Gratitude Because of my Unworthiness

My church has a blog called “Approaching Sunday” that is designed to help people prepare for the coming message for the week.  I’ve been asked to do some writing there and since it’s been so long since I wrote on my own blog, I thought I’d re-post them here to get this thing back up and running.  Hope you find them helpful.

This post is written for 2 groups of people.  In both cases, I want to remind you that you are not worthy to get into Heaven and that there is nothing you can do (or have done) that will get you there.  Far from being a discouragement, I hope this will spur you to action.  Hang with me just a little bit and I think you’ll see where I’m going.

According to Acts 23:6, Saul was born to a Pharisee, among the most religious of people in all of Israel. He himself became a Pharisee, having studied under one of the most celebrated teachers of his day, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3).  In this position, Saul would have taught people the Holy Scriptures (the Old Testament, as we know it today). He was revered for his piety and his strict observance of the law.  Pretty much everyone would have viewed Saul as being right with God; closer, in fact, than most everyone else. If you have your Bible open to Acts 22, you can keep reading as Saul repeats his testimony of the occasion when he came to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and as his only hope of truly being right with God.  It turns out, he hadn’t been right with God after all.

Fast forward to a section of one of Paul’s (his new name after his conversion) letters that Joey will certainly turn our attention to on Sunday morning.  1 Corinthians 15.  After giving a synopsis of the Gospel, Paul refers to himself with an interesting phrase.  He says (in verse 9) “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle…”  For those who’ve been around church for some time, you will likely view Paul as one of the heroes of our faith.  He preached to antagonistic crowds, planted multiple churches, faced persecution and near death on numerous occasions. Yet he didn’t view himself as worthy to be an apostle.  He gets even stronger as he write to his protégé, Timothy when he refers to sinners (which we all are and who Christ died for) and describes himself as the worst of all of them.

What’s the take-away?  I mentioned 2 groups of people earlier.  The first would be those who have never trusted in Jesus as their only hope of salvation.  You may be in the same shoes as Paul was. Religious through and through, but not right with God. You may have attended church or synagogue or mass for years, but have never come to faith in Jesus.  Or, you may not be religious at all; just working as hard as you can to be the best that you can so when you get to the end of life, God will let you into Heaven. Either way; stop trying to get to God on your merit. It won’t work, you will always fall short. God’s grace is the only thing that can accomplish that for you.  Paul said (1 Timothy 1:14, 15) “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” That’s you. That’s me. When we recognize that we are hopeless and helpless and come to God through Christ, asking Him to forgive us of our sins and make us His child, He will do it.

Group 2 is those who have followed after Christ already. I want to remind you that God didn’t make you worthy any more than He made Paul worthy. He placed you in Christ, who is worthy. That should breed a deep gratitude and humility in you.  It should also prompt you to be as active as you possibly can in seeking to lead those in your circle of influence to trust and love the Lord as you have.  You’re just one of the formerly thirsty people who is leading their still-thirsty friends to the well of fresh, living water.

When does a sense of my unworthiness become a blessing to me? When I allow it to prompt me to respond to God with a heart of gratitude, whether in first responding to the gospel of Jesus, or as I daily reflect on the grace of God, and what it has accomplished for me.