Jesus + Nothing = Everything
Jesus plus Nothing equals Everything
That's the title of the sermon series we are embarking on at Redeemer as we study through the book of Galatians. (If you're in town on Sunday mornings at 10:30, you should come check it out for yourself. And yes, that was a shameless plug.)
At first glance, I want to cheer at the title: Yeah! Jesus is everything we need! Of course! Woooohoooo!
But then I look at passages like Luke 15:11-32, & I have to come face to face with what I really think about that equation.
Luke tells the parable of the prodigal son. My pastor, being the Tim Keller fanboy that he is, suggested that I read Keller's book The Prodigal God. (Kind of a cruel suggestion of reading material for someone who struggles with the grace concept...but that's another story...) Basically, the book expounds on the story of the prodigal son and makes the suggestion that there are, in fact, two prodigal sons in the story. Everyone knows about the younger son. But what about the older son? Luke recounts the older brother's response to the return of his wayward brother in this way: But he was angry & refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, & I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!':
The older brother was absolutely furious that, even though he kept his father's commands while the younger brother squandered his life away, the father welcomed the younger son back as if nothing had happened.
Now face it, guys. (Especially you who grew up in church.) Haven't you struggled with the fact that those "sinners" receive grace when they did absolutely nothing to earn it? After all, they weren't in church every Sunday & didn't have a consistent quiet time. They didn't feed the poor or lead a small group. They didn't go sing Christmas carols at the nursing home or go on 6 mission trips per year.
So maybe you don't think that way (if so, you're a better person than me, my friend). But the older brother did.
The older brother could not understand that it wasn't his works of righteousness and obedience that earned the father's love; the love was bestowed on both sons because of the character & love of the father toward his heirs.
So back to the equation.
Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
People, this is about grace. This is about understanding that the work Jesus did on the cross was enough. This is about seeing that Christ's love is all we need. This is about realizing that nothing we do can help our sinful situation. I could post so many verses about grace, but I think you get the picture.
As I begin my last semester of undergrad, I'm going to rest in this grace. That's no easy task for me. I like to have my checklist of what I need to do to be "good" so I can get as many boxes checked off as quickly as possible. But those boxes aren't going to get me anywhere. It is God who changes hearts. (Why do you think so many verses in the Bible begin with "But God..."? And let's face it, as amazing as it is to know that God stepped in and intervened for us, it is hard for our prideful little hearts to swallow, knowing that we had absolutely nothing to do with it.)
I'm not "there" yet. (I never did really enjoy equations...) I still don't quite understand the concept of resting in grace. I'm in the phase where I'm understanding what grace & the gospel are but am still unsure what to do about it. And I think that's a great place to be, because I know that I can't do work on my own heart anyway.
So here's to Senior Year 2012.
Here's to not working so dang hard.
Here's to letting God be the one to change my heart.
Here's to learning how to abide in Christ.
Here's to serving out of joy rather than obligation.
Here's to improving my attitude as an "older brother".
Here's to doing good things out of the overflow of Christ's love, not out of the desire to be right & good.
Join me?
That's the title of the sermon series we are embarking on at Redeemer as we study through the book of Galatians. (If you're in town on Sunday mornings at 10:30, you should come check it out for yourself. And yes, that was a shameless plug.)
At first glance, I want to cheer at the title: Yeah! Jesus is everything we need! Of course! Woooohoooo!
But then I look at passages like Luke 15:11-32, & I have to come face to face with what I really think about that equation.
Luke tells the parable of the prodigal son. My pastor, being the Tim Keller fanboy that he is, suggested that I read Keller's book The Prodigal God. (Kind of a cruel suggestion of reading material for someone who struggles with the grace concept...but that's another story...) Basically, the book expounds on the story of the prodigal son and makes the suggestion that there are, in fact, two prodigal sons in the story. Everyone knows about the younger son. But what about the older son? Luke recounts the older brother's response to the return of his wayward brother in this way: But he was angry & refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, & I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!':
The older brother was absolutely furious that, even though he kept his father's commands while the younger brother squandered his life away, the father welcomed the younger son back as if nothing had happened.
Now face it, guys. (Especially you who grew up in church.) Haven't you struggled with the fact that those "sinners" receive grace when they did absolutely nothing to earn it? After all, they weren't in church every Sunday & didn't have a consistent quiet time. They didn't feed the poor or lead a small group. They didn't go sing Christmas carols at the nursing home or go on 6 mission trips per year.
So maybe you don't think that way (if so, you're a better person than me, my friend). But the older brother did.
The older brother could not understand that it wasn't his works of righteousness and obedience that earned the father's love; the love was bestowed on both sons because of the character & love of the father toward his heirs.
So back to the equation.
Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
People, this is about grace. This is about understanding that the work Jesus did on the cross was enough. This is about seeing that Christ's love is all we need. This is about realizing that nothing we do can help our sinful situation. I could post so many verses about grace, but I think you get the picture.
As I begin my last semester of undergrad, I'm going to rest in this grace. That's no easy task for me. I like to have my checklist of what I need to do to be "good" so I can get as many boxes checked off as quickly as possible. But those boxes aren't going to get me anywhere. It is God who changes hearts. (Why do you think so many verses in the Bible begin with "But God..."? And let's face it, as amazing as it is to know that God stepped in and intervened for us, it is hard for our prideful little hearts to swallow, knowing that we had absolutely nothing to do with it.)
I'm not "there" yet. (I never did really enjoy equations...) I still don't quite understand the concept of resting in grace. I'm in the phase where I'm understanding what grace & the gospel are but am still unsure what to do about it. And I think that's a great place to be, because I know that I can't do work on my own heart anyway.
So here's to Senior Year 2012.
Here's to not working so dang hard.
Here's to letting God be the one to change my heart.
Here's to learning how to abide in Christ.
Here's to serving out of joy rather than obligation.
Here's to improving my attitude as an "older brother".
Here's to doing good things out of the overflow of Christ's love, not out of the desire to be right & good.
Join me?
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