“Grace is Great in 2008”  Galatians 3:3; Prov. 1:2-5  1/6/08

            During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net but were saved. Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net. Today, OSHA has regulations that any structure built with over a six foot fall must have a safety net, guard rail, or a personal restraining device. 
            Religion will teach us that we need to be careful of how we live and what we say. But the real key to Christian living is not all the rules and regulations about being careful- it is the safety net. God grace is the safety net. God’s grace enables us to keep the rules and answer our call without worry and anxiety.  For because of grace, when we fall we can get back up.
            There are two main differences between Christianity and other religions.  One is the person of Jesus and his claim to deity and his rising from the dead.  This is grace in itself- that God came down to show us His love, and rose up to give us His hope.  But the other major difference is grace.  We do not earn our way to heaven by keeping all the resolutions and regulations.  Rather, we go to heaven by God’s grace.
            In 2004 a four ton chunk of wood and steel atop the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston fell and would have killed the workers below except for a safety net that caught the material. Safety nets are wonderful things that free us up from worry, fear, and help us to do the work we’re supposed to do.  Knowing that God’s grace catches us and protects us can really free us to live the way we ought to live in 2008.
            One thing I really appreciate about our church is its emphasis on grace.  Other religions have laws and books—we do too.  But we recognize that the laws and books we have are holy by God’s grace, and we keep them by God’s grace, and when we fail to keep them we STILL have God’s grace!  We have more diversity in this church than most.  In the classic sense we are evangelical- yet we have variety.  We have people who have been hurt in life, wounded- and you are welcome here.  We have people who may not believe right down the line- and while we encourage you to strive to believe- we recognize that you too are here by God’s grace.  No one acts perfectly, no one believes perfectly.  The elders and deacons who come before you are not perfect people but we believe by God’s grace they will lead us. 
              God gives grace to all (we call this common grace).  He lets the rain fall and the sun shine on the just and the unjust (Mt. 5:45).  But there is a sense in which God gives us specific grace- grace to respond to God’s gospel, and grace to live our lives for Him. We believe that God’s grace (charis) in the Greek Bible enables us and equips us giving us the gift (charismata in the Greek).  The charis gives charismata.  God gives gifts to equip us and empower us to do our work in the church and in the world.  In this sense grace is empowerment.  It is godly energy.  My mother had a disease called “Addison’s disease” in which she could not digest salt properly—and the symptoms were it caused the electric impulses in her brain and body not to work.  She would not be able to walk or think clearly.  We need salt to live, and we need God’s grace to live.  It is like the salt that allows us to have energy and think clearly.  The good news for all of us is “God’s grace is great in 2008.” 
            Walter Knight once said, “When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day's pay for his time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award--yet receives such a gift anyway--that is a good picture of God's unmerited favor. This is what we mean when we talk about the grace of God.”
            Grace is a very dangerous thing. Some say that when we say we are saved by grace and not by works, and we live by grace and not by the law that we are in danger of falling into permissiveness.  That is, some might believe that because we are forgiven we can act however we want to act, and believe whatever we want to believe because God’s safety net of grace will catch us when we dance on the dangerous side of life.  All we have to do is ask forgiveness.  This is a danger, and yes, God’s grace is abused by some.  But Jesus was far more concerned that we know of God’s grace than that we be consumed with rules and the stress and fear of life.  He told us that God welcomes the prodigal son home- strings unattached.  He wasn’t afraid to give this prodigal son a kiss instead of a lecture a party instead of probation.  The older brother was the one who fussed about the party and the fatted calf.  He liked the good boy/bad boy game because he won at it.  He knows even the best big brother still falls short.  He knows that without grace we are dead, but with grace we are alive and found.  Without grace, what are we left with?  We would live solely by our own power and our own ability to do things right.  But the problem is we have many times when we have no power/energy and many times we mess up.  We don’t live by the blaming game- who’s wrong.  Where there is no forgiveness there is hell.  We need forgiveness, and that is sparked by grace. If I had to pick a motto for our church it would be, “Lake Murray Presbyterian- where grace makes the difference.”  It does make the difference.  It makes the difference in how we care for the poor, in how we feel the need to share our faith, in how we welcome others- no matter what they look like or what they have done.  Grace makes the difference- in you.  Hold onto that grace and we will make the world a different place in 2008!  Amen.