Bernard Gabbott - Sunday, 31 October 2021
We can't buy Grace
Scripture References: Romans 1:16-17, Psalms 31:1-24, Romans 3:21-26
Gathering Growing Going
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CloseThe world of the Middle Ages (we are talking the 1400s-1500s) was a world gripped by fear and uncertainty. In the midst of this fear, the growing corruption and authoritarianism of the Church was questioned and people were looking for some security, some assurance. Does that sound familiar? Martin Luther, a monk in Germany, was gripped by the same fears as the wider world. Driven back to his Bible, through reading Psalm 31 and Romans 1:16-17 (amongst many other parts of the Bible), Luther was brought to know God as he is – revealed in Jesus. God was not capricious, violent or of unmitigated judgement. God was just and gracious and merciful. His righteousness was not his wrath to be appeased by deeds, but his salvation to be received by faith alone, through Christ alone, because of God’s grace alone, revealed in the Scriptures alone. Does that sound familiar?
Scripture References: Romans 1:16-17, Psalms 31:1-24, Romans 3:21-26
Related Topics: Grace | More Messages from Bernard Gabbott | Download Audio
We love a turning point. Whether it is a story or a football game. Hope dawning at the darkest time. Where is the great turning point in Esther? It could be our memory verse, when Esther is persuaded by Mordecai to act to save her people. It could be when the king looks with favour upon Esther and holds out the golden scepter to her. It could be when Haman is forced to lead Mordecai through the city mounted on the king’s horse and proclaims that he is the man the king delights to honour. They are major events in the story of Esther. They are turning points of a sort. But the writer of Esther points us to another event. That looks so trivial.
Esther is such an exciting story! There are evil plots. There are interesting yet flawed characters. There is risk and sacrifice. There is heroism and villainy. Today, we are introduced to the villain of the plot, and what an evil scheming villain he is! He spins lies and concocts murderous plans to do away with the Jews, God’s covenant people. How will the people respond? Will he get away with his evil plan? Will God, who is not mentioned at all, intervene to protect His people, to live up to the promises He made to Abraham, the people at Mt Sinai, and to David?
There is so much that sounds familiar in these first two chapters of Esther: the world is dominated by loud and brash and imposing and degraded power, the people of God are small and struggling and faced with ambiguous decisions and actions and God seems so far away he is almost absent (at least to our minds and hearts). As we read this book, we will need God’s revelation to help us navigate its strangeness, its ambiguity, and its confrontational narrative. In this, we have the key to the book—the lack of God’s name in letters does not mean the lack of God’s presence.
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