Freely Given, At Great Cost
Phil Temple
Me:
On 5th October, life as we know it changed. Something happened that has impacted
each and every one of us. Some of you will know what I’m talking about
immediately. Others will not necessarily have realised precisely when it happened,
but will have noticed. No-one has gone untouched by this. Because it relates to
something that we all come into contact with.
This… (Take out plastic carrier bag). This now costs 5p.
I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, this was life-changing. This has
genuinely changed my approach to using carrier bags. Where once I would’ve
happily spread my shopping across multiple bags, now I try to cram as much as I can
into just one – not uncommonly walking out of the shop cradling it in both arms to
stop it from splitting. Where once I would never have carrier a bag with me just in
case, I now have two to three in my boot. And I’ll even go back to the car to get them
if I forget. All for 5p.
Is anyone else the same? This is an opportunity for me to find out if I’m normal or
just a bit tight! Has anyone else’s bag use habits been changed by the 5p cost of a
carrier bag? (show of hands)
To prove I’m not really a spendthrift, I might even this away later!
We:
But this got me thinking – about how our perception of the value of something
changes our attitude toward it; about how our life changes when we realise how
much something is worth. If our attitude to something as small as a carrier bag can
be influenced by just 5 pence, how radically would our life change if we stopped to
ask what other, more significant things are worth? If our habits are influenced so
significantly by just 5p, then how would it influence our thoughts, our actions and
our use of time if we stopped to consider what value we might place on the other
elements of our lives?
Have you ever taken time to consider what is most valuable to you in life? Have you
ever taken a few minutes to think of what it is about your life that you value most?
That might be physical things, but equally might be less tangible things. It might be
your favourite possession, your favourite item of clothing, your favourite piece of
furniture or favourite console game. But equally might be friendships that you value;
relationships that matter to you. It might be about things which bring you pride or
esteem – like your job or a role you have outside work. It might be you part in
something larger, something more significant or influence than yourself, yet
something within which you have a part to play.
And have you ever asked yourself what you spend the most on? I think it’s
interesting to consider this. To ask ourselves whether what we spend the most on is
the same as that which we value the most. Again, when I say spend, it isn’t just
about money necessarily. It may well include money – almost certainly does actually
– but also in terms of time, effort, energy. Because we often spend far more in those
areas, than we do financially.
I think there is a danger, if we don’t take time out to consider this: that we spend
more on things that to us are worth less.
This is something I recently started thinking about in the run up to Heart For The
House – when my wife Helena and I decided to cut back our spending on clothes in
order to give more to Heart For The House. It wasn’t a huge sacrifice from a
wardrobe perspective, but I was conscious that my spending on clothes was out of
sync with the value of one thing compared with the other.
But more challengingly for me, I’ve had to think about this in terms of the time I
spend at work. Because I spend too long at work. I am terrible at finishing on time.
And while that diligence may be beneficial in some ways, it costs in other areas – in
my relationships, in my effectiveness in church and outside it. I’ve had to make steps
to change how I work in order to be better at finishing on time – and that has been a
slow process! But again, it started once I asked myself what I value most in life and
what I spend most on.
God:
Today, this matter of cost and value is something I want to consider particularly with
regards to the matter of salvation. I’m aware it may not instantly be apparent quite
how this all connects, so just come with me on the journey this evening. I wan us to
look at the cost of salvation – and then to look at what we spend in response.
Firstly though, I need to explain what I mean by salvation. I’m conscious that there
will be people here tonight who don’t come along to church. Perhaps that’s you.
Maybe you’re someone who hasn’t been in the habit of going to church and has
decided recently to give it another go. But equally perhaps this is the first time you
have ever come along to a place like this. If that is the case, welcome. It is
phenomenal that you chose to be with us tonight. But, to be honest, even people
who have been in church for a long time can have missed what salvation is all about.
So what do I mean by salvation?
Dictionary.com defines it as follows:
noun
1. the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc.
2. the state of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
3. a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
4. Theology. deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption.
In a Christian context, salvation is about being restored to a relationship with God.
(FLIPCHART – to illustrate this)
To break that down, we were created by God to have a relationship with Him. We
can debate long and hard about the nature of that creation, but it is hard to deny
that within each of us there is a longing for something more in life. God wants a
relationship with each of us.
But there is a problem – a barrier to that relationship – something the Bible calls sin.
Sin is our wrongdoing – not just our mistakes, but the times we have intentionally
done things we know are wrong. That stuff creates a barrier between us and God –
our imperfection separates us from perfect God. So to re-establish that relationship,
we need to take away that sin. Indeed, the Bible speaks of how the wages of sin –
the cost – is death. The only way to pay the price of sin is through death. But if we
die to pay that price, we die separated from God. The only to re-establish the
relationship is if someone dies in our place. But not just anyone. If I died for you, I
couldn’t cover the cost of your sin because I would be paying for my own. So God’s
own son Jesus came to pay our price. He lived a perfect, sinless life – a life that’s sets
an example for us of what life with God can be like – and offered His life in our place.
Through His death and resurrection, He opened a way back to God – made it
possible for each of us to know God personally – in this life and the next.
Salvation then is about the forgiveness of our sin. It is about being spared the
consequences of wrongdoing. It is about knowing God personally. It is about the
guarantee of eternal life with God after death. But it is not just insurance for the
afterlife. There is so much to be said for life with God before we die. Jesus Himself
spoke of how He came to offer us life to the full – a more and better life than we
could ever dream of, as one translation puts it (John 10:10 MSG).
When we delve deeper into the idea of salvation – when we explore the Hebrew
words that inform it – we find that health and wholeness, peace and prosperity,
success and significance all come as part of the package.
Salvation is hope when all seems hopeless. It is light in the darkness. It is peace in the
midst of anxiety. It is direction in uncertainty. It is purpose even in the mundane. It is
belonging instead of loneliness. It the prospect of wholeness out of brokenness,
health out of sickness; even life instead of death.
And what is the cost of salvation? In Ephesians chapter 2, we find Paul writing of the
grace of God. That is the unmerited favour of God. It is good stuff we get even
though we don’t deserve it. He writes this…
Ephesians 2:8 (NLT) - 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t
take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good
things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Salvation then is a gift from God. It is freely given to us. We cannot earn it through
the good things we do. There is no price that we can pay. We cannot take credit. It is
given to us for free.
This is incredible news. That all that I have spoken of is offered to us without cost – it
is freely given. It is offered to us regardless of our situation or our circumstance;
regardless of our past history or past mistakes. In spite of whatever we have done,
we are offered salvation free of charge by grace.
This should be an encouragement for some of us. Because I think even Christians can
sometimes feel like we’re unworthy. We can sometimes feel like God can’t use us
because we’re up to the job. And yet our relationship with God is not based on
anything we can or cannot do – it is available to us solely, exclusively by grace.
This means an opportunity too for those of us who do not yet know God. If you’re
someone who wouldn’t say you knew God, you can connect with Him yourself
tonight. You can start a relationship with God. Indeed I’ll give you can opportunity to
do just that later. It is something open and available to you, offered as a gift freely
given.
But that isn’t quite the whole story when it comes to the cost of our salvation…
Just because it is freely given, doesn’t mean it didn’t cost anything.
As we have already mentioned, our salvation cost Jesus His life. He died in our place.
And He did not die a peaceful, gentle death. He was crucified – killed in the cruellest
of ways. This was the most barbaric method the Romans could come up with. It was
humiliating and excruciating in equal measure. Jesus knew it was coming, yet
embraced it – because He knew our salvation lay on the other side.
In Luke 22, we read of Jesus on the night before His crucifixion. We see as we read
those words the anguish of what He knew lay ahead.
Luke 22:39-44 - 39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples
followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall
into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down
and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but
yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of
blood falling to the ground.
Jesus asks here is there is another way. As He prays, He sweats blood. This is physical
indication of the emotional trauma He was under. This passage shows us the weight
of the price Jesus paid.
Salvation then is freely given, but at great cost. It is free to us; but cost Jesus so much
more than we can understand. When you think that He went through it so that you
and I could know God, it is mind-blowing. It speaks so powerful of how much God
values a relationship with us.
Salvation. Freely given, but at great cost.
It makes me think a bit of these carrier bags. Salvation undoubtedly is worth far
more than they are, of course. But the truth is that these carrier bags cost something
all along. It is just that we did not have to pay the price. And for one the most is tiny
– but think how many millions there are across the UK. The cost for our free carriers
is huge. Yet the supermarkets were willing to pay that price.
I don’t want you to think of salvation as a carrier bag. But perhaps next time you see
one, you’ll remember this. Salvation is freely given, but at great cost.
You:
I haven’t quite finished yet though. There is more to say about the cost. We've been
taking recently about the distinctives that define Our House – that makes
Proclaimers what it is. One of those distinctives is our vision a-clearly defined, laid
out in a single sentence. As a church, our vision is the salvation of our city. Our
heartfelt desire to see every man, woman and child in Norwich connect with God. In
the time I have left tonight, I want to ask: what would it cost to see that happen?
And are we prepared to pay that price?
Salvation itself is offered freely – it open and available to every individual in Norwich,
just as it is to every person on this Earth. But to let Norwich know? That’ll cost us
something. We don’t have to pay a price for our salvation – but there is a price to
pay to let this city know.
Many of Jesus’ disciples literally gave up their lives to spread the message of
salvation. They were put to death for what they believe. The early church was
persecuted, with thousands of Christians killed for spreading what they believed.
Even today, in some parts of the world, Christians can be put to death for trying to
spread this news.
I'm not saying that any of us will be martyred, but there is a price to pay if we are to
see the salvation of our city – there is a cost. There is a cost paid in time and effort
and energy. There is a cost paid in volunteer hours and staff time. There is a price to
pay – one that pushes past inconvenience and pushes out comfort. There is a cost to
stand up, to speak up, to challenge the status quo.
Those supermarkets that paid for our carrier bags – one of the reason they did it was
the advertising. As people carried them around, they’re spreading the name of the
store. They were prepared to pay the price for that possibility. And if we don't want
this to be Norwich’s best kept secret, we must be prepared to pay the price as well.
I think those of us that have been in church for a while are aware of this, actually.
The truth of it comes out even in the songs we sing. How often do we sing of what
we will give? Of offering all of ourselves? Those words finds expression in what we
do to build the church.
What do you think it looks like, practically, to see the salvation of our city? What
might be the cost?
How many late nights will it take to reach our city? How many early starts? How
many long days? How many two service Sunday's? How many all nighters even?
How many awkward conversations will we have to endure to invite people? How
many words of wisdom to help them? How many shoulders to cry on will needed to
offer the comfort required when times are hard? How many times will we need to
cross the room to welcome someone home?
How many teas or coffees will it take? How many light bulbs and batteries are
required? How many healthy snacks in kids church? How many free lattes? How
many lunches or evening meals?
How many homes will we need to open for connect groups? How many rehearsals
are required? How many hours of message prep?
How many times will we need to step outside the boundaries of our personality?
How many times will we need to push ourselves beyond what we feel capable of?
What might it cost to see our city saved?
As I’ve be pondering this, I’ve thought of three particular areas where we must be
prepared to pay the price, drawn from this experience that Jesus has in the Garden
of Gethsemane, yet relevant to each of us over and over in our journey to see the
vision of church become reality. Three areas in which we must be prepared to pay
the price…
1) Engagement over emotion
Because the truth is that sometimes we will not feel like it. Sometimes we won’t feel
like serving, even though we’re rota’d on that week. Sometimes we won’t feel like
giving. Sometimes we won’t want to engage in worship. Sometimes, we don’t feel
like responding in the message – even when the person up here is preaching really
well! And sometimes we won’t feel like even speaking to anyone else.
Often, those feelings may be entirely understandable. We may in the midst of a
really stressful time at work. We may have problems in our relationships. We may be
struggling with our health.
But what power in those situations, if we choose to engage even when we don’t feel
like doing it.
I think one of the great challenges of our modern world is the value we place on our
feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I know that our feelings are essential in life. But I don’t
think our feelings need to decide the direction of our lives – we can much, much
more intention about life that than. So yes, we can take our feelings along the
journey, but we don’t need to let them drive the bus.
That’s what we see in the example of Jesus. Every emotion within Him would tell
Him to pull back. He is sweating blood because of the emotional turmoil within Him.
Yet He chooses to press on with the purpose that God has for Him. He chooses to let
that set the direction of His life.
How powerful would it be if we did likewise? If we did not pull back or disengage
when we didn’t feel like it – but instead, as Jesus does, asked God to strengthen us
as we press on. I think if we were prepared to pay the price of engagement over
emotion, it would take us one step closer to seeing the salvation of our city.
2) Passion over preference
Because we won’t always like it and we might not always agree. Preference too is
highly prized in our society. We are encouraged at every step to do things our way.
But what is something powerful happened if we set aside personal preference to
play our part in something bigger than ourselves?
In our church, we talk about this as learning how to flow together. It is a key aspect
of the culture of our church. And I wonder, you know, whether it is better sometimes
to go with the flow than it is to go it alone.
Together, we can achieve something far greater than any of us can alone. Together
we do something significant and powerful and city-shaking. But to work in unity for a
prolonged period, we must be prepared to put aside our preference – and to stay
just as passionate as if it was just the way we’d like it to be.
We see again in Jesus how He asks God if there is another way. But hearing from
Heaven that there is no change of plan possible, commits Himself fully to the will of
God.
What impact would it have if we did likewise? If we put passion over preference in
the life of our church? I’m convinced there is a price to pay to see the salvation of
our city – and I think that decision goes some way to covering that cost.
3) Worship over worry
I don’t know about you, but when I think of telling people about church – the
conversations I might need to have with our colleagues; that moment of offering
someone an invite – I can be so gripped with worry. What if they think I’m a weirdo?
What if they say no?
Sometimes too, I think we can worry too about throwing ourselves into what’s going
on in church. We worry that if we sign up to volunteer or go to connect group, we
might not have time to do everything else we need to do. We worry that we might
not have enough money if we start giving. We worry that we might let someone
down or we might not be good enough if we sign up to play our part.
Yet what if we chose to worship instead of worrying? What if we decided to simply
give what we have to and who we are to God?
Jesus is full of anguish at the future ahead of Him. This goes far beyond anxiety –
because He knew what lay ahead. Yet chooses to offer all He is and has to God – sure
and certain that God can be trusted – faithful and expectant of what lies on the
other side of His sacrifice.
Could we be a people prepared to put worship over worry? Might we be prepared to
pay that price? If there is a cost to seeing the salvation of our city, perhaps that is
one way we can play our part.
Us:
As I draw things to a close, my mind goes back to my first time in this church. I've
shared about this before, but I think it helpful to think about it again. I remember
sitting down for lunch with Pastor Tom and Denise nearly 12 years ago now. I
remember Pastor Tom sharing his vision of a church that would be relevant to my
generation, of a community of people committed to reaching this city, of church sold
out for the cause of Christ.
There have been many good times since that conversation – but many challenges
too. There have been ups and downs – times when we felt on top of the world, and
times when I didn't think I could go any further. But today I am as passionate about
the vision of our church as I have ever been. I remained fully convinced that we can
see that vision come to pass.
What would it look like to see the salvation of our city?
For an individual, it means finding love, acceptance, value. It means forgives, it
means a brand new start. It might mean purpose in the midst of uncertainty. It might
be hope in troubled times or peace when it feels like very thing is falling apart. It
might be the sense of meaning not found in anything else. It might the prospect of
making a difference – of doing something that matters in this life and the next. It
might be belonging instead of loneliness; light in darkness. It means life instead of
death.
But what does it look like for a city? What would it do to Norwich if more and more
people connected with God? Imagine how families would be transformed. Imagine
how our homes and neighbourhoods would change. Imagine schools where there
was respect, optimism and confidence – where every child knew they were valued
and every one convinced they can have a positive impact in their world. Imagine
universities overflowing with creativity, full of students called to make a difference in
their chosen field. Imagine the success of businesses run and staffed by people
committed to excellence, sold out to give their all – places where people looked out
for each other and where everyone worked hard to get along. What would it mean
for the health service in this city? How would the mental wellbeing of people be
transformed? What would it do in the area of the arts, in politics? How would our
society change? I see the city rising up as a beacon, an example of all the good that
flows when God is in charge.
I still believe we can see the salvation of our city. And I fully believe you can play
your part. But it will cost us to see Norwich saved. So finally, one more time, are you
prepared to do do what you can to pay that price?
Thank you.