Lent 1 (A) If We are Saved by Grace…What is the Sin?
Lent 1 (A) If We are Saved by Grace…What is the Sin?
If we are saved by grace…then what is the sin? This was one of the questions that came out of our clergy Tuesday morning bible study. Darrold Bigger’s logic in asking the question was that what we are saved by should correspond (or have some relationship to) what got us into trouble in the first place. What is our sin if grace is the only thing that can save us?
Grace is defined as: God’s free, unearned gift of love. If grace is what saves us, then not accepting God’s gift of love is our sin.
When the biblical story of human creation begins, the Genesis Story, we are told that Adam and Eve were blessed with every need for their life and pleasure. They were put in charge as managers of all creation including plants and animals. Their innocence made their nakedness perfectly natural and beautiful. Then, as though their paradise was too good to be true, the serpent enters the story to suggest to them that they could be MORE than mere managers and keepers; they could be like the owner.
It is easy to understand why the temptation was so appealing. Here they were with the responsibility of keeping the garden. They, no doubt would want to do the best job possible. So, here within their grasp is the “forbidden fruit” that will enhance their understanding and will most certainly make them more qualified for their task. (Some who have made an idle of education would no doubt say… “Go for it! Knowledge is power!).
But as they followed the serpents claim that by having this knowledge they would be like God, they also took a step away from the promise of God’s grace. He had said to them, “You may eat freely of every tree in the garden.” (It would be like God handing us three major credit cards and saying…. enjoy yourself. Just stay away from the Good & Evil candy store on Main Street.)
The sin of going into the “good and Evil” candy store would be the inexcusable lack of appreciation for God’s free gifts of life and a blatant lack of respect for His order.
Other words come to mind in describing the sin of man’s fall from God’s grace. Word’s like; disbelief, defiance, usurpers, a restless itch to be independent of God. in the last analysis it is when we try to reach beyond the boundaries of our God given identity as human beings that we get ourselves into trouble. The secret of the good life rest on our willingness to live within our given identities and to keep a sense of humor about it.
When I’m in need of a laugh, I go back and read the very first sermon I preached at St. Mark’s in Evanston, Illinois. It was titled, “You Can Change the World!” It’s always good for a chuckle. It’s when we think we can walk on water that we should hope that the water is warm.
Perhaps another way of understanding our temptation to doubt God’s grace is to analyze the goals we set for ourselves.
Jesus teachers us to have a “carefree” attitude about material things…lend but don’t expect to get it back, if someone asks you for your coat, give him your shirt as well. Building bigger barns may be the least of your needs if you are looking for the truly meaningful values in life. Jesus says at one point, when it comes to charity, don’t let the right hand know what the left hand is doing. How much more care free can you get?
This past week I was talking to a young man who had come through a serious depression. He said, “It’s no wonder I got depressed! I was chasing unreasonable, unrealistic goals!”
Our Tuesday bible study ended with the question: Is there any good news in the story of the fall? Yes, in Genesis 3:21. Even after Adam and Eve had distanced themselves from God, verse 21 tells us, “And the Lord God made from Adam and for his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them.” Even after Adam and Eve had defined the God that made them…. He covered them.
We know that when we distance ourselves from God’s grace, we put ourselves and others around us at risk. In looking back, we say;
He bit off more than he could chew.
His success has gone to his head.
Pride goes before a fall.
If we are saved by grace, we are lost by forgetting our human limitation and distancing ourselves from God. God says, “My grace will be sufficient.”
The good news in the garden of Eden was God’s providing a covering for Adam and Eve.
The good news of Calvary is that God provides a sacrificial gift to cover the sins of the whole world, and to give us a way back to who we are as human beings in relation with a God of grace.
May we all discover with Paul that His grace is sufficient for you and for me. By God’s grace indeed!
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