Mitchell, Brody, Shannon, and Shelby
Also all my friends at Dordt, who time and time again have been a family and a home for me: Justin, Hannah, Rebekah, Anna, Joy, Bailey, Marta, Marissa, Aubrey, Heidi, Adam, Michaela, Lance, Calvin, Kelli, Kaycie, Andrew, Bridget, Monica, Craig, Cait, Tanner, Nathan, Dirk, Justin Mills, and Aaron,
All my friends in Christ, all the people I haven't met, and hopefully the entire world,
At some point, every parent has to give their children the "Grace Talk." That's what this is. This is someone being as clear as possible that Grace is indeed Grace, with no bargains, conditions, or petitions. This is what I believe everyone needs to hear and constantly be reminded of.
On March 19, 2014, Dordt brought in a man named John Lynch to speak at Chapel. This is a service put on at the B.J. Haan Auditorium at Dordt most Wednesday mornings. There most likely isn't one going on today, since it's finals week, and people like Hannah are going to be graduating, but I figured I'd turn back the clock and revisit what was the most important sermon I ever heard on that stage. It's this outlook that has made every sermon by Aaron Baart a treasure, and that has given gentility and, well, gracefulness to many others who have spoken before the campus, such as President Erik Hoekstra.
This stuff is important to me. There's a reason why I don't get tired of saying the same thing over and over again, because I know how easy it is to lose sight of what's important in life.
So John gets up. He talks. The Dordt students embraced him like a Lynch mob. I find myself completely on the same key as him, and so relieved that he wasn't letting this issue go, wasn't getting sidetracked, wasn't trying to apply it to a tangential issue. Maybe I cried, but I don't remember. I definitely remember crying right at the end, though, as everyone started leaving their pews. I went up to him and gave him a hug and said that this meant so much to me.
A recording of this particular chapel service is available on the Dordt website, and I would listen to it over and over again, particularly as I was completing my artwork. I remember going through my painting for Justin, and just putting it on repeat.
It took me a while, but I finally completed a transcript of John Lynch's speech, and that's why I'm writing this. To translate a work of oratory into a work of literature, that's something. It has meant a great deal to me to keep myself immersed in this, and it's given me a bigger heart for all of you guys.
So here it is.
All my friends in Christ, all the people I haven't met, and hopefully the entire world,
At some point, every parent has to give their children the "Grace Talk." That's what this is. This is someone being as clear as possible that Grace is indeed Grace, with no bargains, conditions, or petitions. This is what I believe everyone needs to hear and constantly be reminded of.
On March 19, 2014, Dordt brought in a man named John Lynch to speak at Chapel. This is a service put on at the B.J. Haan Auditorium at Dordt most Wednesday mornings. There most likely isn't one going on today, since it's finals week, and people like Hannah are going to be graduating, but I figured I'd turn back the clock and revisit what was the most important sermon I ever heard on that stage. It's this outlook that has made every sermon by Aaron Baart a treasure, and that has given gentility and, well, gracefulness to many others who have spoken before the campus, such as President Erik Hoekstra.
This stuff is important to me. There's a reason why I don't get tired of saying the same thing over and over again, because I know how easy it is to lose sight of what's important in life.
So John gets up. He talks. The Dordt students embraced him like a Lynch mob. I find myself completely on the same key as him, and so relieved that he wasn't letting this issue go, wasn't getting sidetracked, wasn't trying to apply it to a tangential issue. Maybe I cried, but I don't remember. I definitely remember crying right at the end, though, as everyone started leaving their pews. I went up to him and gave him a hug and said that this meant so much to me.
A recording of this particular chapel service is available on the Dordt website, and I would listen to it over and over again, particularly as I was completing my artwork. I remember going through my painting for Justin, and just putting it on repeat.
It took me a while, but I finally completed a transcript of John Lynch's speech, and that's why I'm writing this. To translate a work of oratory into a work of literature, that's something. It has meant a great deal to me to keep myself immersed in this, and it's given me a bigger heart for all of you guys.
So here it is.
FOREWORD by AARON BAART
Good morning everybody. Welcome to Chapel and, um, welcome to this new series we're kicking off in Chapel today. Um, thanks for the incredible response we've been getting across campus. People have been signing up for small groups and collecting books in Student Services. Caleb van der Hill continues to help us out. If you have not got in a small group yet and you're panicking because you're realizing you're missing out on something, Caleb van der Hill is in the back. Um, he's got his, um, books as well as signups and can still get you connected, or feel free to swing by student services any time today and Emily Vander Greene can help you as well.
So this is our first week going through, um, this series – on The Cure., and when we talked about doing this project from the very beginning, um, one of our goals was to ask one of the primary authors, um, John Lynch to come help lead us. Um, it worked in John's schedule for him to be here; uh, it's been fun showing him around campus, introducing him to Dordt. Uh, John Lynch, uh, is the primary author of The Cure, has been pastor for, teaching pastor for, thirty years. He opened doors in Phoenix. Um, he's written multiple other books, travels around speaking and leading, and um, we're just absolutely thrilled that he could be here this morning, so will you please join me in welcoming John Lynch.
And I'll offer a quick word of prayer as well. Please bow your heads with me. Father God, we want to thank You so much for all the ways You keep speaking to us, revealing truth, and inviting us into life with You. Thank You for the gifts and the wisdom, the insights, the vocabulary You have given to John in his journey to speak that voice, and invite us into life with You. Father, use him again this morning, that his words will convict our hearts, draw us closer to You, and just set us on fire for all it is that You are doing, and in Jesus' name, amen.
JOHN LYNCH
Amen.
Good morning everyone!
(Good morning.)
That was really pitiful. Come on, I went through TSA for you people. Work with me now. Work with me. Good morning everyone!
(Good morning!)
Thank you, yes, my people.
I know what some of you are thinking: Did that elderly man step in some turquoise paint? I can explain. Listen, um, when I go places I'm asked to – most places, Aaron didn't do it to me – but most places, they want you to dress “business casual.” I don't have that particular look. I have casual and I have slovenly. Um, when I dress up I just look like a dweeb. I have Dockers on and these shoes that look like a tribute to The Pilgrims, or, er, uh, I just look stupid. So one night my wife and I, Stacey, are strolling in an overpriced, high-end mall, and I walk by this store. It's called Han, and I see these shoes, and I think, and I say, “I...I...I must have those shoes.” And Stacey says “Well it's your birthday. Let's go get them.” I said “Really?” and I'm thinking, “This could put us back sixty-seventy bucks. These shoes, um, are-are roughly the price of a mid-sized Sedan.” But it was my birthday and she got them.
Look, here's the deal. I'm sixty. I don't care anymore. Thank you.
And here's the deal: if you don't like them, I'm not going to be around much longer anyway, so...deal with it. But I love them. Love'em. I have a whole fleet of them. Um, so deal with me.
Drinking water, just because I can.
Alright guys, I am so honored to be here with you! I'm so proud of you guys that you're going through The Cure! Can't believe the commitment this campus, your leaders, have made to do this. So when I found out what you're doing, I said, “I'lll...I'lll...Yes. Just yes.” I hope what today does is maybe...gives common language, maybe to stuff that you already know but didn't have words for. So I hope, I hope this is a great beginning as you start this series.
THE SERMON
This all begins, doesn't it, back in the Garden, back there the lie was believed? Two people in unconfirmed righteousness are told a lie. “Hey hey hey hey! You can eat of it...Don't, c'mon. He just doesn't want you to have the knowledge of good and evil. He wants to hold out on you.”
And you know the story. “You surely will not die,” and when the woman saw that it was good and it was delightful to the eyes and the tree was desirable, she had some and she gave some to her husband. And then the eyes of them were both opened and they knew that they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. First act of sin management in human history. And you know it doesn't work when you try to manage your sin, and the way you know is that you still hide.
And so they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the Garden and the Lord called out to the man, saying “Where are you?” knowing full well where he was, and Adam said “I heard the sound of You in the Garden and I was afraid, because I was naked. For the first time in my life, I felt nakedness.”
Interesting, the word for “naked” changes from this point on in Genesis. Before it just meant “without clothing.” Now suddenly it means “Estranged. Alone. Odd. Not sure what to do. A feeling of 'I'm not right! Something's particularly wrong with me!”
“I was afraid. It scared me. Because for the first time I realized I was naked, and so I hid myself.”
And there it is.
A stone drops into a giant pool, a pool of DNA now, drops into a giant pool of history, and their concentric circles work their way out down through history, and they work out and they work out, and they touch every single human, and they find themselves...all the way to me. And now whenever I feel like I don't match up or I get embarrassed or I get afraid or exposed, or I do something or something gets done to me, that tries to convince me that I'm not enough, that I don't match up. Shh! I hide. I put on a mask.
As early as we can remember, we've performed for acceptance. If I'm good, talented, beautiful, together, competent, right enough, I'll be loved and accepted and happy, and if not, I will be pitied and patronized and rejected and I'll live a second class life.
You know what it's like? It's like the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” theology. Santa Claus. We created him because we couldn't handle God. Truth is we can't handle Santa Claus. We made him all jolly and chubby, but the guy's really, truly a controlling omniscient legalist with unlimited power.
“O you'd better watch out, you'd better not cry! You better not pout...I'll tell you why. Cause Santa Claus's coming to town! 'O ho ho ho ho,' he's making a list! He's checking it twice! He will, oh my, he will find out who's naughty'n'nice!”
And this controlling omniscient legalist...He's coming to town!
“He knows when you've been sleepin'...” Which in my book is wrong, okay? I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're jolly. I don't want to wake up and “Ah! Santa! Get out of my room!”
“He knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good...”
So be good for, um, Goodness' Sake. And your worth is on how much you do right and how little you do wrong, and he's always writing stuff down, and he's going to find you out! Oh, and this omniscient legalist, he's coming to town, so you'd better watch out. You'd better fear this guy. You'd better stop sniveling. You'd better not pout. You'd better put on a good face and act like you're somebody better than who you actually happen to be. Dance better, put on a good show, just be better than who you are, for goodness' sake! Don't be a whiner. Fix yourself. Try harder. Do more. Be better. Don't have so many problems. Watch over your shoulder. Get better in a hurry, and if you can't, at least bluff like you are, because you're constantly on trial. And if you want good things to happen in your life, you'd better figure out how to keep this guy happy.
It is genetically wired into us, isn't it? We learn early on to perform and the highest value is being accepted, and the means of acceptance is right appearance.
*sigh*
There's a problem, because I fail. Gosh, if you could get into my head, you would say “Why are we having this guy come preach to us?” I fail, and another result of the Fall, it feels like nobody fails like me. Mine feels weirder and more shameful, and so I live with this secret awareness of just how poorly I'm doing, how little I've grown, and so I feel unfit, unworthy, unlovable. Shhk – I'm naked!And I cannot stand that feeling. Just like Adam, it freaks me out. It makes me afraid. It makes me feel alienated in the world in which I walk. So no one must know. I've got to mask myself with enough reasons to be loved. I've got to brag, I've got to put others down, act healthier, idealize myself, posture, bluff, uh, religify myself, keep a smile on myself, avoid correction, justify and rationalize and hide the real me.
And then comes the Gospel. Maybe for the first time, maybe for the four hundred a fifty f...five, fifth time. The Gospel.
2 Corinthians 5:21. “He, God, made Jesus, Who knew no sin – who had never sinned – to actually bec...become sin on my behalf.”
He, God, made Jesus, Who had never sinned, actually take on all my garbage, all my filth, and not just mine, but everyone in history's. And He becomes it. He, God, made Jesus, Who knew no sin, to actually become my sin, and here you go now, listen to this: “So that I – The one who put Him on the cross? – So that I might become the righteousness of Christ in Him.” So that I actually carry full righteousness in me!
What? Are you kidding me? Why? Why would He – why would I find myself being loved like this? Jesus saying “To the exact extent that My father loves Me, so also I love you.” And you...when the Son does this, and I find myself actually believing it, it rewires my circuits. And patterns get broken. I dare to believe I'm lovable just because He chose to love me. I'm delighted in. Holy, righteous. I begin to believe that He created me lovable, that He actually wanted there to be a John Lynch on this planet like he is now, right now. He just had to...He had to break through the chasm of sin separation, and this radically remakes us.
And then...something happens. I don't know – you tell me. I...I...Maybe you go through a season where you don't experience His love as much, or you feel dry, or maybe you fail God in some way that you promised Him you would never fail Him again, and you did and you did again and then you did again. And subtly, gradually like ssssssssssmoke it sssssssssssslips back under the door, the lie reawakens. You b-begin to presume that a sense of His absence or bad circumstances must be due to His displeasure with you. So the cycle starts back up again.
Okay, I'll sure things up. I'll straighten the magazines. I'll set some standards. I'll get serious. I so got this! I can do this! I-I-I-I'll get serious about my behaviors, I-I-I'm-I'll-I'm going to sure things up, and then the river will flow again. Whew! I can do this!
And one of these times, because He's absolutely crazy about you, He will say “That's enough.” And He will finally call you out.
You'll be walking along doing the Christian life, just one path, it's always been that way. You've just been walking the Christian life, and then suddenly – Boom! Right in front of you, one path becomes two, and there's this giant pole right in front of you. And this giant pole shoots way up into the sky, and over to the right side there's an arrow, and an arrow on this one. This one says “Trusting God.” And this one says “Pleasing God.”
Well I uh...uh, whew, don't get it. No, I just want to do the Christian life. I admit, these are both great. I don't want to have to choose between either one, now just do the Chri – but there is it, and it's not going away. And from this point on, whichever one you choose will become the primary motivation of your heart for the rest of your journey.
So eventually, frustrated, I look up and I see “Trusting God.” That can't be right. That doesn't give me anything to do. Alright, stay there...“Pleasing God.” Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...Yeah yeah. See, that's, this has got to be it, because after all He's done for me, the least I can do is I want to please Him. I want to make Him happy. I wanna – I wanna express how enough that I care and that I-I can real-really prove to Him that I...
Oh my gosh, I see what's happening. This is it. He just finally made this path so that I would choose and be with the sold-out people of God. I get what's happening here. So I do, I take this path of pleasing God, and it starts out – I go through some thickets, some brambles, and then eventually trees are growing. Eventually I'm in a thick forest, and I walk for a long ways. Eventually, the forest opens into a clearing, a wide clearing. Acres and acres and acres of clearing, and off in the distance I see this glimmering, shining building.
And the building has, eh, eh, words on it and as I get closer I can see it. Beautiful building. And now as I've walked closer, another five minutes, I see that it says “STRIVING HARD TO BE ALL GOD WANTS ME TO BE.”
Yeah! Ha, woowooowoowoowoowoowoo!
I mean, it sounds like an [unintelligible at 17:30] and a big “C'mon!”
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
And I'm, I'm, I'm there. Now I get closer and I see that there's a door on the building, and the door has a doorknob, and written above the doorknob are two words: “Self effort.”
And I'm thinking “Yeah. Finally somebody says is. Somebody has the nerve to say it, 'cause that's exactly right. 'Cause I – God does His part, so I gotta do my part. Right? I mean, God helps those who help themselves? That's in scripture...behind like Malachi or something? I – It's there.”
So –
chk! chk!
I open the door and I walk in.
Thousands of people! Cacophony of sound! The place is packed, and it's overwhelm...! I-I-I'm stunned; my jaw's dropped; I'm just li – I can't believe it. I'm here with the sold-out people of God.
And I don't notice as I'm standing that behind me a hostess...walks and she says to me in a voice that upon further reflection is a little slick, a little oily – she says, “Hi. Welcome to the room of good intentions.”
And I'm blown – I don't even hear what she says, I just go, “Hello! Heh, huh, you have no idea how excited I am to be here! He, how's everybody doin'? Hwoo! Hha haey-aye!”
And it's quiet. Not a sound.
“Hey, how's everybody doin'?
Finally, somebody steps forward. One person says “[clears throat] Thank you, we are doing just fine. Yes we are. We're fine. Thank you. Bob, Debbie, Carl? We're all fine. Just fine as fine can be. That's who we are. We're the fine people. Fine-ness – you can see it. We're that kind of people. Kids are doing great; the liquidity in my position at work; I have a...spendable currency with a basis of, of dialectic. We are doing just fine. Thank you for asking.”
...I'm thinking, “Well that's odd, but they seem fine, and that's great.”
And then the hostess says to me, “So how are you doing?”
And I say, “Oh, whew! Thanks for asking. I-I've been struggling with a lot of things, but now that I'm here, I think that I-I be, eh, uh, and I, but I gotta tell ya – ”
And she does this, and she pulls from behind her a mask, and issues for me to put it on. Well I don't want to put on a mask. I've never worn a mask in my whole life but...as I look at the mask, it looks very similar to the expression of the faces of the people in that room.
I so want to make it. I so want to be accepted. I so want to be loved. I so want to be known.
Ah, God, help me.
Shhhhhk! I put on the mask and I...I say, um, “I'm doing fine. I'm doing alrigh – I'm d-do-doing fine, thank you for asking.”
You're in the room of good intentions! And there's a banner on the back wall. I don't see it at first. It says, “Working hard on my sin to achieve an intimate relationship with God.” Working hard on my sin to achieve an intimate relationship with God!
Yeah. See, that's right. That's right again. Beca-because when, wh – when I was first a Christian, it felt like He and I were so close. It felt like I could talk to Him, like I could almost touch Him...and then something happened. Over time it felt like Romans Seven: the things that I said I was going to do I didn't do, the things I said I wasn't gonna do I did, and over time it's like He got further and further away on the other side of my sin, and this mountain started growing of all my stuff, of all my junk, all my garbage, all my fish bones and coffee grounds and mildewy stuff. This steaming, hissing, pussy mount of of my stuff. And He keeps getting further away as it grows, and it's got wet cat food that's been left out for a week, mixed with mayonnaise, and it's just, just – gaaahh! And I can't see Him anymore because of the steam and the vapor that's rising, and He's so far away.
But I imagine Him now, shaking His head with His arms folded, saying “Fffffhhhhww, I had so much hope for that kid – but he has let Me down so many times and so – I don't want to hear it anymore!”
And I want to call out to Him and say, “I, erhmgh, I lo – I love You
I know You probably can't hear me, but I d-d-d – You watch now! Now that I'm in this room, I'm gonna get things fixed! You're gonna see, that mound's gonna get small, and we're gonna be closer again!”
I know You probably can't hear me, but I d-d-d – You watch now! Now that I'm in this room, I'm gonna get things fixed! You're gonna see, that mound's gonna get small, and we're gonna be closer again!”
But what nobody tells me in that room is that there's nothing I can do to make that mound grow smaller, and what nobody tells me in that room is that trucks more of that stuff are being brought in every day, and what nobody tells me in that room is that when I wear a mask...
When I wear a mask, only my mask gets loved.
Oh, but this room, you guys, [sniffs] this room is beautiful. It is inlaid with ivory and parquet floors, and beautiful, flowing balconies and staircases and, uh, i-i-ivory and shining, glittering chrome – it is magnificent! It has sincerity and perseverance and courage and diligence and full-hearted fervency and sold-out determination, and I'm thinking, “Yes! This is it! I'm gonna make him so happy and one day soon we're gonna be so close.”
[heavy breathing, gulps, breathes heavily again]
But weeks turn into months and I notice that many here sound cynical and the look so tired. And their conversations, if you listen to them, they're superficial and guarded, and if you catch them when no one's looking, and they can't tell that anyone's around, there's deep lonely pain in their faces. And I'm starting to think differently. I'm no longer as relaxed. I've got this nagging anxiety. If I don't behave, if I don't control my sin enough, I'm gonna be on the ousts with everybody in this room.
And probably with God, too.
So I do. I invest more effort into sinning less and I do. I gotta tell you, I feel better for a while, but despite all my striving, despite all my sincerity – da-gaah! I keep sinning! Some days the same sin, over and over and over again! I-I get fixated on trying not to sin. I can't seem to do enough. I never get through my list. I never feel like I've done enough! I feel like I'm making every eff – stinking stinking effort to please a God Who's never pleased enough!
[panting]
And gradually the path to pleasing God is turning into “What in the world must I do to keep Him pleased?”
Uh, m-muh-my...my dear brothers and sisters. When I embrace this theology, I reduce godliness to a ridiculous formula: more right behavior plus less wrong behavior equals godliness.
More right behavior!
(Less wrong behavior!)
Equals: Godly Man.
And there's only one problem with that theology. It has to improve to reach the level of heresy. Did you hear me? It has to improve to reach up to heresy. Why? Because it disregards the godliness and righteousness that God has already placed in us...on our worst day. Yes, we mature in godliness, but if we disregard the righteousness that's already ours from trust, we are set up to live in hiddenness. We can never resolve our sin by working on it. We may change behaviors for a while, like moving deck chairs around on the Titanic, but when we strive to sin less we don't, and it causes us to lose hope. It keeps us immature, and even the [wheezing]...
And even though this theology's been breaking out hearts almost a thousand times – ten thousand times – we keep desperately hoping that maybe this time we'll be able to control and stop our bad habits and sin by enough – [wheezes] – sincerity and will power.
[Strained breath. Gulp.]
And I can't breath! I can't breath in this room! And I want, I wanna call out and I want – but it's the one thing that nobody wants to talk about. Do not talk about that! [strained breath] What's wrong with me? Why can't I make – why does it seem like everybody else –
[Strained breathing. Voice almost cracks.]
And eventually, even though I'm pretty convinced that this is the only chance that I have to be around the sold-out people of God...
Ch-chk! I open the door and I walk out.
Now what do I do? I'm devastated. I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I th-that – this was it. This was my one chance and I blew it. And I wander. I wander for like forty-five minutes to an hour. I-I'm, my head's down, I'm not even looking, until I run smack-dab into that pole again, where the two arrows were.
With almost no hope I look up at that arrow that says “Trusting God.”
Ah, you've got to me kidding me, right? You've gota be kidding m – is there a third path?
And hearing nothing, I start walking again. Down this path. [sigh] Walk, same thing. Trees, thickets, bushes, brambles, forests, walk out into a clearing, giant building off in the distance, same thing.
Except this time the words are different. And I keep walking because I can read them now, but they don't make any sense. I keep getting closer and saying “What? That can't mean that.” But there they are, written across, right across the wall, the front of the building:
“Living out of who God says I am.”
Wwwwhat? My ear hears one word right after another. “Living out of who God says I am.” Well we'll get right on that (what does that mean?)!”
I keep walking, another five-ten minutes, and I see that there's a door on this building, and then I see that there's a doorknob, and there's one word written above the doorknob this time. It says this: “Humility.”
Shhhhhhhhhhk!
Humility. Trusting God and others with me. It dawns on me so much. It just hits me. I've tried so hard. I've tried so – I've tried so hard to impress You, to convince You that I was worthy of Your love, that I could pull this off, that I could be enough – and You never wanted! You're bigger, You're faster, You're stronger, You're better, and all You ever wanted me to do was trust You in me.
Help. I'm all messed up. I'm all battered and help me, I don't know how to do this anymore! I – I don't know where to go if this doesn't work.
Chk-chk! And I open the door and I walk in. Same thing. Huge crowd. Cacophony of sound. Thousands of people. And I'm just staring now. And I don't notice that there is in this room also a hostess, and she walked up behind me, and she doesn't say anything for a little bit. She just looks at me and smiles. I don't see her until I hear her words in maybe the most beautiful voice I have ever heard in my whole life. She says “Hi...hi kid. Welcome to the room of Grace.” And she's very cool, ve-very smart, very wise. Listen who what she says.
“So how are you doing?”
Well I've been here before, so I say, rmhm, “Fine. I'm kind of fine. Sort of fine. Who wants to know?”
And then I look our here at this audience. Same thing again. It feels quiet. I'm feeling mocked. So finally I've had enough, and I yell out –
“Hey! Everybody! Hhhahahaha! You know what? I'm doing – not fine! Hhhaha heh! There you go! Haven't been 'fine' for a long time. Ah-hah? I'm tired, I'm confused, I'm afraid, I feel guilty and lonely, I'm sad most of the time, I can't make my life work, and I'm so far behind I'm befuddled on what to do next! It leaves me frozen. And if any of you squirrely religious people knew half my dailey thoughts, you'd want me out of your little room. So there! Doing fine / not fine at all! Hhhh-thanks for asking, I think I'll go now!”
And my hand is on the doorknob, when from way, way back in the room, someone yells out “That's it? That's all you got? I'll take your confusion and guilt and bad thoughts and raise you compulsive sin and chronic lower back pain! Oh, and I'm in debt up to my ears and I wouldn't know the different from Showtunes and Classical music if it jumped up and bit me. YOU'D BETTER GET MORE THAN THAT LITTLE LIST IF YOU WANT TO PLAY IN MY LEAGUE, buddy!”
And the hostess leans over and she says to me, “I think he means you're welcome here.”
You're in the room of Grace.
Grace.
Garrace.
A hundred and twenty-seven times in the New Testament.
And you can't say Grace except in a Scottish or Irish accent for this is the manner in which God speaks.
Oh, and the Judaisers hated it. They hated it. Romans five through eight.
“Paul! Don't you dare! You can't talk to these people about Grace! They'll take advantage of it! I know what they'll do. Th-the-you can use it like paprika, but don't talk to them about it! Use it like a condiment, but that's it! You gotta keep screw, the lid on these people! They'll take advantage of it, do Christianity. They'll space out, they won't be sincere in their faith. Don't talk to them about Grace! Appeal to their flesh, tell them to do more, tell them to try harder, work harder! Gra -I'm telling you, Paul, it won't work!”
And Paul said in Romans five through eight, and perhaps I'm paraphrasing a bit out of the NIV, he says “Thank you so much for your kind interest, and you have a great point, except for two things. These vermin that you talk about? They're new creatures. They don't want to get away with anything. All they want to do is love and be loved by their God. They want to jump up into His lap. They want to know and be known by Them. That's who they are. They're brand new creatures. They have Christ in them.
“On their worst day! Christ is in them! Fused with them! I can't tell where Jesus ends off and I start out. He cannot define His own Name anymore without mine included, and I cannot define my name without His.
“Oh, and one more thing. The Holy Spirit lives in them. Third person of the Trinity, very impressive, powerful, yeah. Pfffw! He can do stuff? And He's able to exhort them, comfort them, draw them, draw their attention, and the only thing that keeps them from obedience, heartfelt obedience – although they'll comply for you – but what keeps them from heartfelt obedience is moralism that appeals to their flesh and tells them 'You should, you ought, what's wrong with you, when will you?'
“Oh, you can get compliance by any method, but if you want heartfelt obedience that obeys from the heart, I'll take Grace. I'll take Grace.”
I-I wrote a piece a long time ago called “The New Testament Gamble”. My kids were just so young, they were like seven, five, and two. Now they're all grown up, but at the time I was so scared it caused me to write this piece, this gamble, that wasn't a gamble to God but it sure felt like one to me. It was God saying “What if I tell them who they are? What if I take away any f – element of fear and condemnation and judgment or rejection? What if I tell them that I love them? What if I turn over the cards and tell them that I will always love them? That I can't love them any more than I love them right now and I love them right now no matter what they've done, as much as I love My only Son? That there's nothing they can do to make My love go away? What if I told them there are no lists? What if I told them they were righteous with My righteousness right now? What if I told them they could stop beating themselves up, they could stop being so formal and stiff and weird and jumpy around me? What if I told them I was absolutely crazy about them? What if I told them that even if they were out at the ends of the Earth and did the most unthinkable, horrible things and were unfaithful in their marriage, when they came back I'd receive them with tears and a party? What if I told them I don't keep a log of past offenses, of how little they pray, of how often they let Me down, or made promises they don't keep? What if I told them they don't have to be owned by man's religions, additions, or traditions? What if I told them if I'm their Savior, they're going to Heaven no matter what, it's a don deal? What if I told them they have a new nature, that they're saints, not saved sinners who should 'buck up and be a better if you're going to be a Christian after all He's done for you?' What if I told them that I actually live in them now, that I put My love and power and nature inside of them at their disposal? What if I told them that they didn't have to put on a mask, that it was absolutely exactly okay to be exactly who they are at this very moment with all their junk and not have to pretend about how close we are, how much they pray or don't, how much Bible they read or don't? What if they knew they didn't have to look over their shoulder for fear of things get too good the other shoe's going to drop? What if they knew that I will never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever use the word 'punish' in regards to them? What if they knew when they mess up I never get back at them? What if they were convinced that bad circumstances are not My way of evening the score for taking advantage of Me? What if they knew the basis of our friendship was not how little they sin but on how much they let Me love them? What if they had permission to stop trying to impress Me in any way? What if I told them I – they could hurt My heart and I would never hurt theirs? What if I told them I kind of love – really a lot – Mumford and Sons, too? What if I told them that the 'thees' and 'thous' always confused Me? What if I told them I was never that fond of the Christmas handbell with the white gloves? What if I told them they could open their eyes when they pray and still go to Heaven? What if I told them there was no secret agenda, no trap door? What if I told them it wasn't about their self-effort, but allowing Me to live My life through them?” And I raised my kids in that, and now they're grown. They trust Jesus more tenderly than I do, and they don't have to live a double life.
You guys, are you gonna be the guinea pig test and try this out? You see, it's all over Scripture. Second Timothy two...two-one says: “My son, be strong in the Grace that's in Christ Jesus!”
Acts twenty-thirty-two: “I commend you unto God and to the Word of His Grace which alone is able to build you up!”
Hebrews four-sixteen: “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of Grace that we may receive mercy and find Grace that will help us in our time of need!”
Romans five-two: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we've obtained our introduction by faith into this Grace in which we stand!”
Romans six-fourteen: “Sin no longer gets to be master over you because you're no longer under law, you're no longer under buck-up-ism or moralism. Sin will no longer be master over you because you're under Grace.”
Period.
You see, you know what we're doing, right? We're talking about Hebrews eleven-six. Without faith it's impossible to please Him. Faith, the noun form of the verb pistos in the Greek. The verb form is “trust.” Without faith, without trust, it's impossible to please Him! See, you could all day long try so hard to “C'mon! Here I go! I'm gonna try to please you – ”
He says “You'll never do it enough and you'll never learn to trust.”
But if over here – if over here – I dare to believe that on my worst day I wear a robe of righteousness, that He says “There's no condemnation of you, kid. I'm crazy about you. I know everything that you're going to do, and I can't stop thinking about you. I adore you.” If I dare to believe that I'm Christ in John Lynch, He will say this: “Listen to Me, John, you're doing it. You're doing it, kid. You're trusting Me. Not only that, you've never pleased Me so much in your whole life.”
Whew! You see guys, um, pleasing God, it's an incredible desire, motive, it's wonderful. It just can't be primary motivation or it will imprison our hearts. For if all we bring to God is our moral striving to please Him by solving our sin, we're back at the same square that put us in need of salvation. We're stuck with our talents, our desire, our ability, our longing, our hootspa, our diligence and resolve to make it happen. Pleasing is not the means to our godliness. It's the fruit of our godliness, 'cause it's the fruit of trust.
Oh yeah, there's a banner on the back wall of this building, too. It says this:
“Standing with God, with my sin in front of us, working on it together.”
What if the shed blood of Jesus was this powerful, that for you who have dared to put your hope in Christ, that He was never there on the other side of your sin? Because of the shed blood of Christ, He walks all the way up and around that sin, and He stands in front of you, face to face, six inches away from your face, and He smiles that smile that no human can make, and He says “I know, kid. I've known from before the world began, and I'm crazy about you. I'm not ashamed. I'm not mad. You're right on time. I've got you.”
And then He was – He would put His hands on my shoulders, and then, without warning, He would pull me into a bear hug so tight and He would hold me so tight and with force!
I wanna fight it. I wanna say “No no no no! You don't understand! Youdunnome! This is not right! But I've been b-b-bi-bu-t-t – ”then after a while I don't want him to stop ever. I want Him to hold me like this forever.
But He keeps saying, “I know kid. I'm not ashamed. I'm not mad. I'm crazy about you. I know. I know. I know.”
And He keeps holding me like that and He keeps talking like that until He's absolutely convinced that I believe Him. And then, and only then, does He loosen the embrace, and only so much so He – so that He can put His arm around me. So we can look at my sin together.
I always – every time I do this – I always imagine Him with His arm around me and looking at my sin, and I imagine Him saying “[snort] Aheh. Wow. Hhhahahahamahaheh – My, my my, that's a lot of sin! Don't you ever sleep?” and then He would say, “And we'll – we'll deal with it when you're ready, kid, and I've got your back. I'm crazy about you.”
Hmm.
Have we been changed? Oh gosh, as day is from night, we've been changed. We've received a brand new core identity! We've already changed, been changed. We're not gonna – I can't stand going into stores, Christian book stores, say “Man, it's time to change!” You've already been changed! You're not going to get changed any more, you've got all the Holy Spirit you're gonna get!
If I took a caterpillar to a biologist and said “tell me about its DNA,” He would say “John I know this looks very much like a caterpillar to you, but – by every scientific testing and every expression, this that I'm holding is a caterpillar – but you know what it is? It's a butterfly.”
Wow. He has placed into a creature looking nothing at all like a butterfly a complete butterfly, and because it is a butterfly in reality, one day, if you will let it, it will inevitably, invariable turn into a butterfly. In the meantime, yelling at it to be more like a butterfly will just hurt its tiny little ears.
And so it is with us! I'm a brand new creature, brand new DNA! Christ in John, fully righteous!
And He says, “You're immature, kid, but if you'll believe it, you will mature into it beautifully. Oh, by the way, if you'll trust it, you will love more and sin less.”
Now not everybody stays in the Room of Grace once they get there, for not only must you believe you're accepted, you must learn to accept the yokos who are already here, and the ones who enter each week. And they are goofy and odd and flawed and and failed and strange and inappropriate. Oh, every now and then a presentable one slips in! But he or she usually soon discovers his schtick is a mask. He must, too, learn to rest in the sufficiency of Christ, or he'll go back to where appearances make the man or woman.
And now you. Now it's down to us. This – this day, prepared before the world began, with this precious group of students at Dordt College. I know what some of you are thinking. You know what you're thinking. “Yeah, but you don't know me. You don't know what I hide. You don't know the stuff I carry. You don't know the garbage I've done. You don't know how I feel second-place. You don't know how I don't believe I fit here. You don't know how outside I feel.”
So maybe, just maybe, as you go through these next eight weeks...maybe you'll be able to tell someone – all it will take will just be one – and just say, um, “I need to tell you something about me. I trust you with me. I think you're someone who is safe with me. And I want to tell you this...”
And maybe, just maybe, they will lean over to you and say, “That's all you got?” and it will be their way of saying, “You have always been, your are now, and you will always be welcome here.”
I'm so proud of you guys. Thanks for having me.
BENEDICTION by AARON BAART
Thank you very much, John. When I hear you speak, I hear the heart of the Father. Sometimes the voice of Liam Neeson, but – the heart of the Father. Have a great day, everybody!
Sincerely,
John Hooyer
Sincerely,
John Hooyer
