Is Your Life A Witness To The Justified Grace Of Having Been Forgiven?
Good Morning Friends,
If you are going to give a eulogy or if you are going to be a witness to a life in Jesus, you must know the basics of our faith and today’s lectionary selection gives a great start in understanding the key elements of what to share. People are confused about what is important so here are a few suggestions. First you can point to some prophecies Jesus fulfilled connecting the Christian and Jewish faith. Then you may want to get a little more personal explaining how God’s love has changed you. Is Your Life A Witness To The Justified Grace Of Having Been Forgiven?
Scripture: “My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’
Acts 13:26-33 (NRSV)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:1-6 (NRSV)
Message: Many believers are trying to evangelize the world and make disciples. That is wonderful, but too many are unprepared to share the Good News with those who have interest, much less for those who do not. Like a medieval trebuchet our efforts are put under pressure but may not be on target with what is needed. We pathetically throw our message into the air and hope it lands on a desired target. So, if you had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a captive audience who had invited you to do so, perhaps even a eulogy, what would you share? Would you have the right target in mind? Would you make sure to take aim? So here are a few items to target. First, begin with the reality that it is God’s love of us that prompted a work in history to help us realize we are loved. Then share how this is connected to the fulfilled Biblical prophecies centered around Jesus and how Hebrew scripture, such as Isaiah 53, predict his life. Next share how consistent this is with Judaism even though many Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. It is important to note, though ironic, that Jesus’ enemies fulfilled the very prophecies that scripture predicted. Finally, it is important, in fact crucial to note, that Jesus’ death and resurrection was verified by more than 500 eyewitnesses, many of whom were willing to give their life rather than deny that it had happened. The main idea though is to show why believing in Jesus is necessary to be right with God. And that brings us to a consideration of the connection of love and justification. Now, justification is a legal term, but also a spiritual one, signifying acquittal and the declaring of a person to be righteous. We tend to distrust this process as legalistic for the scales of justice here are not measured blindly but with discernment as to privileged class. Our hesitation was not shared by the biblical writers. In their day, it was accepted that a wealthy and important citizen would not be treated in a law court in the same way as a servant. Indeed, this was sometimes written into the statutes and, for example, in the ancient Code of Hammurabi it is laid down that if a citizen knocked out the tooth of another citizen his own tooth should be knocked out. But if the victim was a poor peasant it sufficed to pay a small fine. Nobody expected strict justice in human tribunals but the biblical writers were sure that God is a God of justice. Throughout the Bible justice is a category of fundamental importance. Accordingly, it is not surprising that salvation is often viewed in legal terms. The basic question in all religion is, “How can sinful people be just before the holy God?” And God’s answer is basically, “My World. My Rules.” And God allows for a process whereby a person is declared to be right before God though belief in Jesus. Sure, we should be upright and good, but justification does not point to qualities like these. That is rather the content of sanctification. Justification points to the acquittal of one who is tried before God. Throughout Biblical history a good deal of attention is brought to this subject with the conclusion that we cannot bring about our justification by our own efforts. Therefore, we need Jesus. The Son of God to vouch for us. Today’s scripture is a clear summary of this. There is a lot more scripture to back it up, but know this: we are justified by grace through faith in Christ. It is that simple.
Pray we believe in a resurrected and ascended Christ who was sent in love and rules in mercy. Pray we believe King Jesus has gone to prepare not only a place for us but also a defense. Pray Jesus prepare us for life in this world as well as the next. Pray we believe we have been forgiven by the grace of God through our faith in Christ, the Son of God. Pray we are freed in the love of the Holy Spirit to serve in ways that glorify God. Pray we have been justified so that we might share the good news with the conviction that the judge of all judges will acquit those who are in the family of God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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