a drop of waterArchive for the ‘Jamie Wilson’ tag
Scandalous Grace – A Message from Matthew 20
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.
Extravagant Faith – A Message from Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23
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…
Small as a Mustard Seed
Here is a reproduction of the sermon handout from Coast Vineyard, on Sunday, February 22, 2009. Pastor Jamie gave the first message in a series focused on the Kingdom of God.
A few points really struck accord with me. The first one was about self righteousness, how it blinds us to invalidate the goodness and compassion in God’s work because it does not line up with our picture of how it should be done. I’m unfortunately a familiar friend to this type of arrogance, especially when it comes to how ministry should be done. It is ‘easy’ for me to package up ministry and write down some guidelines and instructions on the box. Any deviation from whats written, invalidates the fruits and growth of that ministry, when instead I should be open to God working in ways that I could not conceive of.More than Meets the Eye (A message from Luke 13)
Jesus and the Kingdom of God: The Basics
- Jesus’ message explains his ministry. (They go hand in hand and we need both).
- When Jesus talks about the “Kingdom of God,” he is referring to God’s dynamic rule (sometimes we associate the kingdom with a physical place, but it is so much are: ”The Kingdom of God is the range of God’s effective will” - Dallas Willard)
- Self righteousness will keep us from experiencing God’s kingdom. (We invalidate the goodness and compassion in something because it contradicts our understanding of how life should work.)
- The Kingdom of God starts out small and surprising.
- The nature of the Kingdom is to grow.
- The Kingdom of God is meant to provide shelter for the nations.
- Why two parables? The Kingdom of God is available to everyone.
Growing in the Kingdom of God
- Pay attention to small beginnings in your life.
- Always expect more.
- Give it away!
Which leads into another point that spurred me on: “Always expect more.” This isn’t the type of greedy expectation that focuses on the more of what we get out something. It is the type of outward, particaptory expectation that expects, hopes, and depends on God to work more powerfully, bring more healing, fill with more peace, and love more tangibly. We must live a life that expects more
Lastly, the encouragement to “give it away” was timely for me. Jamie noted a spiritual economic stance, that we would be wise to “empty and spend all that God has filled our pockets with.” I love that idea, because it is saturated with the idea that what God gives us, how he provides for us is intended for us to give away. From the parable, small things grow, and so in turn we have been entrusted with something small, that has the power to grow. The cultural context of mustard seeds and yeast being common items that both men and women of the time would have access to, regardless of social or economic status, is an empowering vision for our lives in sharing and bringing the kingdom of God into our communities.
Moving in a Trajectory of Generosity
At Coast Vineyard this Sunday, Pastor Jamie covered the question “Why should I tithe?” He addressed the topic in two parts, first discussing some of the myths about tithing and then discussing the opportunites in giving. Here the notes from the sermon handout:
Common Myths about Giving
- Myth #1 – As long as we are giving, the amount we give does not matter.
- Myth #2 – Tithing is part of the law that doesn’t apply to followers of Jesus (Genesis 14:18-20; Luke 11:42).
- Myth #3 – We should give only when we have the resources. (2 Corinthians 8:3)
Types of Giving in the Bible
- “Tithing” is giving 10% to the place we worship. (Leviticus 27:30; 1 Corinthians 16:2)
- “Offerings” or “Alms” are gifts we give to the poor. (Matthew 6:2-4)
The Opportunities in Giving
- Tithing is an opportunity to worship. (Malachi 3:8-10)
- Tithing is an opportunity to test God. (Malachi 3:10)
- Tithing is an opportunity to receive blessing. (Malachi 3:10)
- God promises protection to those who tithe. (Malachi 3:11)
- Tithing is an opportunity to witness. (Malachi 3:12)
I was refreshed and inspired by a few of the points Jamie made regarding the myths. He challenged us with the question, “are we on a trajectory towards generosity?” I love the vision of being on a trajectory towards more generosity. Its the direction that says, when my boss gives me a raise, I can give the church a raise. Not only will my 10% be more, but if I was doing just fine before the raise, then I have the freedom to give my whole raise to the church. Its the direction that says if someone asks me to do 2 locations on their engagement shoot, I’ll be willing to do 4 locations. Its the idea that makes you want a bigger house not as a statement of your success but as a meeting place to invite people to bless and serve. Its the idea that says I’ll chip in the missing $10 when everyone claims to have paid their share when the bill is totaled. Its the way of doing things that says, I’ll drive to your house and pick you up, even if its in the opposite direction of where we are going. Its the idea that I’ll buy extra food at the grocery store to make a large pot of food on Monday so that I have the freedom to give it away to the person in need who I will learn about on Wednesday. Its the idea that makes it easy to set aside some money monthly in your budget for the sole purpose of giving away.
Another idea that Jamie shared was that tithing not only still applies to followers of Jesus, but that it is a starting place for our attitudes. Tithing is not the goal nor something to ignore. It is a beautiful opportunity to trust God with our resources. Stories of people like John Wesley and George Mueller, and a lesser known friends, John and Rose Marie Renfro remind me that 10% is really only square one on the board game of life. I remember John sharing with me about how they would annually increase the percentage of their tithes and how God would always provide for them even in dire straights.
The last thought that Jamie shared regarding the myths of tithing was that giving tithes to the church consists of a posture of surrender, especially when juxtaposed to donating to ones favorte nonprofit orgniazation, where we still cling to a feeling of control. Like any investor, we want to have concrete evidence of what our resources are contributing towards and that idea sometimes runs against the grain of the feelings surrounding tithing. But this is an opportunity to meet the fear of not having enough and surrender to God and acknowledge that he is in control. With respect to Coast, Jamie did nention later that the financial books are open for those interested and that as we tithe we are taking part in each ministry at Coast like, love146, Thailand, InterVarsity, Youth, Branch, etc.
Ultimately we are giving to the giver, responding to the infinitely great gift in Jesus Christ. In tithing, we acknowledge God as our LORD and king, and that we do not have any other.
More on Spiritual Assessments, Hunger and Reputation
Jamie mentioned in his sermon a few weeks ago at Coast, that we are hungry for God’s direction, for the power of the Spirit and for his answers to our questions and problems, but we are not hungry for our character to be made more like God’s character and not for the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patient, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
It was a sharp reminder to me. I want the answers, and the power to work in people’s lives and pass over the working through the hard stuff of love, joy, peace, patient, kindess, goodenss, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in my personal relationships with God and people.
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Jamie also posed the question, “What are we known for?” It’s an interesting question to answer yourself and ask a close friend. I think that the point of the question is not to ‘just’ find out what people think of you, but to realize that what your are known for is a direct result of how much you are letting God into your life. His work in you and through will (or lack of) will overflow out in your actions and people will know you for that. Examining what you are known for is one window into how God is working your life.
Maybe a different way to pose this question is, “What are you sowing in your life?” In light of Andy Crouch’s call to be cultivators and creators, I think we need to be sowing. Then we have to ask the equally important question of where we are getting seeds to sow?
