6-10-2016

Good Morning All!!   

              Ephesians 2:8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

     I have an offer to make to you.  I will take you to a very exotic and beautiful resort.  It is the best and most expensive one in the world.  No one knows the exact location but it is in the GPS locator.  You will not have to pay for any expenses at the resort and you can stay as long as you want.  The only thing you have to do is to pay for part of the gas.  Now you don’t know how much of the gas you have to pay for but if you do not pay enough; I will stop and make you get out and walk home. 

    How much money do you bring for gas?  If we ride in a Prius, drive 100 miles and I ask you for one percent, it won’t take much to pay for gas.  But what if we take a Sherman tank, a vehicle that gets gallons to the mile rather than miles to the gallon and we are driving to the very tip of Argentina.  You have to pay 75% of the fuel bill.  The thing is you have no way of knowing what vehicle we will take, how far we will travel or what share of the fuel you have to pay.  How enjoyable will that trip be for you?  How will you ever know that we might get within sight of our destination and you run out of gas money?  How can you be comfortable when, at any moment, you might be out of money, out of the vehicle and left on the side of the road?  Where is the joy?  Where is the peace?

    This is why the Apostle Paul tells us over and over; everything depends on Jesus.  Our salvation is not like this travel offer.  We don’t have to work or pay for our ride to heaven; Jesus paid it all, the fuel bill, the cost of the resort (heaven), provides the vehicle (the church) and feeds us on the way (Holy Communion).  We have it made.  You and I have complete and total peace knowing that our journey is already decided and we simply ride it out.

    Of course, Jesus invites us to look after the other riders as well and once in a while we stop and pick up new people.  It is with great joy and peace.  The God of all peace, hope and love seeks you out to bring you onto the ride, a ride that we can enjoy no matter what our life’s events; we have total victory through Jesus, that we might know peace.

    So it really doesn’t matter if we do not know when the transportation part of our journey will end, we know it will end with our entrance into heaven.  We know with complete certainty that our journey is going that way.  Jesus bought and paid for the tickets for our ride and gave them freely to you and to me at no cost to ourselves.  We can ride in peace knowing that we will not be kicked off or expected to foot the bill.  We are guests of Jesus so enjoy the ride.

Father in heaven, you give us comfort with the certainty of our salvation depending on Jesus alone.  We have peace knowing that we rest in your loving arms.  We have the certain hope of salvation as we journey through life.  Lead me to love the life you give me and to share your wondrous truth with those around us.  Guard us with your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret