Home | Site Map | Contact Us | Feeds

Praise God For His Mercy

            How long do you think it will be before you and I are in jail?  No, I’m not advocating crime.  That would be wrong and sinful.  But based on what we believe from Scripture, how long will it be before our freedom of worship gets pinched?  You think that’s impossible, but what if the politically correct police gain ground and maneuver lawmakers to pass laws which demand quotas on the faculties of all schools, including private schools, with the threat of legal action if the Lutheran schools we support refuse to hire a homosexual or terminate someone who is gay.  The politically-minded gay lobby has already succeeded in convincing many Americans that homosexuality is a social issue which deserves political protection instead of a moral issue which deserves condemnation.  How long before your refusal to participate in a business-sponsored fund drive, which funnels money toward the funding of abortions, earns you not only a demotion but a pink slip?  How long before your advice to a friend to get counseling for a troubled marriage ends in your being named in a lawsuit because your friend wrongly translated your advice into, “Stick around even if you are being physically abused?”  Pray God none of that will ever happen.  But who knows how low society can go?

            Imagine what it would be like if we did end up in jail because of our Christian convictions.  What emotions would we have to deal with?  We’d probably run the gamut from shock (“What’s going on?”), to denial (“I can’t believe this is happening to me!”), to anger, to frustration, to resignation, and maybe to depression.  It hardly seems possible that anyone jailed for his or her Christian convictions could burst into a hymn of joy.

            But that’s what the apostle Paul did.  He was in Rome under house arrest simply because he proclaimed the truth about Jesus Christ and what believing in him means for a person’s life now and in eternity.  Yet, he wrote several magnificent letters, one of which is this letter to the Ephesians which explodes on the scriptural scene with a grand opening hymn of praise.  It’s a hymn worth singing today because it portrays what the mercy of God does for us when we hit a low point in life.  Ever been there?  Do you think you’ll ever hit a low spot on life’s highway in the future?  If so, you will want to sing along with Paul and, “Praise God For His Mercy.”

In mercy he has singled us out

            “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing.”   That opening verse of Paul’s hymn of praise is a part of our communion liturgy.  In Christ we have every spiritual blessing.  Everything we could ever hope for or imagine when it comes to our relationship with God is already ours.  That’s news to fill our heart with joy so that we spring out of bed each day with a smile on our face, lift our eyes heavenward, and greet the day by saying, “Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful day!” – right?  Or would it be more accurate for me to say that more often than not, instead of having eyes lifted heavenward, our noses are earth-bound, buried in the drudgery and doldrums of dredging for daily bread?  And then what?  We complain.  Has complaining become a national pastime?  We complain about the weather.  It’s either too hot or too cold, too humid or too dry.  If not the weather, then it’s our health – the allergies, the arthritis, the feet, the back.  If not health, then it’s the government – too much Big Brother, not enough compassion, too much red tape, not enough protection.  If not the government, then it’s the school system, or the economy, or the unfair demands at work, or the unbelievably hectic schedule.

            I suppose we could find something wrong in every aspect of life if we examine it closely enough.  It’s like going house hunting.  Whether it’s a mansion in Mequon or a bungalow in Bay View, we could probably find some things we would like and some things we don’t.  But did you ever consider that there is a reason why things go wrong in life?  God understands our hidden human desire to cling to our existence in this world.  There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the blessings he gives us here, but he doesn’t want our earthly existence to dominate our thinking so that we lose sight of the real joy he has in store for us in heaven.  That’s why he gives us reminders day by day that this world is not perfect.  This is not our permanent home.  He has something much better in mind for us.

            So how can we break the pattern of grumbling and complaining?  How can we lift our eyes heavenward and live our life with a forward, positive attitude?  That happens when we are absolutely clear on how we entered the sphere of God’s mercy.  Way too often the sinful nature lurking inside of us leads us to think that we got under the blanket of his mercy because we were not quite as stubborn as others or because we made the right decision to believe in God or because we have been good.

            But Paul sets us straight in this hymn of praise.  We are God’s children because of his glorious grace.  All of the credit goes to God.  He is the cause of it all.  He is the reason for rejoicing.  God did not wait until we were born to see what we would be like.  He did not delay choosing us until we had grown up and demonstrated some degree of spirituality or achieved some measure of respectability.  Even before God created the sun and placed it in the heavens, before he set the moon and stars and planets in their places in space, God looked down through the corridors of time and singled us out to be his own.  He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons [and daughters] through Jesus Christ.  Why?  Because we are so wonderful?  Because we have such great qualities?  No!  He singled us out to be recipients of his mercy in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves ... In Christ we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we [might exist] ... to the praise of his glory.

            A number of years ago a movie star who had a leading role in a sci-fi movie was quoted as saying, “It would be insane to think that this whole light show [namely, the stars and galaxies in the universe] is just for us.”  Actually, it is.  That is just one piece of evidence of the depth of God’s mercy.  While that may be hard for some to fathom, here is something even better.  The whole course of history has been shaped by God so that we might be with him.  Is that awesome, or what?  Would anyone of us dare to stand before God on the last day and say, “Well, Lord, it’s obvious that I’m here because I was pretty good”?  No!  On that day we will sing, “Thank you, Lord, for singling me out and drawing me into your mercy.  I am here because of what you did for me!”  But why wait till you are standing at the pearly gates.  You can sing for joy right now and praise God for his mercy, which is exactly what we do in this Christmas season and every season, for that matter.  In mercy he singled us out to be his own.

In mercy he has set us free

            What prompted God to single us out to be his children?  It is his love “in Christ.”  That phrase “in him” or “in Christ” occurs one hundred fifty times in this little letter and ten times in the verses that are we are looking at.  God did not choose us in the way that children choose players when they pick up sides for a ball game.  The captains try to pick the best players first.  But when God chose us, it was not because of some promise we held but only because of Jesus.  In Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

            For the apostle Paul, “redemption” was not an abstract theological term dug out of an old, dusty doctrine book.  Redemption is the only way out for people in prison because it involves two things – a payment is made and then captives are set free.  Paul was under house arrest and had no idea whether someone would be able to make a ransom payment so that he could go free.  But he did know that whether under house arrest or in jail or in prison or whether walking the streets of Rome or Corinth or Ephesus, Jesus had already made the ransom payment for all sins of all sinners.  Jesus anteed up his own blood, and with that payment we sinners were set free from the dark prison of sin and the chains of guilt.  Thanks to Jesus we can step out into the brilliant light of God’s mercy.  And the Bible is chock full of passages that tell us this is so.

            Do you want joy and hope in a world that can drag you down?  Then lift your eyes to the cross of Jesus and see the price paid for your release.  In a world of confusion where things do not always add up, Christ Jesus makes sense of it all.  That is the key to joyful living.  Life is no mystery when God has revealed to us the mystery of his mercy.  God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ ... To bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

            It happens every year, and sure enough I heard it again.  In scanning through radio channels I heard a call-in show with complaints that the politically correct crowd doesn’t want teachers and kids to say or sing “Merry Christmas” but rather say, “Happy Holidays,” and here’s the kicker … “Because kids should be allowed to enjoy the miraculous at Christmas like Santa and elves and reindeer on the roof.”  Santa and elves and reindeer?  That’s not the miracle of Christmas.  That’s the myth of Christmas.  The miracle of Christmas is the Christ-child.  He’s the real reason for the season, God’s gift to us to set us free from sin and from what we deserve because of sin.  Praise God for his mercy.  In mercy he has set us free to be his own.

In mercy he has sealed us

            Would you like to be sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of this is true?  Many years ago, when an official document or letter had been written, it would be sealed shut with molten wax, and before the wax became hard, an official would make an impression on the wax with his ring.  That official seal certified the letter or document as genuine.  The apostle says that God singled us out and set us free to be his children.  How can we be sure?  He sealed us with the Holy Spirit at our baptism.

            But there’s even more.  It’s not like God adopted us and then abandoned us.  It’s not like we entered his family and then are left on our own.  God has much more in store for us.  When you buy a house or car, you make a down-payment.  The down-payment is a guarantee that there is more to come.  Now think of this.  God gave us the Holy Spirit as a down-payment, guaranteeing that there is so much more to come.  Every day you and I can wake up with a smile on our face because we are marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit [a down-payment] guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.  Is that worth singing about?  Absolutely!  Praise God for his mercy.  In mercy he has sealed us as his own and guaranteed our future.

            Pray God that we never go to prison for our Christian convictions.  Pray that our freedoms, especially freedom of religion, are preserved.  But in the meantime, you know that life will have its ups and downs.  When those rotten days come rolling in, sing!  Sing praise to God for his mercy because no matter how bad it gets, God’s mercy keeps us where we want to be – singled out by the Father, set free by the Son, sealed by the Spirit.   Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on January 2, 2011

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

Home | Site Map | Contact Us | Feeds