unconditionally

that you

meet us

where we

are so

that we

can come

with everything

that we

carry

and know

that all

of that

mess

that comes

with us

is picked

up

and held

by you.

So Lord,

we ask

this day

and in

the time

to come

that whatever

those things

may be

that we

struggle

with

that we

may not

be afraid

to bring

those struggles

to you

to know

that you

are far

bigger

and stronger

and greater

and wider

and deeper

than any

of those

things

that we

may be

empowered

not by

fear

but by

your grace.

Lord,

help us

to know

that,

help us

to believe

that,

help us

to live

by that

this day

and every

day.

In Jesus'

name we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.