" Dispensing Grace"

Sermon by Pastor David Layman

April 2, 2006

Psalm 51:6-12
John 12:20-33

Consider this poem:

"The Cold Within"

Six humans trapped by happenstance
In black and bitter cold
Each possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the storys told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,
The first woman held hers back
For on the faces around the fire
She noticed one was black.

The next man looking cross the way
Saw one not of his church
And couldnt bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third one sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.

The black mans face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.

And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain,
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.

The logs held tight in deaths stilled hands
Was proof of human sin,
They didnt die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.

(Quoted by Victor Pentz, A City Humbled By Ice And Snow, Jan. 30,
2005, Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta.)

Our world is in danger of dying from the cold within! There were times
when multitudes of people were coming to Jesus, and other times when he
did no great works because of the unbelief of those about him. There
were times, such as Palm Sunday, when crowds called out Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Then there was the
time, only 5 days later, when the crowds called out Crucify him! There
was the hopeful time related in John 12, when there were some Greeks
(non-Jews), who heard about Jesus and came to Philip, asking Sir, we
wish to see Jesus. This had to be encouraging, that even though many
Jews including religious leaders were rejecting Jesus and plotting to
put him to death, Gentiles were coming from far away to see Jesus! But
Jesus was focussed not upon becoming a worldly success, but serving his
eternal purpose. He said Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but
if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and
those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal
life... In our reading from John 12, we see that Jesus saw his life not
as something to be hoarded, but given so that others might live. Jesus
spoke of his life as being a grain of seed, which must give up its
existence as a seed, fall into the ground and die. But in his death,
Jesus knew that God would bring forth much fruit. We might respond
Its well and good that Jesus died for us! But lets leave it at that!
While Jesus dispensed pure grace from the cross, and the empty tomb, we
who would receive grace must also be willing to pass it on. Jesus
challenges us to take up our crosses and follow Him! We must be ready to
share, not hoard, the stick of firewood God provides. When we do, and
others respond in kind, a great blaze is created which warms us and the
world about us!

Part of the reason we find it so challenging to dispense grace to others
is that, well, theyre so undeserving! In the Pulitzer prize winning
novel, Gilead, Marilynne Robinson writes of John Ames, an aging
Congregational minister, nearing death. John Ames best friend is an
aging Presbyterian minister named Boughton. While Boughton and his wife
were blessed with 8 children, Ames remained childless until late in
life. Boughton did him the honor of naming one of his sons John Ames
Boughton. But unfortunately, John Ames Boughton became a cause for
grief not only to his parents and name sake, but to the whole community
of Gilead, Iowa. He lied, he stole, he fathered a child out of wedlock,
and so forth. This preachers son and namesake returns as an adult for a
visit, and the book addresses the issue: will he ever change? Will those
to whom he has caused so much grief be able to extend grace to him? Im
not going to tell you how the book ends. But the question Ive left you
with is not just the question of how the book Gilead ends, but how our
world about us will wind up!

Like the circle of people about the fire in our opening poem, many in
our world hesitate to share their stick of firewood with others, to
extend grace to others. Those people are wrong, we tell ourselves.
Perhaps theyve wronged us. Its too risky for us to extend ourselves to
others in grace. What if they dont reciprocate? Our world is filled
with sinful, self-centered people. It is indeed risky to extend
ourselves to others. When Jesus did, he got himself crucified! Jesus was
like a seed that fell into the ground and died. It took a period of time
before a shoot pushed its way out of the grave and brought new life. It
takes faith to yield oneself to God and give grace to others. We must
trust God with the ultimate results. We may not be able to see them in
our lifetime! As David implored in Psalm 51:10, we need to ask God to
Create [within us] a clean heart...and put a new and right spirit
within us.

I do not know the author of these words, but agree with their sentiments:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway....
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway....
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Our world is in danger of dying from the cold within. Let us cast our
sticks into the fire!

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