04/16/2024
Understanding God's Unconditional Love
Sunday, I talked about how Jacob was someone who couldn’t take "Yes" for an answer. The question that came out of that observation, which we didn’t have time to talk about it in the sermon, is this: Why do we insist on earning and deserving what is freely given us?
The best I can figure, is that I want to earn and deserve and create my own opportunities because when I do that, it allows me to beg, borrow, and steal as I try to manipulate the world around me to work toward my greater good. I become the arbiter of what I should and should not be doing, rather than God.
God offers this incredible promise to Jacob. It is unconditional, it lays out some real personal benefits, and it even has a decidedly altruistic purpose—Jacob and his descendants will bless all the other people of the world.
But rather than taking what God is offering, Jacob wants to renegotiate those blessings. Jacob wants a guarantee that if he isn’t happy with what God is giving him, and when God is giving it to him, then he should be able to opt out.
Deep down I think we just don’t believe, truly believe, that anyone could, or would, give us so much grace without us first having to jump through hoops. I heard a wise man say that the only question which will ultimately matter in the end, is whether or not we can get our minds and hearts around the truth that we are loved completely by God through Jesus. And there is real wisdom in that. I think we try to earn and deserve what God wants to freely give us because we don’t believe that the world works that way. We don’t believe that love works that way. We’ve been so conditioned to IF you do this, THEN I’ll do that - that we don’t have a frame of reference to understand unconditional love.
If you want something to chew on this week, then let it be this: Can you get used to the idea that you are loved because you are God’s child? There is no other reason than that. Can you accept the acceptance God offers in Jesus? Can you receive forgiveness that you did nothing to deserve? Are you open to being loved for who you are rather than what you’ve done lately?
If we can’t begin to say "Yes" to these things, then it will be awfully hard to go on to become the women and men God created us to be. It will be close to impossible to become more like Jesus without them.
Archived Posts
Let’s Not Overlook Joseph of Nazareth
I asked my research assistant—a certain ChatGPT—what the most interesting facet of Joseph’s life might be. She shared a couple of things that didn’t make it into Sunday’s sermon but you might still find inspirational...
Key Takeaway from Sunday
If I had to identify a specific take away from
Sunday’s sermon it would probably be this:
The Rest of the Story
I mentioned Russell Conwell in Sunday’s message. He was a famous preacher, educator, and lecturer. His sermon/lecture “Acres of Diamonds” was turned into a book and sold rather well. I used Conwell’s illustrations to talk about sharing the good news of Jesus with those closest to us first—family, friends, coworkers, and church family. The wider world is our ultimate aim, but until you invest in the people God has already put in your life, you are unlikely to have much success.
No One Said It Would be Easy
To love Jesus first is to learn to love all the other people in our lives with greater intensity and less selfishness
What’s Saved Is Often Lost
Here’s the benediction we didn’t have time for yesterday (Sunday, November 3). It’s one of my favorite quotations (portions of a newspaper column). I hope you find it as inspiring as I have
Leftovers Continued…
It’s not just the fact that God is un-impressed by our leftovers, it actually goes deeper than that. In a sense, Jesus is passionately and purposely opposed to anything leftover. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to work diligently to make sure that in the end nothing at all is left over.
Less Stuff and Fewer Wants
Here’s a point I left off Sunday’s sermon due to time and length. In dealing with an Entitled mindset it is very helpful if you can Reduce Materialism and Consumerism.