"You Must" vs. "I Will"

Throughout the book of Deuteronomy we find lists of things God requires of His people so that they stay in right standing before Him. You can look it up for yourself, but to show you what I mean here's an excerpt:

Deuteronomy 6:13-18 (NLT)

YOU MUST fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath,

YOU MUST use only his name.

YOU MUST not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, for the Lord your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God.

His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth.

YOU MUST not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah.

YOU MUST diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you.

Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you.

The Law requires perfection. It exists to point out our flaws and where we fall short. If God's people obeyed The Law they were blessed. When they disobeyed God's wrath followed. The Law is good and right, but it lacks the power to save us.

Contrast this with the new covenant of Grace that God establishes with the sending of His Son Jesus. In Hebrews chapter eight God repeatedly uses the phrase, "I will" as opposed to, "You Must."

Hebrews 8:7-13

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord, when I WILL make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.

But this is the new covenant I WILL make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:

I WILL put my laws in their minds,

and I WILL write them on their hearts.

I WILL be their God, and they will be my people.

And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord. For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already.

And I WILL forgive their wickedness,

and I WILL never again remember their sins.”

When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

It seems to me that God has taken the pressure off of us a bit here. The old agreement was dependent on me doing and living up to my end of the deal. Under the terms of the new agreement I can depend on Jesus' finished work at the cross for me.

God's Grace is clearly seen when you begin to understand the difference between the "You Must" language of The Law and the "I Will" language of Grace!

Grace Changes Everything... That's G!

Grace changes everything. It's a simple yet profoundly important statement. We know from scripture that Jesus is Grace personified which means that literally Jesus changes everything. Grace has already fulfilled the law. Grace gives me right standing with God. Grace / Jesus changes everything in my life.

As a church we have been in a series entitled Grace Changes Everything since mid May and it has been fun to see people's lives being changed by God's free gift of Grace.

We've also launched a website www.gracechangeseverything.org ; we've been inviting our people to visit the site and share what God's Grace is doing in their lives. If you get a chance you should check it out too!

Our youth ministry has also jumped on board with the series that is transforming our church. We are in a series called That's G!: God's Grace in Everyday Life. We too have seen incredible results.

A group of young people who've been particularly inspired have started a group called the G-Team. Their self-described purpose is to spread God's Grace through the community through acts of social justice, kindness, and fun challenges. They have a list of challenges and things they're striving to accomplish before this summer is over. If you haven't checked them out you've got to take a moment and watch this video:

Summer seems to be zooming right along. God is doing great things and lives are being changed. If you're not involved what's stopping you? God's Grace is available, all you need to do is respond to His goodness.

Stuck in Committee

A couple weeks ago my pastor, Brian Dolleman, preached a message called, "Grace Changes the Church." In it he talked about three stories Jesus tells in Luke chapter 15 in which a lost item is found.

Do you remember the stories?

They're about a lost sheep, lost coin, and perhaps the most famous, the lost (prodigal) son. Each of the stories are told to help us understand why Jesus was hanging around with sinners and to give us an idea of what our Heavenly Father is like.

Brian mentioned an important truth that is discovered when reading these stories. In each story the lost item requires an all out search or "search team" and once the item/person is found it's time to celebrate!

After PB summed up the stories he reminded us that Grace must to be the church's central issue. Anything else that we place at the center will take us off course. He talked about how it was time for "found" people to be part of the "search team," ready to help lead people to Jesus. He encouraged us to be on the "party planning committee," the kind of people that can't wait to celebrate with those who have been found.

When he mentioned it's time for us to be part of the "party planning committee" my mind immediately wandered to scenes from one of my favorite tv shows, The Office.

If you've ever watched the show you know there is a character on the show who is the office's party planning committee chairperson. Her name is Angela and she is emotion-less and severe. She is definitely a person who could use a little Grace in her life. When she plans parties for the office she rarely takes others input into consideration and generally plans parties that she would enjoy.

Unfortunately this makes me think of the church. Often times we plan our parties (services) and forget who we're throwing the party for (those who have yet to make the decision to follow Jesus). We must remember that the party we throw weekly is not for us. It's being thrown for those who haven't already been found.

The party may include party music that you don't enjoy. It may include simple stories that you've already heard. The party attire is likely to help the people for whom the party is being thrown feel relaxed and at home. But again, since the party is not for us, this shouldn't be an issue right?

All to often we get weird about these parties. The longer we've been throwing parties we forget what it's like to be the guests of honor. We start asking why our preferences aren't being catered to. We say things like, "How come we don't play my favorite party music any more?"

Towards the end of the story of the lost son in Luke 15:28-32 the older brother is getting frustrated with the big party and his father's actions:

The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

Pastor Brian was exactly right a couple Sundays ago when he reminded us to be part of both the "search team" and "party planning committee."

I would simply add, let's be careful we don't get bogged down in committee! It's not about us, it's about those who aren't even here yet. Let's throw parties that are relavent and attractive to outsiders. Let's throw parties that make sense and help outsiders experience God's incredible Grace.