Grace

Grace

When we hear that word a million things can come to mind.

Grace.

Amazing

Saving

Empowering

Loving

Those are just a few.

Grace can mean something so spectacular to some… and for others, no emotion is shown.

Luke Wright, a youth pastor from Phoenix once talked about grace being like porches to him.

He’s had so many memories of porches in his life.

Memories that bring the idea of being gracious or receiving grace.

On his porch he has memories of selling lemonade on hot summer days, he has memories of his first kiss, he also had memories of where he had to receive grace… injuring his friends, his brother, lies he’s told… porches to him are where everything went down.

Memories.

Memories of good things, memories of things we regret.

Memories that we love to relive, memories that we want erased… gone forever.

And so grace to you may mean so many different things... to me grace is sometimes pictured as a car.

I have so many memories of good things and bad things that have been in or around cars.

Like having to ask for rides all the time from others because I couldn't drive, and then later on being able to provide rides to places for my friends.

Trips I have taken.

Conversations that have taken place.

Things I've learned. Seen. Spoken. Felt.

I had my first kiss in a driveway, next to my car.
I was broken up with the girl I thought I would marry... sitting in her car.

When I hear the word grace… I think about memories such as those. I had to learn how to receive grace. I had to learn how to give grace.

Maybe you don’t have a place or a thing that you associate grace to… but we can all associate grace to God, our pasts, our presents, our relationships...

Our sin.

How could a God so just and holy give grace to me… to you… to them… to us?

The Bible is filled with questions, filled with stories, filled with examples for us to relate to and understand. The Bible is also filled with plenty of answers for life’s most difficult questions… but sometimes it leaves things blank.

Sometimes it leaves us hanging... forcing us to think and pray through it.

Our minds cannot embrace or fathom the amount of love… the power behind what Jesus did for us… and why He did it.

Like, have you really ever just thought about the cross. Jesus hanging on it. Gasping for air. Blood running out of his body. Tears. Bruises. Oh how thirsty he was...

I cannot fathom that image. I just can't. I try, but... God died for me... that is too much to comprehend.


And then... God, so just and holy, lives through us and blankets us in His grace completely because of Christ.

The Bible gives the answer of love… that is it. And in this case that’s all that is needed.

There was a girl named Jessy.

She was only 15 when her boyfriend pressured her into a sexual relationship.

Her older sister had gotten pregnant at 16 and the mistrust of her parents came down upon her so heavily… that out of rebellion she did what she wanted.

Her boyfriend had cared for her, when her parents threatened her.

Her boyfriend had loved her, when her parents attempted to control her.

Her boyfriend was her symbol of freedom, when her parents pressured their own legalistic, ritual religion down on her.

And no one knew. No one could know… that she even had a boyfriend at all.

People live in Jessy’s shoes all the time. It takes something beyond words to reach out and change a heart that has been hurt and broken all in the name of ‘god’ and ‘religion’. It takes a cross.

Jessy needed grace. Grace for her sins. Grace for her mistakes. But the fractured relationship she had with her parents mentally blocked her from thinking she was worthy. Instead, the brokenness she felt was pushed deeper and deeper inside.

There was a boy named Brandon.

A bully and one that didn’t understand the whole ‘God thing’.

He attended a summer Christian camp in which he continued his attitude, talking during the messages, pulling pranks meant to hurt people, walked in the middle of a volleyball game and punted it across the camp and then walked off.

Swearing, always dissatisfied, and with no friends. Brandon desired to make everyone else’s time miserable.

The camp counselor that was assigned for Brandon’s group was unable to sleep on the second to last night and felt that he needed to go over and check on him.

And as the Holy Spirit prodded him, he got up to find Brandon reading his Bible with a mini flashlight.

They decided to go outside and talk.

Brandon had questions like, ‘Who is Jesus?’ ‘Why does God care?’ ‘What is this whole Christian thing really about?’

Two years later, this counselor named Luke, was invited to speak at a church in another state.

After the service a woman came out to talk to him and asked him if he remembered a kid named Brandon that was at the camp two years earlier.

After a little thinking Luke said yes.

The woman said, “I don’t know what you said to him, or who you are. But he came home and said that he talked with a pastor named Luke… Brandon has never been the same since.”

A middle school bully with tons of questions and attitude problems, turned into a role model student, a leader in the youth group, and a true follower of Christ.

One conversation where someone finally paid some kind of attention to him... Brandon finally experienced grace.

There was a girl named Ashley.

She lived in Topeka, Kansas.

Her mom was a prostitute.

Her dad was a drug dealer.

And that is what she was known by.

She would attend parties and be raped by guys much, much older than her.

She would walk around and get threats and names called at her because of whose daughter she was.

Her only place of refuge was her house, her room, her bed.

But… this is her story… this is her life…

Her parents would kick her out of the house every month for a day or two, in which all of their friends and clients would come over… and for days… party. Party, Drink, Smoke, hook up.

She could stand on her porch and beg for them to open the door and let her come in… but they wouldn’t ever let her.
She was unworthy to be in her own house. She was just a hassle.

She was abandoned by her parents.

Ashley would sit outside, walk up and down the street. Look for food. Look for a place to sleep.

Her refuge was being used as a party house.

Her room was filled with the stench of smoke and alcohol.

Her bed was being used by her parents friends.

...She was 12.

This is a memory. This is a part of her life… forever.

Everyone looked at her because of who her identity was as "that girl"… never giving her a chance because of who her parents were.

Ashley came to realize though, that yes, she was a daughter of a prostitute and drug dealer… but she was also the daughter of a King, of a loving, caring, compassionate father. A father who never once let her down, who never locked her outside, gave her a refuge, and is using her life to bring Him glory.

Aren’t we all a child of that father? How great that feeling is, and how terrible it is to know that there are people in Ashley's shoes... who need to know, need to realize...

There was another man, who was a murderer.

He specifically targeted people who had a disagreeing religion.

He would travel all over the countryside, searching out, seeking people that practiced a different faith than him. He would plan on how to kill them, some in broad daylight, other times at night when no one could see.

Sometimes he would drag them off to prison, other times they would be thrown in a giant pit and stoned to death.

Maybe you heard of this guy… his name was Paul.

He targeted Christians.

But something happened in this guy’s life.

Just like Ashley, who found a new refuge in a local church, from a youth leader there.

God took a hold of this man’s heart.

Ambushed by Grace.

Years later, he looks back at his memories. His porches, His cars…His sins…

‘I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ -1 Timothy 1:12-17 NIV

‘For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.’ -1 Timothy 2:5-6 NIV

None of us are perfect people and sometimes it seems like the harder we try on our own, the bigger the mess we make. Paul experienced this firsthand in the early part of his life. His story reminds us that no matter how far off base we’ve gotten with God, His love is sufficient. No matter how big of a sinner you think you are, no matter how many wrongs have been done to you…God’s grace can reach the worst.

God’s grace has power to heal.

God’s grace has power to forgive.

The prodigal son.

We know the story.

When the son came to his senses and began his journey home… the father saw him a long way off and ran to him.

For our purposes today, that is all that needs said.

God is waiting on the porch.

He’s waiting in the car.

He’s there, wherever there is for you.

He’s looking at the horizon, waiting for us all to come home.

Waiting to extend His grace.

Waiting for the Jessys in the world.

Waiting for the Brandons.

Waiting for the Ashleys.

Waiting for the Pauls.

We all have stories, memories, pieces of our life... all of us can relate to these stories in one way or another. They are the story of humanity, and God’s gracious call to us, to return to Him… because He never left us hanging, he never left us without a way to come home.

Child, you've been eating with the pigs long enough. Come home.

-----

Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Nathan's Website