"God Is My Joy"

 

John 13:31-35    Acts 11:1-18

 

      When I was in high school I did not have a car.  My parents had two cars.  One was an old purple Falcon and the other was a new white Torino.  After I got my driver's license I always had to ask if I could use one of the cars. Most of the time they let me take the keys to the old Falcon (not exactly a chick mobile) but on special occasions like the prom they would let me take the Torino.  While I was driving I could make believe that it was my car.  But I knew that at the end of the day I had to give the keys back.  It was my parents car, not mine.  When I gave them the keys back I was simply returning something that was already theirs.  While I was out I could not give or sell the car to someone else.  It was their car to do with what they wanted.  If  I drove responsibly, I would be able to enjoy using the car whenever I wanted to but if I did not I could lose my driving privileges.  

 

       It is also true that our lives are not ours to give.  Like the car belongs to my parents, we belong to God.  Have you ever heard someone say "I gave my life to Christ."  In reality, that is something that is impossible to do.  We cannot give something to God that is already God's.    

 

       I mention this because it is clear in Acts that salvation is a gift.  In verse fourteen Cornelius is told that Peter will declare to him a message by which you shall be saved.  God took the initiative and Cornelius responded.  And then in the last verse, "To the Gentiles God has granted repentance unto life."  It doesn't say that the Gentiles repented and then were saved.  God granted them the gift of repentance.  I think that we often think of repentance as something that we do, a first step that we take and then God rewards us for it.  According to Luke, even repentance is a gift.  God turns us towards the truth, the truth about ourselves and the truth about our situation.  The truth that we need help, that we cannot do it on our own, that we our sinners and need God's grace. Like Cornelius we cannot turn our lives around on our own.  We need God's help.  God offers himself to us and we respond.  Our response is joy and thanksgiving.  

 

           John Calvin has an interesting quote in his comments about this passage in Acts. "Disgraceful ingratitude on the part of the world reveals itself in this respect, that they disdain the true and certain salvation that is set before them, and, leaving it as if cast down at their feet, they conjure up various ineffectual salvations for themselves, and in seeking after these, they prefer to have hungry mouths hanging open, rather than be satisfied by the grace of God, that is present and easily obtained."

 

       Calvin is saying that we ignore God's plan of salvation and we look for all kinds of ways to save ourselves.  That is like me taking the keys to my parents car and going out and ignoring all of the things they had taught me about driving.  I might think that I can drink alcohol and drive or drive ninety miles an our in a twenty-five mile an hour zone.  I might even think I can drive straight into a tree and nothing will happen to me.  I put myself in danger of losing my life.  That is exactly what we do when we try to save ourselves.  The truth is I cannot save myself, only God can save me.  Salvation is already present, a freely given gift from a benevolent God.   The truth is I am not completely free.  I belong to God.  What we are called to do is respond to God's gracious gift with joy and thanksgiving.  We are God's and God will take care of us.    

 

      

        What the Acts passage is pointing out is that we spend a lot of our time resisting God and that God continues to reach out to us and finds a way to save us despite what we do.  There were people who did not want the Gentiles included in the family.  They wanted the Gentiles to jump through all kinds of hoops before they could be included.  And God found a way to include them.  Peter discovered that God's grace is for all.  That includes you and me. 

    

          Psalm 148 sings of a time when all the earth and all created things shall praise the Lord.  Salvation, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, is today offered to one and to all. 

                

       How do we respond?  One of our confirmands in her affirmation of faith wrote "God is my joy."  That is a proper response for everything that God has done for us.  We might add and I will live my life out of thanksgiving for all that God has done for me. Even on our worst day the gift of life is an incredible gift and the gift of salvation and new life is even greater.   Not one of us can earn our way into the kingdom but every one of us can accept the freely given gift of salvation with joy and thanksgiving.