Living Grace-filled Lives

In April 1942, after American and Philippine forces were defeated by Japan in the Battle of Bataan, between 70 and 80,000 Allied soldiers, now Prisoners of War, were forced to march 65 miles to various camps in what came to be known as the Bataan Death March. The POWs were brutally abused throughout the March. Those who tripped or fell behind were shot. Perhaps as many as twenty thousand died along the way.   

When American forces landed on the Philippines in 1944 to begin retaking it, the Japanese command gave orders to execute POWs before they could be liberated. Concerned that American soldiers would be killed before they could be set free, plans were made to go behind Japanese lines and attack the Cabanatuan prison camp where more than 500 POWs were being held. On January 30, 1945, as an American P-61 Black Widow fighter plan distracted the Japanese guards with various flying manoeuvres, Filipino guerrillas, US Army Rangers and Alamo Scouts attacked the camp. They were able to defeat the guards, set the prisoners free, and bring them to safety behind the US front line. 

Just as those POWs were trapped in a situation beyond their control, we too can find ourselves in overwhelming circumstances, feeling like prisoners to our failures and hardships. You say “I do” to the person you love more than anyone else in this world, but the relationship eventually deteriorates into a living hell you would do anything to escape. Or you borrow some money to make an investment. But then something totally beyond your control happened which turned the venture upside down. Now your investment is worth zero and you still owe the money you borrowed. Or you do your best to take good care of your health. But one day you visit your doctor, they say, “I have bad news for you,” and everything changes in an instant. 

These desperate situations can cause us to become desperate people who make desperate decisions which tend to make a very bad situation even worse. We need someone to come into our situation and rescue us. Who will do such a thing for us? To answer that question, let us turn to the book of Titus in the Bible, starting at 2:11. If you have a Bible or a Bible app, I invite you to turn there now.   

Paul Encourages Titus to Trust in God’s Grace

This book, like 1 and 2 Timothy, is a letter from the apostle Paul, one of Jesus’ followers who played a major role in sharing the Good News about Jesus and starting Christian churches throughout Asia Minor and Europe. Paul wrote this letter to Titus, who was overseeing the Christian churches that had recently been started on the island of Crete. Previously, Titus worked with Paul in Ephesus during his third missionary journey, and then Paul sent him to Corinth. After Paul was released from house arrest in Rome, he and Titus worked together in Crete for a time. Then Paul left Titus in charge in Crete when he resumed his missionary travels. 

Titus was in a really tough situation in Crete. He wanted to do the right thing and faithfully carry out the work God had called him to do under Paul’s direction. But Crete was a challenging place to share the Gospel. Paul was quoting the Cretan philosopher Epimenides when he wrote,   

One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” (Titus 1:12) On top of that, there were people in Crete that were leading others astray by teaching them that they did not have to listen to Titus and the message of grace that he shared. “The idea that our salvation was a totally free gift was wrong,” they said. “You have to add to what God did with good works of your own, and getting circumcised, if you really want to be saved.” Both the Cretan culture and people within the church were working against Titus and that made things difficult for him.   

To encourage Titus, Paul did not do what we usually do. We look for a change in our circumstances to give us hope of better days ahead. Not only does this approach not work, it leaves us susceptible to the fickle twists of fate. Like a thermometer, we rise and fall with the temperature of whatever is going on around us. 

Instead, Paul reminds us that our biggest problem is not in the world “out there.” Our biggest problem is in the world “in here” within us. The wickedness, laziness and rebelliousness we see in the world around us reminds us that, on our own, we would be adding to all the terrible things that would be happening in the world. Our brokenness runs too deep for self-rescue. We need the grace of Jesus to transform us from the inside out. Any religious system that suggests that we can, even in part, only makes the problem worse. It leads us further away from the true hope God has for us, and turns us into religious monsters, which have the appearance of godliness on the outside, but are filled with darkness and wickedness on the inside. 

Let me read to you what Paul wrote to Titus about this,At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-8 NIV)  

Jesus is the Saviour Who Rescues Us

Titus faced challenges that seemed insurmountable. But Paul didn’t tell him to rely on his own strength—he pointed him to God’s grace. That’s what would help Titus to be steadfast and faithful in difficult times and be a thermostat that influenced the culture of Crete instead of a thermometer that measured the temperature of the time. And that same grace from God that Paul used to encourage Titus is available for us to cling to in our own trials. Remember, the POWs in the Cabanatuan prison camp could not rescue themselves. Their salvation had to come from the outside. In the same way, we need a Savior who steps into our helplessness and brings deliverance. That rescue came in the person of God the Son, Jesus Christ. He became fully human to take our place on a cross and suffer the punishment that we deserve for our sin, so that he could give us all the status, blessings, and privileges that he enjoyed as God’s one and only Son. That’s why grace can be defined as God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. 

What Jesus did for us is sometimes called the Great Exchange because he took what is ours and gave us what is his. Jesus gave us a new life as an unconditionally loved child of our Abba Father in heaven, just as he is. Because Jesus has paid for all our sins, our heavenly Father declares that we are just as unmarked by sin, just as Jesus is. Because Jesus has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have intimate fellowship with and divine direction from God’s Spirit, just as Jesus did. Because the new person Jesus brought to life within us is of heavenly, rather than earthly, origin, we will live forever, just as Jesus will.  

Jesus’ Resurrection is Our Guarantee

How do we know all this is true? Because on the third day after his death on that cross, Jesus rose from the dead and his resurrection is our guarantee that his work for our salvation is now totally complete.  

How do we know that the salvation Jesus won applies to us? Because of our Holy Baptism. It was there, as God’s Word was combined with ordinary water, that Jesus gave us the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. That was when he washed you clean of all your sins, connected you to him with a bond that he will never break, made you a child of God, placed the Holy Spirit in your heart, and gave you the gift of eternal life with him.  

When will we experience the fullness of the salvation that Jesus gave us? The fullness of our salvation will come in the future when Jesus raises us from the dead to live with him forever in the new heaven and earth. It’s the time between now and then that is hard for us sometimes. On the inside, we have new life and we are being built up in that new life day after day. But on the outside, we are broken and dying people who live in a broken and dying world. How can we be people of hope in this hopeless world while we wait for the fullness of our salvation to come?  

God’s Grace Changes Everything for Us

In 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers played the heavily-favoured Oakland Athletics in the World Series. The Athletics had two power-hitters on their team, José Conseco and Mark McGwire. With 42 home runs, Conseco had more round trippers than the entire Dodgers team. But the Dodgers had Orel Hershiser as one of their pitchers. In the National League Championship Series, Hershiser was the series MVP. He started three games, got the save in Game 4, and shut out the Mets to win Game 7 and the National League Championship. In the World Series, Hershiser shut out the A’s in Game 2 and then pitched a 2-hit complete game in Game 5 to win the Series. 

Shortly after the World Series victory, Orel Hershiser appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Johnny had noticed that during games, as he sat in the dugout, Orel appeared to be singing. Johnny asked him about that, and Orel said that he would sing a hymn to himself, and it was the same hymn every time, to help keep calm while facing the intense pressure of pitching in a Major League Baseball playoff game. Johnny asked Orel if he would sing to the Tonight Show audience what he sang in the dugout. So Orel sang,  

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 

Praise God all creatures here below, 

Praise him above ye heavenly hosts, 

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Dear friends, the reason that we can be people of hope in a hopeless world is that the grace of Jesus Christ has changed everything for us. It has changed who we are, it has changed how we live, it has changed where we are going. That’s why we, like Orel Hershiser, can praise God wherever we are.  

But let us also remember that God’s grace is totally foreign to the world around us. Without the Holy Spirit, they cannot understand it. Therefore, the world needs us to be people whose lives are defined by grace. So how do we live as people of grace? First, we trust in Jesus and everything he did to complete our salvation. Second, we extend grace to others—our families, co-workers, even our enemies. Third, we boldly share this grace with a world that is desperate for hope. Amen.