How do the Ten Commandments begin?
Be careful.
Trick question.
Most folks think of a commandment … no other gods … don’t lie, cheat or steal …
Which reminds me:
A religion teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the commandment to "honor your father and your mother," she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy answered, "You shall not kill?"
How do the Commandments begin?
The Commandments begin with a declaration:
I am the LORD your God who brought you of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage …
The Commandments begin with grace.
The bedrock of the Bible.
The cornerstone of faith.
The heartbeat of Calvinism.
We’re Calvinists … we belong to the Reformed Tradition; the Swiss Reformation in particular: Zwingli, Bucer and Calvin … we’re Presbyterians, because our spiritual forebears in Great Britain used the term, “Presbyterian” to describe our form of government - we’re governed by Presbyters, or Elders … I’m a teaching Elder; Lucy Ann Bristol is a Ruling Elder.
Grace is the heartbeat of Presbyterian life.
It is by grace that we are saved!
I went to a Christian High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan … Dutch Reformed high school, Calvinist to the core, steeped in the language and life of grace.
Kids from other traditions attended, as well, and one day, in Bible class, a discussion between an Anabaptist student and the teacher.
Anabaptist means rebaptism … infant baptism not good enough; baptism allowed for adults who confess their faith in Christ.
Calvin fought the Anabaptists.
Why?
Because believer’s baptism shifts the focus to the believer and compromises the glory of God.
Churches that practice “believer’s baptism” are Anabaptists. If we were to join an Anabaptist congregation, they would rebaptize us, because our infant baptism isn’t good enough.
Anyway, the student advocated “believer’s baptism.”
The teacher said to the student - I’ll never forget it: Salvation is too important to be left in human hands.
Only a Calvinist can say that!
Salvation is from God, from the first inkling of faith, to the full blown faith of worship and love.
God builds the house - all of it, from the foundation to the roof, basement, living room and attic … all of it, built by God!
By grace alone we are saved!
Dear People of God: We are people of grace!
Grace is the heartbeat of our hymns.
Grace is the theme of our preaching.
Grace is the strength of our prayers.
Grace alone.
God alone.
Pure gift - all the time.
A child in her mother’s arms, clings to mama’s dress with tight little fists … in the child’s mind, she hangs on to her mama; but we know the truth - mama holds the child.
Were mama to let go, what would happen?
The child would fall.
The child isn’t strong enough to hang on; it’s mama’s strength that holds the child.
That’s the story morning glory.
The story of grace.
Amazing Grace.
How sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me.
Once I was lost, but now am found.
Was blind, but now I see.
Grace is the hope we have for life in the midst of all the craziness … God doesn’t wait for a perfect world, or perfect people … God is on the move, here and now, in the world just as it is …
Sorrow and violence.
Terrible things.
Jeremiah thrown into the well.
Jesus crucified.
Paul arrested and sent to Rome.
The crusades and the Inquisition.
Wars and rumors of war.
There is evil in the world.
The shocking events in Aurora, Colorado leave us bewildered and frightened.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death …
Shadows of death, deep, dark and cold.
But the darkness isn’t dark enough to blind God … darkness is the same as light to God.
Where there is sin, there is grace all the more.
For every killer, there is a visionary who sees a better world.
For every inhuman moment, there is a Mother Teresa wrapping the wounds of a dying child.
For all the powers of hatred, there is a Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Dag Hammarskjold, Albert Schweitzer.
A TV movie about nuclear war - my son was but 7 or 8, and it frightened him … that night in bed, we talked about it … he was upset and worried … and then I said to him, “Josh, don’t worry. For everyone who wants to make war, there are many more who work for peace.”
God sees to it there are people who love.
Who forgive.
Who work for peace.
Who make the room brighter when they enter it.
Who make life easier for all the rest of us.
People of Grace.
Gracious People.
Who chose the best, lift up hope, speak kindly, affirm and welcome, open doors, and love with the love of Christ.
We find grace on every page of the Bible.
Our passage this morning is filled with grace:
David, you got here only because I cleared the way for you.
David, I took you from the pasture to be the leader of my people.
David, I’ve been with you wherever you’ve gone.
Then come the promises … promises to David … promises for David’s family … David’s future … the people … the long haul … the whole world … you and me, here and now!
It’s God who builds the house!
THEN David prays!
After the promises - comes the prayer.
Before we do anything, comes the grace.
The sequence is important.
How many times have I heard people say, “If only I could pray better. If only I had more faith. If only I knew what to say.”
But thank God we don’t have to think like that.
It’s not the words we use, or even the faith we have.
It’s always God, and God’s promises … God’s grace.
Prayer is a response to grace.
A response to the promises of God.
Listen to how David prays:
Who am I LORD to have such grace in my life?
You have me brought me this far, and that would have been enough, but it wasn’t enough for you … you have established a future for my family and the generations to come.
What more can I say, O LORD?
You are honorable and faithful … you are great.
And with your greatness, O God, we’ll be great, too.
LORD God, you are truly God. Your words are trustworthy!
John writes centuries later:
This is love: it is not that we loved God
But that God loved us and sent his son
As the sacrifice that deals with our sins.
That we might love - not first, because we can’t.
But at last, because God has loved us first.
When a friend started ministry, an associate pastor … every time he did something - preached, taught a class, took some kids on a mission trip - he would receive a hand-written note of thanks from a retired doctor, Fritz Schwartz.
My friend soon had a stack of notes.
Took them to a staff meeting one day, and they all nodded knowingly.
The staff had been getting these notes for years.
They all had stacks of them.
The pastor said, “You know why he does this?”
My friend said, “Because he knows the value of encouragement and gratitude.”
Then my friend heard the full story.
For more than 50 years, Fritz’s wife had written the notes.
When she died, he decided to continue her legacy.
To honor her and stay in touch with her love.
He took up doing what she had done all those years.
She loved first that Fritz might love at last.
God loves first that we might love at last!
To God be the glory.
Amen and Amen!
