Grace changes everything!

Recently a local church in St. Louis had to ask their pastor to step down. We are used to this situation being created by infidelity, but a new problem has become more prevalent of recent—the ego-centered, controlling type who thinks it is his way or the highway. Maybe it is due to the pressure to make a church “work” or be successful despite the cultural changes in its recognition among people and changes in monetary giving? The same passion and drive that brings a person into ministry in a large church context can also be manipulated by the devil into an ego so large as to say that my way is the only way. How can a church leader or pastor go so far that he needs to be removed?

While I was in seminary, the Synod strengthened the infidelity policy. A one-and-done rule was enforced. This is probably not a shock to you, since at that time the Roman Catholic Church was getting into a lot of trouble with priests doing such activities. Since then we’ve even seen the sports world crack down harder on drug use and abuse. Maybe we were naive as a society before, but the time has come to make sure we are responding a lot tougher to the abuses of those in leadership, power, and in the public eye.

At the district convention last year, one of the pastors asked where is the grace for pastors who have fallen into some of these sins? He said it out loud, but we all wrestle with it. There are painful stories of people who were once seen as great men or women who have fallen into a sin that grabs a hold of their life. It seems even worse when that person is a servant leader for Christ. How do we take time to graciously love that person and yet move on? This is a question the church has been asking since the beginning of time. If David were in our church body today, would he be removed from office?

I think all too often we want life and service to be a neat little box that we can pack up and put perfectly on our shelves.  But life is messy, and grace is needed. This is why Jesus came. God’s people get to walk with others in their messiness (and vice-versa), but at the same time they must press forward. Jesus wants us to continue to share the Gospel message because grace is so important in the lives of all people.  It is needed just dealing with daily habits and sins, as well as fixing mistakes that take years to fix.

Why do I tell you all of this? Acts 1 is a smattering of all the issues we mentioned above. It has someone known for his association with Jesus involved in a brutal and crazy tragedy (Judas), but it also has the church moving forward to find a new apostle. This passage often leaves us with similar questions about where do we show grace. What if someone would have come alongside Judas sooner? Someone had to betray Jesus, right, so isn’t that what God wanted? In cases like Judas, aren’t the consequences and condemnation of his sins justified because he is getting what he deserves?  What about us?  While we may not be like Judas, what about us?  What do we deserve? How come it seems like we get off “scot-free” when others deal with so much more?  When we start trying to answer these questions, we can get into trouble. Rather than focusing on ourselves, we need to keep focused on Christ and what He’s done for us.

Acts 1 reminds me how messy life is. This was one of the most pinnacle times in the church. The disciples are about to take the message of the fulfilled prophecy of our Messiah’s redemption out to the world, but first they must they clean up the mess of Judas. They know people need this message, but they need to re-group and prepare for this powerful moment Jesus said would happen as Pentecost comes and the Holy Spirit joins them. At first when I read this text, I didn’t want to talk about the R-rated story of Judas’ suicide, but then I was reminded that this is just like every Sunday in the church—one person is caught in the midst of their mess, while another person is celebrating the work of God in their lives. There is something important about celebrating the work of God in our lives. Another baptism this weekend will have us celebrating the work of God in little Audrey’s life. Yet, we are continually fighting the battle of celebrate our own work in our lives rather than the work of Jesus in our lives. This weekend we take time to unpack this further.