Key Verse 10a: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.”
This year, our focus for the conference is the resurrection.
Jesus came back to life and appeared to those who needed it the most, unworthy
sinners. Today let us seek to know who Jesus is by decoding his infinite grace.
John Newton was born in London 1725 as the son of a
commander of a merchant ship sailing the Mediterranean Sea. From a young age,
John followed in his father’s footsteps and ended up as the captain of a slave
ship, responsible for the lives of thousands of innocent slaves. However, on
May 10, 1748, while on a homeward journey, Newton’s ship was hit by a violent
storm from which he thought he would surely die. In complete desperation and
fear Newton cried out to God begging for mercy. He survived and God began a
great work in his life. He abandoned his ties to the slave trade and became a preacher.
He mentored many, and wrote the words to Amazing
Grace, perhaps the most famous hymn.
During the later part of his life he became blind, but as he put it, “I
was blind, but now I see.”
Like Newton, there were many blind Corinthians. Even in the
church, Corinthian brothers and sisters were full with sin and disunity. In
verse 1, Paul reveals that they have previously received and taken their stance
on the gospel. These were people who had already declared their belief in and
devotion to God, but still there was something missing. In this chapter, Paul brings them back to the
fundamentals of faith.
Let’s look at verses 3 and 4. The message in these verses is
something we have heard over and over and over again. The events were even made
into a holiday, marked by lots of chocolate and Easter egg hunts. Paul, perhaps
the most articulate and knowledgeable of the apostles, could speak to the
Corinthians about any philosophical or religious matter he pleased. Yet what he
writes, he writes as of first importance.
It is a reminder, because it is
something we must constantly come back to. That which is written in that one
simple sentence is the remedy to all our deepest troubles. It is a message we
hear over and over because it is the most important message in the entirety of
the bible: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that
he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures. This truth might be overplayed, but I have read so many novels,
watched an unhealthy amount of television, and seen countless movies; yet none
come even close when compared to the beautiful story of Christ’s death and
resurrection. I think something we quite often overlook is the fact that though
Jesus was God, he was also man. Jesus bore so much pain and sorrow to save
unworthy sinners like me. I don’t know much about pain, but many years back, I
went on an after CBF adventure with a few friends. As usual, we would climb out
the window near the balcony of the first floor, and then jump down to where the
huge air conditioners were outside of the church. One time, while coming back
up, there was a nail sticking out under the window that dug deep into the skin
below my knee. It was a terrible pain, and I have the scar to prove it.
Nonetheless, my pain due to a classic CBF shenanigan was nothing in comparison
with the nails the dug deep into the hands and feet of our lord, the thorns
that tore his forehead, or the whip that pierced his flesh. This was the
greatest sacrifice in human history, and by it we are saved. Yet it is not just
a fact; a remnant of an event long passed. Rather, Jesus is still alive. Though our sins deserve
death, Jesus’s resurrection signifies triumph over Satan and death. He can
appear to us at any point, through our prayers, personal experiences, bible
reading, or visions; a gentle whisper amidst the many voices we hear in our
day-to-day lives.
Next, in verses 5-8, Paul mentions the part of the gospel
most forgotten: the appearances of the resurrected Christ. He appeared to
Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred
of the brothers and sisters at the same time. Then he appeared to James, then
to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to Paul also, as to one
abnormally born.
Now, Peter the disciple was the leader of the pack. He was
strong, confident, and seemingly fully devoted to Christ. In Matthew 26 he
fervently said to Jesus, “even if ALL fall away, I never will.” (Mt 26: 33). Yet prior to Jesus’s appearance before
Pilot, Peter denied even merely knowing him.
And before that, when Judas led a crowd sent by the chief
priests to arrest Jesus, all of the disciples deserted him and fled. (Mt
26: 56) Not one remained.
Jesus’s decision to appear to Paul was perhaps the most
curious of all. Now Paul, formerly known as Saul, was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6)
who persecuted Christians. Saul’s conversion is an unlikely story. One day,
while he was out on a journey to Damascus to take Christians as prisoners, a
light from heaven flashed around him. It was so bright, so abrupt and
overwhelming that Saul fell to the ground. A distinct voice called out to him,
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you Lord?” Saul asked in complete
and utter bewilderment. He was so full of sin that he did not even know who it was. Jesus explained who he was, and
called Saul to get up and go into the city to do exactly as he was told. Saul
was blinded for three days. Three days during which I imagine his past sins were
on constant replay in his mind. All the times he helped murder, imprison, and
ridicule Christians in the name of the very God he was against. Yet Jesus came
to him, just as he comes to us. Not in righteous anger or in well-deserved
judgment, but in love.
So the question that remains: why? Why did Jesus appear to
the most unlikely and unworthy sinners? Because in God’s eyes, we are not
defined by our sins and failures. Because he loves us and forgives us every
single day. As said by C.S. Lewis, “God will not love us because we are good,
but God will make us good because he loves us.” His cleansing sacrifice washes
away our sins of scarlet and makes us white as snow. Do you believe this? After
his resurrection, Jesus reinstated Peter as told in the beautiful story in John
chapter 21. He asked him three times, “do you love me?” And each time, Peter
painfully tried to convince Jesus of his love, knowing full well he had failed
and betrayed him. But Jesus did not rebuke him, nor does Jesus rebuke us when
we fail. Rather, after causing Peter to examine his faith, he said to him,
“Follow me!” (John 21:19). Most importantly, the conversation between the two symbolized
Jesus’s forgiveness. After Jesus’s ascension, Peter began the work that God
planned for him. He courageously baptized the Roman centurion Cornelius, a man
of great power. He continued his journey by preaching to not only Jews, but to
Gentiles in Rome, where he would later be crucified. He never again denied Jesus.
Because of the grace he received, because Jesus did not give up on him, Peter
could finally become the rock on which the church was built, as Jesus foretold
in Matthew 16:18. Peter’s story is surely testament that Jesus sees something
in us that is far beyond our
comprehension. If we surrender to him and truly accept him, we can be new
creations.
Jesus also appeared to the other 11 disciples. These were
cowards who each ran away when Jesus needed them the very most. These were lazy
men who could not stay awake to support Jesus as he prayed so ardently that
drops of blood (Luke 22:44) fell from his forehead. Jesus had patiently taught
and served the disciples, but even at the end of his life, they were just as
weak as they were before. I ask again, why? Why did Jesus appear to these
worthless sinners? Because God is love. Because by the power of the cross, the
disciples could be more than doubting Thomases, proud Peters, and greedy
Matthews. As Moses stated in his message, Jesus’s appearance helped the
disciples overcome fear and doubt. He met them where they were and gave them
much-needed peace and assurance. Through his resurrection these sins died and
the disciples went on, just like Peter, to spread the gospel to all nations,
making disciples, writing letters, and even dying for their cause.
Last of all remains Paul. After Paul was blinded, he went to
the house of Ananias who was instructed by God to help Paul. When Paul dragged
himself to the doorstep in tearful desperation, Ananias welcomed him in,
addressing him as ‘brother.’ He gently placed his hands on Paul. “Immediately,
something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again” (Acts
9:18). He was baptized and at once began
to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. He traveled long and
far in Jesus’s name, establishing churches and sharing hope to the lost. Paul
wrote about 14 books of the New Testament.
Can we read verse 10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and
his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of
them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” At first this sounds a
bit proud, but in fact Paul did work harder than anyone. He was in prison more frequently, was flogged
more severely, had been exposed to death multiple times, once beaten by rods,
once pelted with stones, three times, shipwrecked. This guy was constantly
in danger. Yet praise and thanks be to God and his endless grace, that this man
who was once the worst of sinners became a servant willing to toil endlessly
for Jesus.
Most of you know me as Miriam Pierce: HBF praise leader,
Frisbee lover, Sméagol look-a-like. But
like Paul, I was and am a terrible sinner.
As a child, I had a surprisingly hard time practicing self-control. I
would argue with kids at school, and when arguing didn’t work, I’d argue with
them, physically. I fought with my sisters constantly and used to open the
silverware drawers and throw butter knifes at them in my untamable rage. I was
suspended multiple times. I recently dug up an old misconduct report I got
during first grade which reads, “Child was out of control, throwing chairs and
crayons, cowering in the corner. Other classmates were frightened.” Now picture
that.
In Revelation 21:5 Jesus says, “I am making everything new!”
and that is exactly what he did with me. I prayed daily and came before God on
my knees, and slowly but surely he took away my pain and my sins and bore it
upon his heavy shoulders. Because of Christ I am standing before you. And
today, the risen Jesus can make all of us
new. He does not ask us to be someone great; all he asks of us is simple
faith. With this, all of our struggles, all of our sins, all our pride,
selfishness, or doubt are defeated.
Christ meets us where we are in our walks, believers and unbelievers alike. He
sees a future for us that is more beautiful than we could ever imagine- all
through the power of the resurrection.
Though I have already met Jesus, my struggles are far from
over. As I write this, I have absolutely no idea about my future. I have been
accepted to a number of colleges but because none gave me the financial aid I
need, I am up against the real possibility of taking a year off before I go to
college. Never in my entire life would I have imagined doing this. I feel like
I have a calling to do great work for by God’s will, but I cry out to God
because I cannot do it. Yet through this passage I learn two things: 1) that
through Christ’s resurrection, my sins are defeated and there will be an end to
my struggles and failures. And 2) that God’s grace is more than enough. Though Paul is often credited as being the most
influential apostle, he still struggled. But it was not the struggles that
defined him, it was not the struggles that mattered, because he always had a
firm foundation in the saving power of the resurrection. In Jesus, our trials
are not the end. Once, Paul pleaded with Jesus to take away a certain thorn in
his flesh, but Jesus replied in 2 Corinthians 2:9 with, “My grace is sufficient
for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I do not know what the
future holds and at times I feel like I’m going to explode from all the
pressure and stress I am faced with but his
grace is sufficient for me. In 2
Corinthians 1:8-9 Paul lays bare all the troubles he experienced in Asia. It
reads, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that
we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of
death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who
raises the dead.” I have shed countless tears and spent many nights worrying
over my situation, thinking about ways I could have possibly gone wrong. But as
Paul references God who raises the dead, I am reminded of the power of the resurrection.
There are trials, loses, and setbacks in life that sometimes are just too much
for us to handle. It is in these moments that we must turn to God, remembering
that he has already delivered us from the grappling power of sin through his
resurrection and thus can deliver us from any trial whatsoever. Furthermore my
eyes are opened to what matters most, that which is not college rankings,
future majors, or even financial aid. I have learned to fix my eyes on Christ who will surely bring me through these
trials. No matter what happens, I have full assurance, trusting in the hope
that comes with the risen Christ.
Can we read verse 10a again? “By the grace of God I am what
I am.” We are sinners, doubters, unfaithful, misguided and self-seeking, like
Peter, the disciples, and Paul. But by the grace of God we are what we are. Through
the resurrection, the cowardly became the fearless. The quiet became the
courageous. The denier became the leader. The church’s greatest persecutor
became its greatest preacher. How will the risen Jesus transform your life?
Through the resurrection, the blind will see.
