Grace and Peace to you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit, who gives us life. Amen.
Several years ago there was a movie that came out called the “Ultimate Gift”. In it James Garner stars as Red Stevens, an oil tycoon who has died, and left behind an inheritance of great wealth. At the beginning of the movie we see that his greedy family is gathered in the office of his lawyer, for the reading of the will. The will is read not in a normal way but through a series of videos that Red leaves for each member of his family. For his reckless and selfish grandson Jason Stevens, Red assigns twelve apparently simple tasks called "gifts" - of work, of money, of friends, of learning, the gift of problems, the gift of family, the gift of laughter, the gift of dreams, the gift of giving, the gift of gratitude, the gift of a day and the gift of love. These “gifts challenge the playboy Jason to a journey of discoveries and to answer the crucial question: "What is the relationship between wealth and happiness?” When he meets Emily, a girl with leukemia, and her mother Alexia, Jason’s perspective of life and money are changed. Although I am not going to give away the ending of the movie, suffice it to say, Jason’s, life is altered forever. It is a great family-type movie and I would encourage all of you to rent it if at all possible. But I also find the title slightly misleading, in that we have already discovered what the ultimate gift is.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life”. You may or may not have heard these words before. As Lutherans we base most of our understanding of God’s grace on this passage. The first question to ask is “What is grace?” Dictionary dot com defines it this way: “The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God[i]”. Martin Luther describes it this way: “When we were created by God the Father, and had received from him all kinds of good things, the devil came and led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil. We lay under God’s wrath and displeasure, doomed to eternal damnation, as we had deserved. There was no counsel, no help, no comfort for us until this only and eternal Son of God, in his unfathomable goodness, had mercy on our misery and wretchedness and came from heaven to help us [ii]”. We read that in a different way in today’s gospel lesson: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”. God gave his son as a gift for you and I, for our neighbors, for our community, for our nation, and for all of creation for our salvation. God could have ignored us, or he could have wiped us out like in the flood, but instead came to us in the person of Jesus, to make right that which was wrong. What is humbling is that there is someone who would do this for us. Why? We’d done God no favors before we came to faith. There were many times when we spit in His face, hurled insults at Him, or totally ignored Him, thinking/knowing we could do it on our own. And there are times when we continue to do this. In the book of Romans the Apostle Paul says this, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us”[iii]. This is not cheap grace. We cannot use God’s grace as a justification for sin, by commission or by omission. The apostle Paul puts it this way: “What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life[iv]. God’s costly grace for us has been paid for through the innocent suffering, the blood and the death of Jesus Christ. As the cover of your bulletin says: Grace is God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.
What then is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says this, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. Faith is believing or trusting in the promise given by God. Lutherans have a term for this. It is called “sola fida” or faith alone. Salvation, which is being saved from the wrath of God, depends upon God’s mercy and this can be received only in an act of faith. Man’s ethical activity and “works” have no place here. They can neither cause nor preserve salvation. It is only through faith that we are preserved to eternal life.[v] This faith is given to us so that no one may boast. The reason is that in our own boasting we make ourselves to be like or better than God. In boasting we think of only our own interests and we make it the standard by which we judge God. Our boasting results in our deciding on who shall or shall not be saved, ignoring God’s gracious will for us and for humanity. When we do this we forget that God’s mercy on sinners is an act of divine freedom, which cannot be expected. God is really free in his grace. We cannot demand it. We have no rights in relationship to God; on the contrary he has every right to do what he wants.[vi] The certainty of salvation still belongs to the humble man or woman who receives God’s mercy on faith as a pure miracle.[vii]
So what do we do with this gift? Above all else we should thank God for this ultimate gift. We should thank God when we come here to worship and praise. We should thank God in our prayers. And we should thank God in how we live our lives. Our lives were not meant to take this gift of God and put it aside. Walking in newness of life allow us the freedom to live our lives in such a way that glorifies God. This not only honors the giver but also is the conduit in which Christ’s love for all creation is channeled through. The gift of salvation is then made visible in the spiritual gifts we have been given to use, which then permits us to value and take care of our family, our church, and our neighbor. We have been given the gift to serve, whether it is here in church or in our community. We have been given the gift of teaching, whether it is in our home or in our occupation. We have been given the gift to encourage others in their life experiences. We have been given the gift of generosity, so that the work of the greater church is advanced and that the mission of Peace Lutheran can be accomplished. And we have been given the gift of showing mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to those who need it most. “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life”.
Jason Stevens was given twelve gifts, which on first examination, would seem to be what our Christian life looks like. Those gifts that were given made Jason a better person in the long run. And it took his grandfathers death to make those gifts possible. However, Red did not die to make Jason better. Although Red’s “gifts” gave Jason a new lease on life it did not give him life. Red’s “gift” is not the same gift we have been given. Jason had to work for his gifts. As people of faith we have been given a free gift, which leads to new life today, and hope for the life to come. And by the way, it should not be forgotten that no man gives thanks to the giver of all good things by his own power; rather this too is God’s gift to us. He not only gives us the gifts for which we thank him but he also gives us the gratitude. Jason could possibly boast of his accomplishments. We cannot boast of the good work done in Christ, but we can thank God that we have been given the work to do of Christ both here in this church and in our community. In doing so we praise and give thanks to God for the ultimate gift he gave us. Amen.
[i] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/grace
[ii]Tappert, Theodore G.: The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2000, c1959, S. 414
[iii] Romans 5:7-8
[iv] Roman 6:1-4
[v] Althuas, Paul [trans Robert Schultz] The Theology of Martin Luther (fortress press, Philadelphia 1966) 246
[vi] Althuas 284
[vii] Althuas 286
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