Pastor Ralph Douglas West - Don't Grow Accustomed To God's Grace - Luke 13:1-5

0:02 This is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice and we are glad in it. Let me say that again. This is the day the Lord has made. We rejoice and we are glad in it. Thank you, Crystal, for being with us tonight and for blessing us. I was sitting there and I was thinking that in February, I'm one of the featured speakers at one of the really influential race conferences that we're hosting at Baylor University at at the New Heard Center. And my assignment for that night is to lecture on what the white church can learn from the black church.

1:05 And when I was sitting there, I started thinking about it. And I said, I love the church, and Lord, I sure love the black church. I really do, because... because you don't know what you're gonna get

1:35 when you come to the black church experience. And I say that in a hefty, healthy, and respectful way. I was just looking around, said the black church is the only place where you can have a dean of sociology sitting over here and provost of a university directing and shouting at the same time. You have medical doctors and surgeons over here waving their hand. And I said, nowhere but the black church can you get the school teachers over here and the nurses over there, and then the sanitation workers and the bus drivers all together under one roof. and our common denominator is Jesus Christ.

2:28 And he's the one that makes the difference. Yeah, I love it. I do. I truly, truly love it. And I enjoy when I get a chance to come and worship. Thank you. Goes to a lot of people. Tonight, Ralph was telling me he identified several people from our Eldridge campus, as well as first-time friends that were there on the day. Raphael pointed out the bingo campus people to me and thank you, yeah. And so what a joy it is for us to be here for our deacon family ministry who partners so personally and pastorally with myself and James Harris for pastoral care in our church, our staff.

3:25 and does an enormous amount of work. Most of it is behind the scene. We just see the effectiveness of it on Sunday morning. And not to mention all of the different people who are part of our ministries and our church. And these have been challenging moments to do ministry post-COVID. And so I think that that alone is enough to say praise the Lord. Let me say it again, praise the Lord. And then finally our new family members who unite with our church, Daniel Williams who's our church administrator, commented today while we were fellowshipping, looking at the football game, in prayer, looking at the football game.

4:17 And he said, you know, there's so much complaints about you can't get young people to come to church, Young people won't go to church He said but that's not been our case Every Sunday people who are very young Pile into our congregation And I just say if you raise Jesus the right way He'll draw all people unto himself You better help me out on that Now don't leave me standing up here while people are watching So I won't be long tonight. I want to return to one of my favorite scenes in the Bible because it speaks to so much of what is happening in our world. And I want to say one thing about it. I've called this text literally since 1981 of February, the first time I preached this text, it was my senior sermon. I said the text not the sermon and I commented today that that one of the invitations to read the scripture is to hear the meaning of the scripture in a more meaningful and sometimes deeper way. But it always speaks to me when I look at what is happening in headline news. It's in Luke chapter 13 and I just want to say a few words about it tonight. I'm tempted to read beginning at verse 6 but I'm not going to do that because I get there I really will get happy because that was the parable that I actually preached to be conferred with my first degree for ministry.

6:05 So I want to begin at verse 1 and hear what God's Word says to us. And here's my caveat for our congregation, not for the people down the street, our congregation, those who call themselves members of our church, is that don't grow accustomed to God's grace.

6:36 Yeah, yeah. That's what I heard it saying to me just in that seat. Because I actually was going to preach Luke 6, 33, give and it shall be given unto you. And rarely, and I say this for those who may be friends to our congregation, rarely do I ever have the Holy Spirit change anything for me. my church know typically when I come to the pulpit I know exactly what I'm getting ready to say and and I'm not making up phrases I'm working them phrases so that you could hear it you know a certain way you know and and I couldn't turn Luke 13 loose for some reason and I said I want to say that for another time, maybe at that conference.

7:31 And so, but based off your response, it seems like the Spirit knows better than me. So let me say it one more time, and you can, it's 27 minutes, I'll be done before that. I can promise you that, because the one thing that don't work, you don't just open up your mouth and the Lord feel it, so it ain't that much to feel for me tonight. So here it is. Don't grow accustomed to God's grace. Listen to how the evangelist Luke shapes this thought. Now there was some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood piloted mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish.

8:33 Or those 18 who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think that they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish. This is the word of God. You may be seated. One day a group of individuals came to Jesus and they were rather eager to report a gruesome tragedy that had taken in the precincts of Jerusalem.

9:14 They were eyewitnesses to this particular atrocity. There were soldiers mandated by Pontius Pilate to come into the temple, draw their sword, and use it as a weapon against these worshipers who had to come to offer their sacrifices to God. Giving sacrifice is part of what worship is. you did it tonight sometimes we call it sacrifice of praise it's where you offer something to God and while they were offering their offerings to God these soldiers entered in drew their swords and mutilated the bodies of these worshipers but what was worse these Galilean commentators who were reporting to Jesus said is that the blood of the worshipers and the blood of the sacrifices mingled together into one common stream. It was a horrifying sacrilege for the blood of the sacrifice and the blood of the worshiper are not to commingle. The people that was given this report were religious and arrogant.

10:41 They were pharisaical. They were pompous. What they really were simply saying is that what happened to these people happened to them because they were caught doing something bad. Even though they were in worship, apparently they had some hidden sin that went about unconfessed and God swooped down in this sword by these soldiers and killed these worshipers. This is not a new thought. This is not a thought of Pastor West reaching. This is kind of Deuteronomy where people believe that if bad comes to you, it's because you've been bad. there are some of you tonight that bad has not come to you and you really believe it's bypassed your house because you've been real good.

11:46 And Jesus was listening to this kind of pomposity as he had already looked at the current scene and saw what happened in Charleston, South Carolina. And as he listened to these Galilean commentators give their report, he was musing over the headlines that took place at Mother Emanuel's church. where Clemente Pickney, the pastor, was teaching a Bible study on a Thursday night and welcomed in a young man who sat among he and his parishioners that ranged from the age of 28 to 86 and listened to him teach about the grace and the love of God when he drew out his weapon and gunned the nine of them down in the basement of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

12:49 Jesus heard these Galileans give this report. He thought about what had happened in Charleston. He says, so you're assuming that what happened to these people in that basement is the result that they must have been doing something wrong. Maybe what happened to them was the result of them doing something right That they had opened their doors and their hospitality and their warmth to a stranger And a stranger did not return in kind that kind of largest or gratuity Jesus said not about those who had been killed in Jerusalem's worship Or those who had been killed in the worship at Mother Manuel but to those that was given the report who thought that they were more religious, more righteous than those who had died. Unless you repent, unless you have a metanoia, unless your mind is changed, you too will likewise perish.

13:55 repentance is a big word we don't talk about it very much anymore because typically we have reduced repentance to mean something where you are groveling with tears and you're grabbing at yourself in so much duress when in essence in the words of the theologian David Roberts said that repentance is the joyful release of being seen by God. think about that the true repentance comes when we recognize that god sees us and there is no pretense there is no mask wearing we are no masquerading with god that god sees us for who we are. We can camouflage it with cosmetics. We can try to sanitize it and deodorize it.

15:03 And yet God says, you can put all of that on, but I see you for who you are. And when he sees us for who we really are, it becomes a joyful release that I don't have to pretend no more that God knows me for who I am and God knows me for what I am. And so he says, except you repent, Thank you. we don't use that word in church much anymore we have lumped it away we've called it antiquated and we've shoved it aside and said it's not politically correct it's unsophisticated for somebody like you in your position to use a word like that in 2023 on the eve of 2024 For you have a thesaurus, you need to look up some new words and supplement repentance with something else. And yet the word that we have through the scripture reminds us that repentance is not just turning around, but it is changing your mind in a way that you see God, life, yourself, and others with a new vision.

16:20 Because when you see people the way God sees them, you are careful not to mistreat them, mishandle them, abuse them. Except you repent. Texas could do some repenting. I'm with the poet John Donne that any man's death diminishes me. I'm involved in mankind. Therefore, do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. Whether it's black bodies or brown bodies. When I see those children trying to cross to Guadalupe, trying to make their way from this kind of oppressive government into a land of freedom and opportunity. I understand all the implications that goes with that and how you have to work through things, but you don't have to put razor wires in the water.

17:25 You don't have to put barriers and send children and drown and die on bus rides, going to what's supposed to be refugee cities. and there's no sense of remorse except you repent. You too will likewise perish. Jesus counted that story with a story.

17:56 He said, apparently you didn't hear what happened in the neighboring town of Salome. There was no guerrilla warfare, anything like that. There was just 18 innocent bystanders minding their own business. when the tower and so long fell over and killed them. One month had passed since Martin Luther King had marched on Washington in 1963.

18:29 It's been 60 years now. We delivered the famous speech that people call the I Have a Dream speech. It was not really that. The theme of the speech was is that America has written check and we took it to debate to cash it but it was marked insufficient funds And now people have so misinterpreted that last part of that speech. They use it now as a qualifier for colorblindness. One of my members in our church who's white. We are friends and we went out to lunch and he said to me lovingly and respectfully. He's my friend.

19:25 He said well Pastor you know I don't see you as black I said no no no no don't do that I said see me as black brother See me as African American I said because I see you as white I said because if we don't see each other, we're going to start looking past each other. I need you and you need me. And we need each other. And together we will make the world that we live in a better place. A better place. A better world. A better society. Now again, I know your sophistication. That's why I complimented you early because I knew I would lose you by now.

20:19 A month had passed from that speech. And for everybody, they thought the dream, the dream had come. And you hear people now, they talk about, well, now they so sanitized Martin Luther King, they turned him into a kitten that purrs rather than a lion that roared. There was nothing passive, there was nothing soft.

20:54 There was some militancy in Martin Luther King. And so people talk about his speech, but you can't talk about that speech without just moving 30 days forward after that speech on Youth Day in September that year. two Klux Kansmen had planted a barn in 16th Street Baptist Church and four little girls coming out of the restroom coming down the stairwells lives were not just killed but they were blown away blown to smithereens unidentifiable and the face of Jesus was blown out of the stained glass.

21:44 Jesus said, did you hear about that? Did you hear about what those people did? well I'll tell you what unless you repent unless you change your mind you too will likewise perish and the only reason why you won't repent is because you have grown accustomed to God's grace We have people who teach literature in this church and they've assigned one of my favorite little stories that you read, short stories called supposed to.

22:34 Not supposed to, supposed to. And the whole thesis is just that, is that the good that comes to that person, they respond by saying, well, you suppose to do that. This happened to me not long ago.

22:57 I was holding the door. There was some sisters coming to the door. I thought I would be courteous and open the door. That's the mistake I made. They walk past me.

23:20 I'm waiting on somebody. Anybody just to say thank you for holding the door. Well, I want you to know I'm still holding that door, waiting on somebody to say thank you. And that little story hit me in my face squarely. Their attitude was, you're supposed to do that. You know, if you're not so careful in church, you can get so caught up in rhythm and sound, you miss out on content. And one of the hymns that we sing tonight, that line, Great is Thy Faithfulness, is a beautiful poetic description of what grace looks like. And that is, God wakes you up, he renews you every morning, he gives you new mercies, and he ain't supposed to do that. He does that because he wants to do that, because he loves to do that, and it's because of his nature that he does that.

24:27 I wonder how many mornings God has waken you and he's holding the door and you're walking in and out and he's just waiting on you to say thank you. And yet we have a way of saying, Lord, you supposed to do that. No, if the Lord wanted to, he could just withheld his breath and we wouldn't wake up in the morning. And God allows us to have new days and new mercies because of who God is. And because of God's goodness. And because of God's grace. And because of God's graciousness. And except you repent, you too will likewise perish. I hope Ralph doesn't mind me telling this story.

25:21 I think he may be doing better now. I don't know, but that boy is challenged with directions. when he had come home from Morehouse, this is years ago now, he had made a run, and that weekend or that week, William Houston Curtis was in town with us, staying at the house, and Bill and I, we were sitting out, and we were just enjoying conversation, and read and just talking. And I got a phone call and I know when my children call based off the tone of their voice, the level of emergency. and he was turned around on the beltway.

26:21 And I said, well, where are you? He said, on the beltway. I said, where? He said, on the beltway. And so he finally told me, he said, well, I'm over by West Airport, I think it was. Yeah. I said, go in which direction? He said, I don't know, Dad. I said, well, look up. He said, south. I said, okay, here's what I need you to do. I need you to take the first exit, make a U-turn, and I need you to get on the beltway and look for north. That's all I need you to do. Just look for north. North anything.

27:10 And head north. So I told him, I said, this is how this is going to work. You're going to go north and you're going to cross on the belt. You're going to see 59. Don't exit. Keep going. North. You're going to come to I-10. keep going north I said you're going to get to 290 north just stay north and something said to me you need to start heading south while he's coming north he knows it's not a made up story and so by this time I called because he's in college. I don't want to come across as overwhelming dad, that kind of stuff.

28:05 I said, how are you moving? He said, I'm doing good, but I noticed I'm running low on fuel. I said, well, just keep coming north. I said, wait. He said, well, I've crossed past 59, I've 10, 29. I said, well, you just keep on coming. I said, what I'm going to do, I'm going to get on the north side so that I can meet you. That's what I want to do. I'm going to get on the north side so I can meet you. I say, you got any money? He says, I'm running out.

28:44 Because I'm on the toll. And I'm running out and I'm a college student. And I don't have no money. So I said, I'm going to get on the north side. So what I did, I knew he was on his way, and I went through the line. Man waved me on because I had an easy tag. I said, yeah, I need some help. I said, my son is somewhere behind me. He's in a green Land Rover. I said, I need you when he's getting here to wave him through. And so I said, here's the toll for his fare. I just need you when he get here to get him on through. I said, he's running out of gas.

29:41 He ain't got no money. And he's coming on. And so the phone rang after I passed on through. He said, Dad, I'm getting low. the red light is on and I don't know how much reserve I have. I said, well, just keep coming north. And so when he got into the line, that the line you got to pay in, it goes slower. And so he gets up and the man remembers and the man sees and he waves him on. Well, Ralph doesn't know what to do at this time because I haven't communicated to him what I've done at the toll and the man is telling him to come on and by this time the man is getting a little aggressive because there are people behind him telling you know like you need to come on and and and Ralph is a little stuck right here at this point and the man gets him there and Ralph said well I can't go because I've run out of money I know he said but just come on he said but he said but you know I don't want this to show up uh you know I'm a college student I ain't got no money to pay for no ticket coming through here. He says, son, your father has already come here before you, and he's already paid your fare. Come here now. The only reason why more of us haven't been pulled over, run out of resources in life is because we got a heavenly father who has already paid our fair and has moved us on down the line. So when you're looking for something to shout about and thank God about, remember not only has God paid the fair, but you got some mamas and some daddies and some grandmamas and granddaddies and some uncles and aunties and some cousins and some friends that then paid it forward. And now that God has paid it forward for you, you and I ought Pay it forward for somebody else.

31:42 I'm done now. So unless you change your mind, you too will likewise perish. That's all Jesus will send them. Change your mind. Change the way that you think about God. Stop thinking of God as some cosmic tyrant, some sadistic savior, someone that finds joy in your pain and suffering. and look at him as a benevolent father in God who has given to us the greatest gift in Jesus Christ who's already paid the price on a hill called Calvary. Have a good night. I'm done now, but my soul is happy. Because I'm trying to tell you tonight, don't you grow accustomed to God's grace. Just because God has paid a fare here and paid a fare there, Don't you forget you ought to pause long enough to give God praise, give God glory.

32:42 Thank the Lord. I'm trying to stop right there. I really am. I'm trying to close up my Bible, but my soul is getting happy. Because it don't take much to get happy when you think about what Jesus did on Calvary. I mean, he paid a debt that he did not owe. And so here it is that you and I tonight have these opportunities. To live our life in a way where we say to God that we don't want to ever take your grace for granted. And I'm going to tell you something, don't do that. I did that once. I took God's grace for granted. I learned a lesson how things can turn out by taking God's grace for granted. It happened as a religion student in college. T.W. Thompson and I would give us our assignments and he would say to us that here are the due dates September 30th, October 30th and November 30th and I'm going to tell you something parents don't be too hard on your children I remember when one of our students was going to college and the parents said Pastor West we want you to talk to our son I said I ain't the best candidate He said no we want you to talk I said You don't want me to talk about it Because when I went to college I went to all of college Every bit of college.

34:23 And I told him, I said, you know, I can't give him the best advice. I gave you the due date, September 30th, October 30th, November 30th. The way this class is designed is that the way that you do your work is that you read your assignment, you write a brief about what you read, how you interpret it. It's only a page, maybe a page, two pages long. That's all of how you interpret it, what we read. That's it. You turn it in on the due date. September 30th came around and T.W. Thompson on that day would not call the roll because the submittal of your report, that was the way he marked present or absent.

35:19 We were in the Carpe College Chapel. Our class was in the basement. Now we're, I don't know, 38, 40 of us in that class. And he would count the papers. And he said, I got a shortage. 40 papers here, 50 you in class, and Green said, Dr. Thompson, class, all the activity at school got caught up, you know, these smokers that we're invited to is just, you know, don't get nervous parents, smokers is not what you think they are. And so he said, I figured, Green, that many of you, you're first time away from home, and you're trying to get acclimated as a student, and you could hear sighs.

36:22 He said, don't worry about it. Just turn it in next class meeting. I'm not going to take a letter grade from you. I'm not going to penalize you from being tardy. just don't let it happen again. And we were happy about that. T-Dub was our favorite professor. October 30th comes around and you know, you're in football season, you're in carnation ball and you got homecoming and you got smokers and you got different parties that you wanted to sample wanted to sample as a college student and this can interfere with getting the paper done for October 30th. That day we got the class, Dr. T.W. Thompson counted the papers, he said, wait a minute gentlemen, he says I have 30 papers here.

37:23 He said, now, you know what happened the last time. Now, you're making a habit of this. Don't do this. Green said, well, Doc, you know, there's so much activity taking place on the campus. Macon said, yeah, Doc, we're just trying to be involved in what's going on. Freddie Clark said, I didn't get mine in. Freddie Hayne said, I didn't get mine in. Marvis Mays said, I didn't get mine in. and I was in this class looking at them saying, look at these people.

37:56 Terry Anderson didn't get his in. I said, what kind of preachers are they going to be? Missing their deadline. And you know what Dr. T.W. Thompson said? I couldn't believe it. He poured his hat to the side and fixed his glasses and said, hey, now, you're taking advantage of me. He said, now, you're in college, and he gave us a lecture on maturity and responsibility and accountability, and we heard all of that.

38:35 And when he said, but I'm not going to take anything away from you. And I said that too, my, my, my. I couldn't believe it. I said, and we started singing. We were cheerleaders. T-dub, he's our man. If he can't fix it, no one can. November 30th came around. So you already get this because this is after Thanksgiving. And we all make it back. And I noticed something. I noticed something in the disposition of the students this particular day. Even in mine. Normally when you would hear Dr. Thompson come down the stairwell and he would say, you know, good morning, gentlemen, and making his way in the class.

39:40 You got to remember this is 1977 in the religion department. We only have one or two women in it in this particular Old Testament class. And nobody moved. feet were against the wall leaning digging the scene in the gangster lean woo woo I couldn't believe it. We had had a good Thanksgiving. We had gone visiting each other's families, establishing extended families and all this kind of stuff. This day when we got in there, Tito said, uh-uh. He said, 20 papers?

40:34 20 papers? Gentlemen, 20 papers. And so he goes down the line and he started and says, Anderson, your paper, he said, I don't have it, F. Brown, your paper, I don't have it, F. Clark, your paper, Doc, I didn't get it, F. Green, your paper, F. And this is what Green said, Duff, you gonna give me an F?

41:11 He said, that's not fair. And T-Dub said, Mr. Green, on September the 30th, you didn't have your paper. And I did not take one point from you. And you're right, I'm not fair. And so I don't want to be called unfair. So let me go back to September 3rd. And change your letter grade from a B to a C minus. Is there anybody else that wants me to be fair? And I had to sit down there when he got to my name. Because I'm in that group and I said these words, doc, be whatever. you want to be, but don't be fair with me. Have a good night. If you ain't got that, I ain't going no further, but that's what you ought to tell the Lord going into the new year. Lord, be whatever you want to be.

42:22 But don't be fair with me. Fair is not what I want. I want grace. I want mercy. I need a God that's able to look beyond my faults and see my needs. Have a good night. May God bless you real good. but on my way to heaven, God don't be fair with me. Be gracious, be merciful unto me. That's my prayer for you tonight. It's for you to simply end the year and begin the new year by saying, Lord, don't be fair with me but be gracious and merciful unto me.

43:22 Amen. Amen. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for this night. the last night of this year as we cross over into a brand new year. There are gonna be people in our church who make all kinds of resolutions. You already know it, that's gonna last all of a day. So the only way that we get from resolution to commitment Is that we repent And see ourselves the way that you see us So now Lord I ask you Change our minds That we may see you and ourselves but others the way that you see us and the way that people are meant to be seen.

44:40 Thank you for your amazing grace, for looking beyond our faults and seeing our needs. There are people here tonight that will make a decision for you on the last day of the year. some of these people had no intention of making a decision for you today but the Holy Spirit and the Word of God has brought them to a place of recognition and even conviction to say that's been my problem I need to repent to change my mind about God, about life, about sin, about salvation, and see with the vision of Jesus Christ.

45:47 We will rejoice tonight when people make those decisions. And for those of us in Christ and in the church, we renew our commitment to you to say I don't want to be the same Christian in the new year that I'm leaving in this year so we want to be new men and new women in Jesus Christ and we thank you for that now Lord as the door to church is open move the day that people will respond graciously to you coming down the aisle and help us to rejoice really rejoice at what you're getting ready to do in the strong name of jesus we pray and all god's people say amen give god praise quickly before we run out the door you don't want to leave that way is 810 y'all and come on don't do me like that at the last day now don't do me like that don't do me like that leaving it at 18 okay I'm gonna let you leave I'm gonna let you leave and then when you leave then we'll get back to what what what the agenda for tonight is now every time I have to do that we we make room for the enemy to beat us to beat us okay and I'm telling you you ought to be tired of losing to the enemy so I need you to pray double now that none of that get in the way of somebody that need to make a decision tonight for Jesus Christ come on the church door the church is open

47:52 come on