Rev. Dustin ParkerObstacles to a life in Grace
Obstacles to a life in Grace
In Jesus Name!
this message was one of 15 on a retreat I just completed with 20 first timers and nearly 60 other men. It was fun and was preceded by 5 verses of the hymn amazing grace, but sung to the melodies of the popular pieces noted.
“Through many dangers toils and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home”
Talking about grace – Ain’t it Amazing?
But sometimes its hard to sing about
Sometimes there are obstacles to grace…
How do we overcome these obstacles….
It was nearly 48 hours ago, that you got in a car, came over to the retreat center, and began a pilgrimage. You have heard fellow layman and pastors talk about grace, the incredible gift of God that leaves you in peace, even if it drains you beyond belief.
One of the challenges of this weekend is found in realizing how challenging it is, to be the recipient of grace. You saw that in letting us pastors wash your feet. You felt it again, as you went through “dieing moments”, as some of you sobbed up there, and struggled to let God release that burden.
Been there… it’s even harder to act as the celebrant, consecrating the second loaf. I remember robbing for it, on the first weekend I worked, and being unable to put my stole on, the realization of God’s grace to me… and my unworthiness, His cleansing, and those burdens we leave there.. and then to have to say those incredible words – this is His Body…. This is His Blood… take and eat…
As a pastor on my pilgrim weekend, knowing all I know, having done the things we do here before, the weekend still left me in awe of God’s grace.
And I see that in some of you now. You think your emotionally spent, yet you feel alive. You are grasping evermore and evermore this incredible gift. It’s sort of like the song for this rollo. You guys knew the words, heck even pagan packer fans know the words to amazing grace, yet you struggled singing it.
The words familiar… yet the song somehow different….and impacting
On Monday, you are going to go out refreshed. You will leave here assured that the power of sin has been crushed, that you are now among the spiritual elite of the world.
You won’t be, and we will assure you of this in rollos to come, but you might feel that way anyway.
Victors over sin, true mighty men of faith, the spiritual special forces…..
The Obstacle = Sin
(crush Coke Can….)
It may take as long as Monday about 2:45 before you hit your first experience with either Satan, or a lost and fallen world, or maybe…just maybe… your own personal battle with sin.
Now, since I am a genteel and peace-loving pastor, I cannot I need to borrow a friend to demonstrate to you what this obstacle might attempt to do to you.
This (bob) is sin…
This (coke can) is you….
This is Monday afternoon… (hand coke can to bob and let him crush it…)
But Wait – I thought we killed you off!
Satan Prowling about, looking for whom he can devour….
Now some of you are saying – pastor – you don’t get it - I know my catechism, I know the doctrine of the Lutheran Church, I pray with my wife at least once a month. I try not to swear… and tis weekend changed me. My sin is gone, I’ve been set free – I even learned Amazing Grace can be sung to some really old tunes…
And Satan? He’s a woos, compared to me – he’s like Bret Favre and the Vikings or the Clippers. He’s lost and I know it….
St. Peter tells us though, that Satan walks around like a starving lion, looking for someone to devour, to crush like a coke can.
And the world, and your sin, will provide him all the bait he needs to trap you…..
There is a very subtle reason that I chose the melodies to which we applied Amazing Grace. Each of the melodies belongs to a song that symbolizes an obstacle to grace, a trap that would cause us to stumble….
Rock – boy is that seduction powerful
If you remember the rock group Led Zeppelin, the very notes that Danny played came back to you…and you probably began to hear the words, and flash back to a time when Steve had hair, when I was skinny and when Eddie was… cheering for USC in a bowl game.
But the sin seen in that song, never mind all the things done while that song was playing, was the idea that we can buy our way, or behave our way, or search our way into heaven.
It is an incredibly seductive idea, and it reigned in us before we were marked as Christ and surely, it will come back. In 1 John, this is seen so clearly when John writes about those who claim that they are spiritually mature, so spiritually mature that they just don’t sin anymore. They think they’ve arrived, that all there is to do to get to heaven , they’ve done. Just like the Pharisees, the temptation is going to be to play the game, to act tough, to pretend that you are spiritually perfect.
God gave us something to help in this case…. Yes.. he gave us our wives.
They’ll help remind us of our imperfections, and if that doesn’t work – he’ll give you another kid or two. Old guys, don’t think you are immune to this, Pastor Bill, remember Abraham… his wife was 90!
Blues….. Do you wanna go back to the house of Rising Sun??
For a guitar player, if you didn’t know Stairway to Heaven, you knew the second melody – House of the Rising Sun – not the Son as in the one who hung on the cross, but probably the most popular song ever written about a whorehouse.
If trying to believe we are good enough to get into heaven is a powerful obstacle to realizing the grace of God that floods our lives in Christ Jesus, then sexxxxuality is as well. It is tossed at us everywhere, in car ads, in football games, in that girl walking down the street – and it is very powerful because none of us want to admit that we are so easily, caught by it. If you ever saw the movie UP, most guys act like Doug the Dog, when he sees a squirrel. I mean – if you all only knew about those girl in the bikini out there on the grass sunning themselves… okay – attention up front…. it was just Rosanne Barr and Rosie O’Donnell.
Remember, sin isn’t just what we have done.. it’s our thoughts, and our words, and what’s on our computers, and in the texts messages we receive.
Seriously, that stuff can be an obstacle to realizing the grace of God. Be aware – the world will make you stumble, and you will even think you are enjoying the fall!
Country – life just ain’t different
Next song, well the music to Hotel California didn’t quite fit, but the Eagles Peaceful Easy Feeling is the next obstacle for us, and while the others are quite powerful, peaceful easy feelins just sorta slip in the back door and numb us to the power of God’s grace.
We’ll begin to believe life isn’t all that different, that since we are saved, hey, you know missing church this week – it isn’t all that bad…it’s for the kids, or the grandkids, or God realizes that I am going to reach out with the gospel to the buddies I am going golfing/shooting/surfing/watc hing the xgames with. I mean, I can’t lose my salvation, can I?
Or man, it was a long day, do I have to pray with the kids tonight, or I’ll catch up on that daily Bible reading plan Thursday night, nothing good on Television then, or I know, during Pr. Bill’s sermon – he can’t get ticked at me for reading the Bible, can he?
Seriously, the world can try and numb us, and cause us to feel like we are slowly drifting away from God, but it’s all good – right? I mean – you’re saved and you don’t have to worry about hell… or sin crushing you… cause you’ve got that peaceful easy…feelin..
Gilligan’s Island….
Gilligan’s Theme was the last of the melodies… and when I mention Gilligan’s Island, I know exactly where all of your minds go… 2/3rds to Mary Anne, and 1/3rd to Ginger and two of the kitchen crew are thinking about both. See- I told you that sexuality thing is going to tempt you!
But seriously, sit-coms represent one of the biggest dangers. Generalizations, stereotypes and condescension among the brothers are some of the most devastating stereotypes. Some of us think we’re better in God’s site because we are richer, or smarter, or have more practical knowledge, or better looking, and deeper than those people in that church, or in that Bible study, or well at least better than the Trojan fan…
It may sound strange at first, but the biggest obstacles to grace are sometimes the sins we commit within the church against each other. We sometimes realize it, sometimes don’t – but we can cause other to stumble.
The result is sin that divides, that crushes us, but crushes others at the same time. All of us do it, all of us suffer the dysfunctional application of pride. If you’ve been around the church enough, you even see it there, and in yourself. Satan will use that unrighteousness to zap your heart and the obstacle won’t block you from grace, it will simply fall on top of you, pinning you to the ground
What can I do to overcome sin?
Nothing?
Really?
If we trust – and confess…
So come Monday at 2:30, when the obstacles start to come, what are you going to do that will overcome sin. What are you going to do, to prevent….
This (bob) is sin
This (can) is you
This is Monday
The answer is that you might overcome a temptation, maybe even two or three, but you will sin again. You are going to realize these words, of the apostle Paul,
17 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! 18 I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. 19 I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. 20 My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. 21 It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
22 I truly delight in God's commands, 23 but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. 24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
Romans 7:17-25 (MSG)
John said it this way,
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)
Our way to deal with satan is brutal honesty. To admit that we are sinners, to ask for forgiveness, to ask to be healed, not just of our sin, but the unrighteousness that stains our world and acts as an obstacle to grace. If you aren’t sure of God’s faithfulness to forgive every sin, to cleanse you from every bit of unrighteousness, that is what pastors are for, Go to yours – ask them for private confession, especially if there is something that really troubles you. We talk about private confession in confirmation, but how many of you have ever used it? How many have struggled with an a major issue – afraid of what people would think of you. Go to your pastors – tell them you need to hear God’s grace – specific to you situation. You will truly bless them, as you let them help you heal, as they walk you through it. Private confession is simply taking responsibility for sin, and then handing that responsibility to Jesus, for you know He has dealt with it.
But forgiveness is not just found there. It’s found as you walk to the altar, and take and eat the body broken for you, and drink the wine spilled that sins would be forgiven. It’s found as you walk passed a baptistery, and realize all your sins – including tomorrow’s lost their hold on you there. It is remembered – when you make the sign of the cross, the very sign made over you as you were baptized.
Every moment can be a Sunday, a day of new birth… as the Holy Spirit uses God’s word and the sacraments to help you realize the incredible depth and breadth and width and height of God’s love for you, shown in Christ… and hear again verse 4
Through many dangers toils and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home”
In Jesus Name!
this message was one of 15 on a retreat I just completed with 20 first timers and nearly 60 other men. It was fun and was preceded by 5 verses of the hymn amazing grace, but sung to the melodies of the popular pieces noted.
“Through many dangers toils and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home”
Talking about grace – Ain’t it Amazing?
But sometimes its hard to sing about
Sometimes there are obstacles to grace…
How do we overcome these obstacles….
It was nearly 48 hours ago, that you got in a car, came over to the retreat center, and began a pilgrimage. You have heard fellow layman and pastors talk about grace, the incredible gift of God that leaves you in peace, even if it drains you beyond belief.
One of the challenges of this weekend is found in realizing how challenging it is, to be the recipient of grace. You saw that in letting us pastors wash your feet. You felt it again, as you went through “dieing moments”, as some of you sobbed up there, and struggled to let God release that burden.
Been there… it’s even harder to act as the celebrant, consecrating the second loaf. I remember robbing for it, on the first weekend I worked, and being unable to put my stole on, the realization of God’s grace to me… and my unworthiness, His cleansing, and those burdens we leave there.. and then to have to say those incredible words – this is His Body…. This is His Blood… take and eat…
As a pastor on my pilgrim weekend, knowing all I know, having done the things we do here before, the weekend still left me in awe of God’s grace.
And I see that in some of you now. You think your emotionally spent, yet you feel alive. You are grasping evermore and evermore this incredible gift. It’s sort of like the song for this rollo. You guys knew the words, heck even pagan packer fans know the words to amazing grace, yet you struggled singing it.
The words familiar… yet the song somehow different….and impacting
On Monday, you are going to go out refreshed. You will leave here assured that the power of sin has been crushed, that you are now among the spiritual elite of the world.
You won’t be, and we will assure you of this in rollos to come, but you might feel that way anyway.
Victors over sin, true mighty men of faith, the spiritual special forces…..
The Obstacle = Sin
(crush Coke Can….)
It may take as long as Monday about 2:45 before you hit your first experience with either Satan, or a lost and fallen world, or maybe…just maybe… your own personal battle with sin.
Now, since I am a genteel and peace-loving pastor, I cannot I need to borrow a friend to demonstrate to you what this obstacle might attempt to do to you.
This (bob) is sin…
This (coke can) is you….
This is Monday afternoon… (hand coke can to bob and let him crush it…)
But Wait – I thought we killed you off!
Satan Prowling about, looking for whom he can devour….
Now some of you are saying – pastor – you don’t get it - I know my catechism, I know the doctrine of the Lutheran Church, I pray with my wife at least once a month. I try not to swear… and tis weekend changed me. My sin is gone, I’ve been set free – I even learned Amazing Grace can be sung to some really old tunes…
And Satan? He’s a woos, compared to me – he’s like Bret Favre and the Vikings or the Clippers. He’s lost and I know it….
St. Peter tells us though, that Satan walks around like a starving lion, looking for someone to devour, to crush like a coke can.
And the world, and your sin, will provide him all the bait he needs to trap you…..
There is a very subtle reason that I chose the melodies to which we applied Amazing Grace. Each of the melodies belongs to a song that symbolizes an obstacle to grace, a trap that would cause us to stumble….
Rock – boy is that seduction powerful
If you remember the rock group Led Zeppelin, the very notes that Danny played came back to you…and you probably began to hear the words, and flash back to a time when Steve had hair, when I was skinny and when Eddie was… cheering for USC in a bowl game.
But the sin seen in that song, never mind all the things done while that song was playing, was the idea that we can buy our way, or behave our way, or search our way into heaven.
It is an incredibly seductive idea, and it reigned in us before we were marked as Christ and surely, it will come back. In 1 John, this is seen so clearly when John writes about those who claim that they are spiritually mature, so spiritually mature that they just don’t sin anymore. They think they’ve arrived, that all there is to do to get to heaven , they’ve done. Just like the Pharisees, the temptation is going to be to play the game, to act tough, to pretend that you are spiritually perfect.
God gave us something to help in this case…. Yes.. he gave us our wives.
They’ll help remind us of our imperfections, and if that doesn’t work – he’ll give you another kid or two. Old guys, don’t think you are immune to this, Pastor Bill, remember Abraham… his wife was 90!
Blues….. Do you wanna go back to the house of Rising Sun??
For a guitar player, if you didn’t know Stairway to Heaven, you knew the second melody – House of the Rising Sun – not the Son as in the one who hung on the cross, but probably the most popular song ever written about a whorehouse.
If trying to believe we are good enough to get into heaven is a powerful obstacle to realizing the grace of God that floods our lives in Christ Jesus, then sexxxxuality is as well. It is tossed at us everywhere, in car ads, in football games, in that girl walking down the street – and it is very powerful because none of us want to admit that we are so easily, caught by it. If you ever saw the movie UP, most guys act like Doug the Dog, when he sees a squirrel. I mean – if you all only knew about those girl in the bikini out there on the grass sunning themselves… okay – attention up front…. it was just Rosanne Barr and Rosie O’Donnell.
Remember, sin isn’t just what we have done.. it’s our thoughts, and our words, and what’s on our computers, and in the texts messages we receive.
Seriously, that stuff can be an obstacle to realizing the grace of God. Be aware – the world will make you stumble, and you will even think you are enjoying the fall!
Country – life just ain’t different
Next song, well the music to Hotel California didn’t quite fit, but the Eagles Peaceful Easy Feeling is the next obstacle for us, and while the others are quite powerful, peaceful easy feelins just sorta slip in the back door and numb us to the power of God’s grace.
We’ll begin to believe life isn’t all that different, that since we are saved, hey, you know missing church this week – it isn’t all that bad…it’s for the kids, or the grandkids, or God realizes that I am going to reach out with the gospel to the buddies I am going golfing/shooting/surfing/watc hing the xgames with. I mean, I can’t lose my salvation, can I?
Or man, it was a long day, do I have to pray with the kids tonight, or I’ll catch up on that daily Bible reading plan Thursday night, nothing good on Television then, or I know, during Pr. Bill’s sermon – he can’t get ticked at me for reading the Bible, can he?
Seriously, the world can try and numb us, and cause us to feel like we are slowly drifting away from God, but it’s all good – right? I mean – you’re saved and you don’t have to worry about hell… or sin crushing you… cause you’ve got that peaceful easy…feelin..
Gilligan’s Island….
Gilligan’s Theme was the last of the melodies… and when I mention Gilligan’s Island, I know exactly where all of your minds go… 2/3rds to Mary Anne, and 1/3rd to Ginger and two of the kitchen crew are thinking about both. See- I told you that sexuality thing is going to tempt you!
But seriously, sit-coms represent one of the biggest dangers. Generalizations, stereotypes and condescension among the brothers are some of the most devastating stereotypes. Some of us think we’re better in God’s site because we are richer, or smarter, or have more practical knowledge, or better looking, and deeper than those people in that church, or in that Bible study, or well at least better than the Trojan fan…
It may sound strange at first, but the biggest obstacles to grace are sometimes the sins we commit within the church against each other. We sometimes realize it, sometimes don’t – but we can cause other to stumble.
The result is sin that divides, that crushes us, but crushes others at the same time. All of us do it, all of us suffer the dysfunctional application of pride. If you’ve been around the church enough, you even see it there, and in yourself. Satan will use that unrighteousness to zap your heart and the obstacle won’t block you from grace, it will simply fall on top of you, pinning you to the ground
What can I do to overcome sin?
Nothing?
Really?
If we trust – and confess…
So come Monday at 2:30, when the obstacles start to come, what are you going to do that will overcome sin. What are you going to do, to prevent….
This (bob) is sin
This (can) is you
This is Monday
The answer is that you might overcome a temptation, maybe even two or three, but you will sin again. You are going to realize these words, of the apostle Paul,
17 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! 18 I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. 19 I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. 20 My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. 21 It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
22 I truly delight in God's commands, 23 but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. 24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
Romans 7:17-25 (MSG)
John said it this way,
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)
Our way to deal with satan is brutal honesty. To admit that we are sinners, to ask for forgiveness, to ask to be healed, not just of our sin, but the unrighteousness that stains our world and acts as an obstacle to grace. If you aren’t sure of God’s faithfulness to forgive every sin, to cleanse you from every bit of unrighteousness, that is what pastors are for, Go to yours – ask them for private confession, especially if there is something that really troubles you. We talk about private confession in confirmation, but how many of you have ever used it? How many have struggled with an a major issue – afraid of what people would think of you. Go to your pastors – tell them you need to hear God’s grace – specific to you situation. You will truly bless them, as you let them help you heal, as they walk you through it. Private confession is simply taking responsibility for sin, and then handing that responsibility to Jesus, for you know He has dealt with it.
But forgiveness is not just found there. It’s found as you walk to the altar, and take and eat the body broken for you, and drink the wine spilled that sins would be forgiven. It’s found as you walk passed a baptistery, and realize all your sins – including tomorrow’s lost their hold on you there. It is remembered – when you make the sign of the cross, the very sign made over you as you were baptized.
Every moment can be a Sunday, a day of new birth… as the Holy Spirit uses God’s word and the sacraments to help you realize the incredible depth and breadth and width and height of God’s love for you, shown in Christ… and hear again verse 4
Through many dangers toils and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home”
