a drop of water

Scandalous Grace

A Message from Matthew 20

Jamie Wilson – Coast Vineyard – March 29, 2009

Lost in a Religious Mindset

• Anger and resentment are symptoms of the religious mindset.
• Obedience to God seems empty when we’re stuck in a religious mindset.
• The insecurity of a religious mindset drives us to feel superior towards others.

A Kingdom Full of Grace

• The desperate receive special grace in God’s kingdom.
• Our reward comes out of the Father’s heart.
• We all have the potential to be offended by God’s grace.

Seeing Life through Eyes of the Kingdom

• Pay attention to the overlooked.
• Expect God’s generosity, even when it seems too late.
• Celebrate grace wherever we find it.

A few reactions, thoughts and conclusions:

Title - It almost seems scandalous, to describe grace as scandalous.  Scandalous makes me think of disgrace, moral depravity, shame and those are words that I would not typically associate with grace.  However, scandalous can also describe the shock, the ridiculousness and the undeserving characteristics of God’s grace.

Section 1 – What does it mean to have a religious mindset?  I guess it means to have a mindset that does not consider God’s grace.  Instead of focusing on what God is doing, the focus is on what we are doing.  In the first point, with the focus on ourselves and what we’ve accomplished, we gain a sense of entitlement that grows into anger and resentment at someone who, by our discernment, has accomplished less, yet receives more.    In the second point, our focus is on proving the worth of our own life, instead of an expression and response of love to God who first loved us.  And in the third point, our focus is on our position in relation to others, providing us with grounds to elevate ourselves above others.

Section 2 - Jamie pointed out that the day workers in the story were still waiting for work at 5pm.  They were desperate since most workers would probably head home earlier and give up on work for the day.  It is beautiful to consider that the source of grace, the amount of grace is rooted in the father’s heart.  It was also a good mental check to realize that we can be offended by God’s grace; when someone who seemingly needs the grace more than me, gets the same amount that I do, seemingly underservingly.

Section 3 - These are such world changing visions for how life could be lived daily.  Being sensitive to the people who are overlooked for whatever reason — class, status, belief, gender, education, race, ethnicity, theological camp, etc; expectantly depending on God’s generosity to meet the needs around us even when we’ve seen God rejected and rejected his grace ourselves; to actively looking for God’s grace wherever we see it in order to celebrate it without the cycnicism, anger and resentment that cripples the life infusing power in God’s grace — it is visions like these that I want my life to be built on.

Asa shared last night at small group, what a friend had told him recently:

“Be careful what you do everyday, because you will get good at it.”

Its a sobering and freeing thought…that the attitudes, lifestyles, and decisions that make up our daily lives inherently reinforce themselves to where they become easier, more routine, and more natural.  It’s sobering because if I choose to come home from work and watch a few hours of TV to relax and be entertained, I’ll get good at…watching TV.  If I spend all my free time on websites like fatwallet looking for opportunities for arbitrage, I’ll get good at making money the goal of my life.  If I am I quick to speak and quick to anger, then I’ll get good at judging people around me.  Getting good at something is almost always at the expense of not getting good at something else.  So I have to ask myself, what does getting good at A cost me in terms of getting good at B?

If I’m good at watching TV, I probably won’t very practiced at having lucid and thoughtful conversations about my day with friends and family.  If I’m good at making money the main goal of my time, then I won’t be very good at seeing the value in relationships and the priceless intangibles of life.  If I’m good at judging people around me, then I’ll be horrible at being open to God’s love and direction for myself and those around me.  If I’m good at waking up and immediately checking and responding to email, I’ll be very weak at depending on God for a right start in the day.  If I’m good at complaining about work, then I probably will be blind to the joys that God has for me in the present.

But the truth in this statement is also freeing.  If we practice daily the attitudes and lifestyles that we want to become second nature, then it will happen.  We will get good at the things we do daily.  If I practice going to work joyfully and giving 100%, then it will get easier to do day by day.  If I practice being patient, loving, and always having a sensitive ear to those around me, I’ll get good at it.  If I practice waking up in the morning and spending time with God by reading in the Bible and praying, it I will gradually come to expect and depend on it.  I guess this is the heart of the spiritual disciplines, and ultimately the Christian faith, daily engaging, learning from, and loving God.

When Apple released the Ipod Touch 2G, the Iphone 3G and the Ipod Nano 4G, they switched up the charging system from a 12V source to a 5V source (removing the last reminant of firewire support in their connector).  Unfortunately this rendered many charging and playing connectors in cars, speaker docks, etc., half functional, since the newer ipods would only play and no longer charge while connected.

I’ve been waiting for a speaker dock that supports the new design, but haven’t found one yet.  I recently ran across an adapter made by Scosche.  I don’t own it myself, but the reviews on Amazon seem to recommend it.  Looks like this would be a good option if you are looking to play and charge the new Ipods at the same time on an older device.

Extravagant Faith (A Message from Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23)

March 8th, 2000 – Coast Vineyard - Jamie Wilson

A Spiritual Check-Up: Which kind of soil are you?

• The dry path question: Am I closed to, open to, or learning to follow the messaage of Jesus?
• The rocky field question: Am I willing to sacrifice to see more of God’s kingdom?
• The thorny soil question: Is there a fear or desire in my life choking God’s work?
• The good soil question: How much multiplication do I want?

Living for Maximum Return

• Our job description is to sow the message of the kingdom.
• Most of the seed won’t bear fruit.
• We get the highest yield when we sow everywhere (the sower does not know where the wind, weeds, rocks and thorns are…)
• It takes a long time to see real results.
• There is plenty of supply.  There is much room for extravagance in sowing.

The question that I am left with is this: how do we sow, what does it look like?

Maybe that has an obvious answer, and I’m just missing it.  I think that sowing looks different for everyone and must be integrated with your personality, your occupation, your culture, and your calling.  For me it seems like a lot of sowing would be sharing / painting the vision of the Kingdom of God for other people to see.  This leaves a huge blank canvas for each of us to creatively color in, because each of us experiences the Kingdom of God uniquely within our contexts.  I invite you to comment on how you sow the vision of the Kingdom of God in your work place, in your family, with your friends…

March 1, 2009 – Coast Vineyard – Michelle Wilson

The Kingdom of God is Now.

• The Kingdom of God has already come. – “the kingdom God is upon you”
• The Kingdom of God has yet to come in full. – We live in a tension where we hope and take part in the realization of the kingdom.
• The Kingdom of God is coming right now. – We are in the middle of the greatest event ever happening.

The Kingdom of God is New.
To enter into it, we need to:

• Take off what we think we know.
• Put on what God is doing now.

The Kingdom of God cannot be contained by our old selves.
To become carriers of it, we must:

• Ask to be made new.
• Ask for the kingdom to come within us.
• Expect turbulence (don’t confuse this with the actual presence of God).
• Expect to be used by God (bring healing and freedom).

For me, this message challenged me to consider tangible ways on how to bring the Kingdom of God into the lives and places that I come in contact with.  Three questions helped me visualize this idea.

1. Write down names of people or places that I want to see the Kingdom of God come into.  Draw a box around those words.
2. Write down truths, promises, experiences of the Kingdom of God that you have heard of or believe outside the box.
3. Connect the words that are outside the box with words that are inside the box as you see fit.  On those lines write ideas and actions about how to make them a reality.

This illustration can continue to grow as we learn and experience more of the Kingdom of God and how it works.  If I keep my drawing in my head it helps me be more consciously prayerful throughout the day.