Life On Loan: “Grace at the Intersections”
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Into our new sermon series called, “A Life On Loan,” based on a book by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson.
We are saved from ourselves, from sin and from death by Christ, but we are also saved FOR something, too.
Intersections—they can be extremely dangerous. Yesterday, just up the road at 2550 S., there was a big collision on 1900 W. At least three times in my life, people that I knew and loved really well died in crashes at intersections simply because they didn’t see what was coming.
Intersections of life, though, are not just about yielding to oncoming traffic or obeying traffic lights and laws. Anytime someone crosses our path in life, that’s an intersection. It’s an opportunity to connect people to God’s grace. As we encounter intersections we must keep our eyes open.
Invisible gorillas in our midst. A study a dozen years ago done by the University of Illinois showed that we are frequently “inattentionally blind.” Subjects were made to watch a video of two basketball teams, one in white, one in black, and to count how many passes the white team made. In the middle of the video, a man in a gorilla suit walked into the middle of the basketball players, thumped his chest for nine seconds, and then exited the screen. Half of the subjects never saw the gorilla. They were too focused on the tasks at hand and didn’t see what they weren’t looking for.
We miss out on so much because we are focused in the wrong directions. We are focused on our past and we use that as an excuse for the way we live today. “my parents . . . our finances were . . . where I grew up . . .” Or we are focused on the future and we use that as a license to miss out on moments now. “I can’t wait until .. .” You might be expecting me to say that we just need to focus on our present, but that’s not exactly right, either. It’s easy to be so focused on the daily execution of life that we miss a world of things we aren’t necessarily looking for. As a follower of Jesus who recognizes that your life is on loan from God, you must be looking for those intersections.
Focus on What Matters
Jesus gives us direction on what matters most, what is best, in Matthew 22:37-38. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment.”
And in verse 39 he directs us to the next best thing: “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Loving God and loving your neighbor is best executed in service. Jesus says in Matthew 20:26-27. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.”
What have you been chasing that has kept you from seeing what God has in store?
See What God Sees
God focuses on people, not on their circumstances or situations. In Luke 7:36-50, a woman interrupts a dinner being held in Jesus’ honor to wash His feet with her tears and very expensive perfume. Most of the company that evening misses what she is doing because they are fixed on who she is. They know what she has done. She’s got a label as “sinful woman.” Jesus just sees her. Her needs. He compassionately extends forgiveness to her when everyone just handed her their judgment and indignation.
If we will see what God sees, we’ll look past labels, look past reputation, look past situations and focus on a child in need of their Father in heaven. We’ll ask, what is God doing in this person’s life and how can I help?
There’s probably a need for service of some kind, showing your love in practical ways. Loving service usually opens the door. Jesus revealed who God is through His teaching AND His actions.
There’s also a need for some careful words. Just being nice doesn’t create an intersection for us. Why are you doing what you’re doing? There is a real foundation for what you’ve done. Your words clarify your actions. And we ought be praying about those words.
- Pray that God would prepare their hearts
- Pray that God would open a door to have a spiritual conversation
- Pray that God would give you the right words to say in a spiritual conversation.
If we are willing to serve and to speak, we join God in His most important work of connecting people to His grace.
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