Sermon for October 14th, 2018

Ephesians 2:1-9

You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Sola Gratia

A man walked into a barber shop one day, and asked for a haircut and a shave. The barber was out running errands, but his wife, Grace, said to the man, "I usually do the shaves anyway ... sit down and I'll shave you." So he did. She shaved him and when done, he asked, "How much do I owe you?" "$25," Grace replied. The man thought that was somewhat expensive for just a shave. Nonetheless, he paid Grace and went on his way.

The next day, he woke up and found his face to be just as smooth as the day before. Maybe that $25 was worth it after all, he thought to himself. The third day he awoke to find his face as smooth as the day before. Wow! he thought. That's amazing, as he normally would need to shave daily to keep his clean-shaven business look. On Day 4, he woke up and his face was still as smooth as the minute after Grace had finished.

Now, somewhat perplexed, the man went down to the barber shop to ask some questions. This particular day the barber was in and the man asked him why his face was as smooth as it was the first day it was shaven. The kind old barber gently replied, "Friend, by Grace you were shaved ... and once shaved, always shaved."

We are now halfway through our Reformation Heritage series on the "Five Solas" of the Reformation. Last week we talked about Sola Fide, or the teaching that salvation is from "faith alone" and not through any good deeds or things that we do, say, think, or even believe.

Today we talk about Sola Gratia which means "by Grace alone." Verse 8 and 9 of our passage from Ephesians is perhaps the most famous articulation of this: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

So in a nutshell, salvation comes by faith alone, and salvation comes by grace alone. Wait a minute! Isn't that a contradiction? Isn't that like saying the *only* way to lose weight is to exercise, and then saying the *only* way to lose weight is to diet? Which one is it? Or is it both? And if it's both, why say "only?"

That's a good question. I'm so glad you asked.

Faith is something that originates within us, and Grace is something that originates within God. So an expanded way of thinking about it might be "Only the grace within God can create faith within us, and only in that process can we be saved. I do think that in the 21st century we need to re-think our notions about what "salvation" means, and what exactly it is that we are being saved from. But more on that later.

First, what is grace? It has several meanings in English, which can make things a bit confusing. It can mean elegance of movement (gracefully they danced across the floor). It can mean the prayer you say before eating, which is a prayer of thanks or gratitude (in Spanish gracias, hence, grace). It can also mean forgiveness or mercy. Incidentally, mercy comes from French merci, which also means "thanks."

In Latin, grace is gratia, which literally meant "something good and pleasing, something to be thankful for." Usually something given to you. Grace, then, is essentially a gift. Incidentally, the words gratis (free) and gratuitous (generous) come from the same root. Free gifts generously given are certainly pleasing and worth our gratitude.

But wait, there's more! Gratia was the Latin word used to translate an older Greek word, Χάρις (charis) which is where we get English words like "charisma" and "charity," both of which also have the sense of gifts--hence a charismatic person has the "gift" of personality, and charity is...well...giving someone a gift of kindness.

So what is grace? Well, I don't know, exactly. It's some kind of gift--something good, something beautiful, something pleasing, something that has the power to save us. But exactly what that is and how it works has been the subject of theological debates for centuries.

Last week we talked about how the doctrine of Sola Fide (faith alone) sprung from a disagreement between the 16th century Reformers and the medieval Catholic church...and we talked about ways to bridge that divide in the 21st century.

Sola Gratia or grace alone stems from a later disagreement between two protestant traditions on the question of how that free gift (grace) works in the process of salvation.

On one side of the fence were the folks who would eventually become the Arminians, the Wesleyans, and the Methodists. They believed that God's grace was a free gift offered to everyone, but that you as an individual could either accept that gift...or reject it. Sounds fair enough on the surface. It makes God a polite gentleman who always knocks on the door and waits to be invited inside.

On the other side of the fence were the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Reformed Churches who said, "Wait a minute, what???" If you have to accept God's gift in order to complete your salvation, then doesn't that mean that YOU have to DO something, that your salvation is now (at least in part) in your hands? No, no, no! And once more, they quoted Ephesians: "by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast."

The reformed version of God is not a polite gentleman, to be sure. But if your house is burning down, do you want the firefighter to knock on the door and politely wait for you to invite him in? Or do you want him to break down the door and stop at nothing until you and everyone in your house are saved?