die

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11, NRSV)

Christ died for you. And here Paul tells the Romans that Christ died for the ungodly…

And we know what Paul says is true. I know a Secret Service Agent, and when they are on protection duty they have to protect the President or the Vice-President, or whom ever they are on detail for, whether they like them or voted for them or not! And it is not about the person, it is about the position. They are willing to die to protect the person they are on detail for. How many of us would do that?

And Christ died for us when we were far from God, when we were still sinners!

So Christ died for you and for all the world, so we are all in the same boat, dead without Him.

So go and love and tell them all what He has done for them!

save me

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. (John 12:20-33, NRSV)

Glory comes from God.

And we can give Him glory by following what He is leading us to do.

Which you can see from the reading sometimes isn’t even what Jesus wants to do.

Jesus said, “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

So even Jesus didn’t like what God told Him to do, but He did it. Because that is what gives God glory.

And ultimately Jesus’ faithfulness is what saves us!

Shout Aloud and Sing!

You will say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, and you comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 12, NRSV)

I give thanks to God!

For you Lord were angry with me, and you were right to be. But you turned away from your anger as a loving parent and picked me up and loved me. Even in my dirtiness! Even in my sin!

You loved me and I praise you for your love and give thanks to you!

I will sing to you for you are my salvation and the rock of my life.

I will praise you with my life and shout aloud your praises to all the world!

Paul as Popeye…

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe. (1 Corinthians 15:1-11, NRSV)

Paul here told the Corinthians, “But by the grace of God I am what I am!”

I yam what I yam…

I am a sinner saved by grace!

We are all dependent upon the grace and love of God. and we look up to Paul, but he says he is the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle because of his past. Yet he is the model for most of us in our faith walk.

and if we looked at the heroes of our faith we would see that they really aren’t the kind of people we should be modeling our lives after, but they are, because they have been transformed by God’s grace, and so have we, so we can all say, “But by the grace of God I am what I am!”

no longer I

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;  yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.  But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!  But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor.  For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. (Galatians 2:15-21, NRSV)

We know that we are not justified by the law.

We can not work our way to heaven, or earn salvation. It is a gift of God.

Apart from the Law, so that no one may boast they are better than any other.

So then why do we act like we are better than other people?

The Jews of Jesus day were saying the Greeks were out because they were not Jews, and they were outsiders.

Are we really any different today? Now some of us are, but we all have moments where we fall into an elitist state, and think we are better than others. We shut outsiders out.

We are called to love as Christ loved us, which means we see no separation between us and others. Christ came to bridge the gap for all of us with God.

So there is no Jew or Greek, Slave or Free, Male and Female, Christian and non-Christian, we are all united and need to look on the other as we look upon ourselves.