Why Have Hope for Hopeless People

6 · Ricky tells a personal story of mistakenly wearing prescription sunglasses indoors and panicking about losing his vision, then realizing the lens he was wearing distorted his perception of reality—illustrating that the lens through which we view life profoundly shapes what we see

Now, Paul sees the mess that the Corinthians are in clearly, but that is not all that he sees. Let me illustrate it this way. A number of years ago, in my teens, I experienced a very strange and concerning afternoon. At the end of the day, when when, you know, the sun began to go down, I began to realize, man, it is getting darker and darker, faster and faster than I've ever experienced before. And I thought, well, maybe it's cloudy. So I looked outside, not real cloudy. And I remember it being, you know, I remember just for the sake of illustration, let's just say it's summer and it's like 5:30 or 6, and it is already getting dark. And I'm thinking, this is so unusual. And so, you know, it continues to get dark and even the house begins to feel a little dim. So I start turning lights on, but the lights I'm turning on, they're not having the effect that they normally have. And so I begin to think like, something is going on today. Is it a solar eclipse? Is this what is happening? And internally I begin to freak out a little bit thinking, as I, you know, this is, I don't know where your mind goes in those situations. This is where my mind goes. I'm losing my vision. I, you know, I've heard of this. I've seen this on the internet. Some one day, you know, the next day that nothing, you can't see anything. And this is, you know, how do I want to— what do I want to look at with my last few hours of being able to see? The face of my wife, my children, you know, and I'm thinking like I'm a teen. See, I don't have any wife, children yet. But I wish I could have seen my children. You know, that's what I'm thinking as my vision goes and goes and goes and goes. And as I'm in this downward spiral, I realized something when I went to rub my eye to see maybe I've got some film or something, and realized I had forgotten to take off my prescription sunglasses. I had just recently gotten a pair of prescription sunglasses, which were new to me, and because I could actually see with them, I had just left them on when I walked inside, not realizing it. And in the blazing sun of El Paso, it seemed fine, but as the sun began to go down, it began to get darker and darker. Now, was it getting darker? Yes. But the lens I had on made everything seem far darker than it actually was, right? And I learned an important lesson today, that day, that the lens through which you look to see the world profoundly changes what you experience in life.

7 · Ricky transitions from the illustration to the sermon's central question by extending the lens metaphor—what lens is Paul using to see hope in the Corinthian mess?

Since then, I've gotten to know a bunch of other lenses as a glasses wearer. Had blue light tint lenses that make the world all yellow but help you with headaches. I've seen— I've gotten brown sunglass lenses. I've gotten blurry lenses that are not quite the right prescription. So the question is this: What lens then is Paul looking at this mess of the Corinthian church through that he has any hope for them, that he can encourage them in any way? What is he seeing that we're not seeing?

8 · Ricky applies the lens metaphor directly to the congregation by diagnosing the first distorted lens—avoidance—where people see themselves as having no flaws and no need to change, illustrated by the Barbie-movie pink filter meme

And before we go there, I want to ask you to think about what lens you use to see the world around you. I want you to think about yourself and I want you to think about others. So think about yourself first. Maybe you've got a lens of, "I'm fine and I don't need to change," which is the lens of avoidance. So you put those avoidance lenses on and when you look in the mirror, You think, "Man, what a handsome devil is looking back at me in the mirror," right? I don't see any of my flaws. When people try to bring up flaws to you, you look in the mirror and you're like, "I'm not seeing any flaws. Like, you really— I think I'm fine. I'm good." And you don't see any need to change. I saw this thing recently where because of, I guess, the Barbie movie, somebody came up with a pink filter, and so people were— as a funny thing, putting all of their sad photos through pink filters, right? Or it'll be like a crazy, sketchy, industrial-looking town with a pink filter on. You're like, "Oh, it's Barbie-like," you know? And it was just funny, it's funny, but there are people that do that, that everything in their life has this pink, happy, rose-colored filter. I'm fine, when I look in the mirror, they look fine.

9 · Ricky diagnoses the second distorted lens—despair—where people see only their own flaws or the flaws of others with no hope for change, and demonstrates how both avoidance and despair lenses distort our view of ourselves and others in relationships

Or maybe you have the opposite filter. Maybe your filter is, I'm the worst, and there's no hope for change, meaning the lens of despair. All you see when you look in the mirror are your flaws. Is that an extra wrinkle? Am I losing my hair, right? That's all you see when you look in the mirror, and you really have no hope for change. This is you wearing those dark prescription sunglasses indoors that you can barely even make out anything good about yourself when you look in the mirror. And we use these same lenses when we look at those around us, those people who are a mess around us. Think of your spouse, your kids, your friends, the Christians in your group. Maybe you look at them and you think, "They're fine and they have no need for change." So you, again, put on that lens of avoidance. This happens every time, over and over and over, perennially. I've gotten used to a pattern as a pastor. First date, what do you think of them? They're wonderful. What a strong Christian. You're like, well, give it a few dates, right? And then a few dates later, you're like, they are the worst. They're so selfish. Yeah, I thought so, right? You look at other people through that lens of they're perfect, they don't need to change, they're fine. Or maybe you use this lens with your kids. Man, this mean school is always being mean to my children. "Unbelievable. All he did was punch a kid, but it was a good— it was— I mean, they're overreacting. I mean, what kid doesn't punch another kid from time to time, right?" That's using that lens. No change needed. Or maybe you look at those around you in your life through the lens, again, of despair. All you see when you look at your spouse are their problems, their issues, their sins, their weaknesses. All that you see when you're in conflict with another Christian is their issues, their problems, their mess, and you have no hope that they can change.

10 · Ricky establishes that Paul uses neither the avoidance lens (ignoring the Corinthians' problems) nor the despair lens (writing them off as hopeless), setting up the question of what lens Paul does use

And notice something then about the Apostle Paul. He does not use either of these lenses, right? He does not in this letter— this is a long letter with a lot of instruction— and he does not ignore any of the problems that he is seeing in the Corinthian church. So it's not as though he's got these these Barbie pink glasses on, and he's just like, "Well, you are a mess, but I'm going to pretend that you're not so I don't have to deal with this." No, he doesn't do that at all. But neither does he see the mess they're in and think, "Unbelievable. No hope. I'm not even going to bother writing a letter other than to say, 'You're hopeless. Good luck out there.'" He doesn't do either of those things. So, what lens is Paul using then? To see this church?

11 · Ricky expounds 1 Corinthians 1:4 to reveal Paul's lens—grace and being 'in Christ'—and establishes the controlling framework: Paul's hope is not based on the Corinthians' merits but on God's undeserved favor, and he sees their identity in Christ before he sees anything else about them

Well, read this then again, 1 Corinthians 1:4. He says this, notice his careful language, "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. But that is the lens through which he sees the church. If I had to summarize Paul's view of the church, his lens that he's using to look at this church, he— it would be this: "You're a mess, but I am full of hope for you. You're a mess, but I am full of hope for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus. Paul looks at them through the lens of God's grace at work in them and their identity at being located, relocated as Christians to be in Christ. Now, this is extremely important because Paul's confidence that they can grow and change is not based on the Corinthians' efforts. It's not based on their talents. It's not based on their skills. It's not based on the identity that they've created for themselves. Paul's confidence for this church is based on God's undeserved favor toward them poured out in Christ Jesus. That is the lens through which— the lens of God's grace is the lens through which Paul views this church. Richard Pryor again says we need to— did I say Richard Pryor? I'm sorry, Dr. Pryor. That's a different guy. Do not Google that during the message. Okay. Dr. Pryor, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, says this: "We need to register this primary truth: Paul looks at the Corinthian church as it is in Christ before he looks at anything else that is to true of the church. Notice where this is located. It's not tucked away at the very end of the letter after Paul has let them have it for page after page after page. It is right up front. It is the first thing that Paul notices about the church, that they are in Christ, and therefore the way he views them is through the grace of God.

12 · Ricky illustrates the grace lens with another personal story—brown-tinted sunglasses that made the greens of El Paso pop—showing that the lens doesn't create something that isn't there but helps you see what is already there

Now, recently I got another pair of sunglasses that I did not make the same mistake twice, but I've always had gray sunglasses. I don't know if anybody's ever had this, but I just, because of the color of the frames, I got like the brownish tint sunglasses. Anybody have the brownish tint sunglasses? Everybody? A few people? Okay. Here's the thing I didn't realize about the brownish tint sunglasses, and I looked this up on the internet afterwards. The brownish tint sunglasses actually makes greens pop. A little bit. Now, I don't know if you've noticed this, but we don't have a ton of green in El Paso. And so I remember driving down the road I normally take to go to Walmart, and I'm like, "Man, it's so green here." Now, it didn't turn El Paso into, like, a jungle, but here's what it did do. It forced me to notice the green and the plants that I often ignored. Because the plants were there, right? The trees were there lining the road. I just often could not see them. So it's not making me see something that wasn't there, it's helping me see something that is there.

13 · Ricky transitions to the sermon's three-point structure by stating that Paul's grace lens enables him to see three true things about the Corinthians that we might otherwise miss: God's work in their past, present, and future

And that is what Paul is doing here. He's putting these lenses of God's grace, looking at them through the perspective of who they are in Christ, and that helps him see things that are true about them that we may often miss. So, 3 things that Paul notices about them, 3 places he sees God's work in them. And again, we're just going to fly over this because Paul is going to spend much of the letter on these things.

14 · Ricky expounds verses 4-6, showing that Paul sees the past grace of God in the Corinthians' salvation—he recalls their early days of faith, their baptisms, their changed lives, and wants them to remember that God's grace interrupted their pagan existence and brought them into Christ

First, he sees the past grace of God in their salvation. Look at verse 4: "I give thanks to my God always for you, because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him, in all speech, in all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you. Now Paul directs them to look at their past, and in their past to see not just, as he's going to point out, their record of failure as a church, but to see God's grace in their reception of the gospel message. So, remember, Paul planted this church. He was there at the earliest moments of these people following Jesus. They were just living Corinthian life when God sent a preacher named Paul to interrupt their lives with good news. And Paul references their testimony about Christ being confirmed among them. It seems as though this is Paul drawing their attention back to those early days of faith, right, the days the lights went on. As he's sharing the gospel with people in the marketplace or in the synagogue, all of a sudden they realize, "Man, I was made for God, and yet I've sinned against Him, but there is hope. I can be reconciled." And all of this swirling around in their mind, Paul remembers the look in their eyes. He remembers the joyful days of early baptisms in this church as person after person publicly declares, "I am a follower of Jesus." Right? He remembers the early prayer meetings, the early messages, the early singing together of these people whose hearts were full of Corinthian songs of debauchery, now singing singing with joy about their Savior and hope. He remembers, I'm sure, counseling people's marriages and relationships and seeing God begin to change their lives, and he wants to draw their attention back to those moments that the grace of God came to them and the testimony of God was confirmed among them.

15 · Ricky illustrates Paul's backward-looking move with a practical life hack—looking at baby pictures of family members you're angry with softens your heart—to show that remembering someone's history with you changes your perspective, just as Paul wants the Corinthians to remember their gospel history

I've discovered a life hack recently for immediate family members and, you know, your kids or your siblings or your parents or your spouse. If you are mad at them, I've discovered a life hack that I will freely share with you today to help your heart when you think about a person that you're having a hard time with. Okay, you guys ready? This is not from 1 Corinthians. This is just Ricky. If you look at a baby picture of anybody in your family, you will immediately be filled with compassion for them. Right? Like if you're mad at your sibling and you're like, "Oh, that my sibling." And then you see a little, a picture of you and your sibling when you guys were just little babies. And they're just like, "Oh, look at that little." And then you start to remember, here's what happens. Here's what it does. It forces you to go like, "Man, we did have some great memories as siblings. Look at that, they were actually adorable and I'm mad at them right now, but, oh man, I remember that little shirt. That's great." You know, all of a sudden your kids, your kids' baby pictures, right? Your wedding photos, often these things, what are they doing? It's not just, you know, some weird psychological trick. It's just reminding you of your history and life with them. That's what Paul's doing. He's saying, he's pulling out the old photo album of early days in Corinth and saying, "Do you remember when you came to know the Lord? Do you remember when you were baptized? Do you remember when you sang together for the first time, the first Christian hymn you ever sang in your life?" I see the grace of God at work in you, friend.

16 · Ricky applies the past-grace move to the congregation's self-perception, showing that remembering God's grace in salvation humbles the avoider and gives hope to the despairing—God came to you in your mess, loves you still, and will not give up on you

That's where he starts with them. Look, I want you to apply this in the mirror. I want you to, as you look in the mirror, I want you to remember the grace of God that has come to you and review the history of God's grace in your life. Now, look, if you are the kind of person that avoids your flaws, remember this: God came to you when you were an absolute mess, and you'll immediately find humility, right? If you realize, man, you didn't come to God, you didn't strive your way up the mountain to the guru and discover the secret to salvation. No, God came to you. He interrupted your life. He saved you. He sent his Son for you, right? That is God's grace poured out on you. So when you look at yourself, you see, man, that person needed grace. That person still does. But similarly, if you despair, if you think there's nothing valuable in my life, there's nothing valuable about who I am, that I'm a failure in this area and that area and this area and that area of my life, when you look at yourself in the mirror, remember God's grace to you. God did not come to you because you were so epically talented. So, because you were so epically valuable in the eyes of the world, he came to you as a mess because he loves you, because of grace, which means God's undeserved favor. So, do you think he's going to give up on you now? Remember your testimony.

17 · Ricky applies the past-grace move to how we view messy Christians around us—remember that they are brothers and sisters for whom Christ died, and recall their gospel history

And then apply this to others. Even in their mess, remember, God— this was a brother or sister for whom Christ died. Remember their past.

18 · Ricky expounds verses 5-7 to show that Paul sees the present grace of God in the Corinthians' gifts—even though they are misusing their speech and knowledge in destructive ways, Paul recognizes that God has enriched them with these gifts and they can be redirected for good

But second, remember the present grace of God in gifts. He refers several times to the gifts that they have. He says in verse 7 that they are not lacking in any gifts. So, the word here is that you are enriched in him, meaning that who you were naturally in your human kind of just disposition,— it becomes enriched when God's grace comes to you. And God enriches through grace who we are, meaning our gift with words perhaps becomes an ability to teach, a hard work ethic becomes turned to serve others, not just yourself, right? Paul can see that even their church in Corinth has all the gifts of God represented. It is overflowing with gifts. And Paul says this despite the fact that these categories of speech and knowledge were the exact categories that were going absolutely wrong in the church in Corinth. Meaning their speech is being misused, their rivalry, there's division, there's spiritual gifts being used in a way that hurts one another in the body, that one-ups one another. And their knowledge, oh, everybody's boasting about how I know more than this person, I know more than that person, I know more than this person. I know more than you. I'm more spiritual than you. I'm more far along in my spiritual life than you. And it would be easy for all Paul to see when he sees that is just to see this is a mess. All of your speech is just a mess. All of your knowledge is just an absolute mess and write the whole thing off. But instead, Paul, again, looking with the eyes that are renewed through the lens of the grace of God, says this, well, Here's the good thing. You may be misusing your speech, but, man, you are very gifted in speech. You may be misusing your knowledge, but you guys actually know many things about the Lord. Those are great things.

19 · Ricky steps outside the expositional flow to confess his own struggle with adopting Paul's grace-based perspective—he does not naturally think this way

Now, I just— I'm so challenged because I just— that is not the way I think, right? That is not the way I think at all.

20 · Ricky illustrates the present-grace-in-gifts move with a story of a woman who saw her cutting speech as only a curse until she gained a biblical perspective and realized it was a God-given gift that could be redeemed to encourage others—showing that even misused gifts are still gifts from God

I remember a number of years ago I was Talking to a woman who, the way she described it is that her curse, her gift and curse in life was that she could be very cutting in her speech toward those closest to her. And so, the way she described it is often a lot of people think, man, they think after a conflict, "I wish I could have thought of this perfect thing to just, you know, get my coworker, get my," you know, whatever. "person in my life." She's like, "My curse is that I think of it and say it." And as a result, there was a lot of brokenness in her life because these things would come to mind in conflict and she would just, "Swoosh," absolutely cut people. So she felt despair. But one of the joys was as she began to have a biblical perspective of herself and others, she— became actually able to see, wait a minute, maybe my way with words is not a curse. Maybe this is the way God has made me, and maybe what he wants is for me to renew this area of my life that I might give life to others with my words. Maybe this isn't just a millstone that's hung around my neck for the rest of my life. Maybe the Lord has given this to me for a reason, that I could actually encourage and build others up. And I think that is exactly what Paul is doing, that that is when you begin to have hope for change, not just, "Okay, this and this and this, all of this is just an absolute mess and write you off and you're worthless." No, Paul says, "Listen, even these things that are going wrong, look through the grace of God to see your gifts and abilities given to you by God."

21 · Ricky applies the present-grace move to self-perception, arguing that to see ourselves as worthless is to call God a liar—He says we are fearfully and wonderfully made and gifted by Him for His glory

Look, friend, I want to encourage you, you got to apply this in the mirror. Often in moments of discouragement, we can look in the mirror and think, "I'm worthless. Nothing in my life is valuable. Nothing that I contribute to life is valuable." But to say that is to call God a liar, because he says in Psalm 139 that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. He says in 1 Corinthians that you have been gifted by him. For His glory and the good of others. Instead of to look at yourself and think, "That person, that person in the mirror is absolute trash." Well, that is a grievous evil against what God has done in you and for you and is doing.

22 · Ricky applies the present-grace move to how we view others—especially difficult children—by illustrating how a wise parent can see a strong-willed or sensitive child's traits not as curses but as God-given gifts that need to be pointed in the right direction

And we then must take this same perspective and help those around us who happen to be in the mess of life, right? One of the parents I know is great at doing this, where if you've got a strong-willed kid and you just think, "This kid is going to be the death of me. This kid will just not break. There's, like, no correction that is usable against this kid. No deprivation, no consequences. They just are like, 'Nope.'" This particular parent I know will say, "Well, that's gonna be great later if you can point them in the right direction, right? And you start to realize, oh, that is true. We don't want a pushover that when difficulty or persecution in life comes, they're just like, "Ah, I'm sorry," right? You want the kid that's like, "Nope, still gonna do it," right? You want that, but about the right things. And maybe your task as a parent is to help them get there. Or maybe a kid that is just super sensitive, And you're just like, "Why are you so sensitive? Just be a little tough here," right? And yet, this parent probably would say, "Well, that's going to be wonderful because they'll be so empathetic to the hurts of others around them. They'll be able to enter into their life and go, 'Man, I can only imagine what you're feeling,' and sit with people," right? If you can help mold and shape that, it'll be a beautiful thing. So, here's my question for you. Do you see the grace of God in the giftings of others around you?

23 · Ricky expounds verses 8-9 to show that Paul sees the future grace of God in the Corinthians' guaranteed arrival at eternity—God will sustain them to the end not because of their effort but because of His unbreakable chain of grace from calling to glorification

And third, the future grace of God in eternity. Now, he ends in verses 8 and 9 saying this, "As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, God is faithful by whom you were called." into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. So Paul points them to the ultimate grace gift, the revealing of Jesus Christ and the return of Jesus Christ. But then he adds to that his confidence, his utter confidence that if they are in Christ, two things will happen indisputably for the Christian. First thing, indisputable, God will sustain them to the end. If they are in Christ, as he says in verse 4 and 5, if they're in Christ, God will sustain it. Even if they're messy, even if they're stuck, even if they seem to be moving backwards at the moment. Why does he have hope? Because he thinks they're gonna be able to turn it around in the fourth quarter? Because he thinks, man, they're gonna really dig deep inside of themselves and power through? No, he has confidence that they will make it to the end because God will do it. Because if they are in Christ, if they have been called, if they have been justified, they will be glorified. There is an unbreakable chain of grace from calling to regeneration to justification to sanctification to glorification. And so it doesn't matter where you are on the chain. You might think, "Man, I'm in the middle of sanctification. Sometimes I'm taking 2 steps forward, 1 step back, or 2 steps forward, 3 steps back, 2 steps— you know, I don't even know where I am." Here's the thing: if you are in Christ, you will be sustained until the end because God himself will do it. Brothers and sisters, I want you to— you got to feel that today.

24 · Ricky continues expounding verses 8-9 to emphasize the second future-grace reality—the Corinthians will be declared guiltless on the day of Christ's return, not because they earned it but because of their union with Christ

And second thing you've got to feel is If you are in Christ, if this church is in Christ, if these believers are in Christ, they will be guiltless on the day of the revealing of Jesus Christ. Now, this day, this day, they are full of guilt. They are full of sin. They are full of problems. Paul is going to go to work on them starting next week. They need encouragement. They need correction. They need adjustment. They need, "Don't do this." But on that day, on that day at the return of Jesus Christ, what will the verdict over their life be? It will not be failure. It will not be could have been great. It will not be almost made it. It will not be any of those things. It will be guiltless. On that day, the judge of heaven will bring his gavel down and the authoritative proclamation over all eternity will be, "Not guilty. Not guilty. Righteous. Holy. Precious in Christ." That, that, brother, sister in Christ, that is where you're headed. That is where this church is headed. And so Paul sees them in their mess and he is utterly full of confidence that if they are in Christ, they will make it and they will be guiltless on that day.

25 · Ricky establishes the theological foundation for Paul's confidence—Paul is sure of the Corinthians' future not because of their merits but because of God's unbreakable character of faithfulness, which is rooted in God's very being and cannot waver

And how can Paul, though, be so sure of this? Well, it's not because the Corinthians are a particularly promising group of people, not because they are a particularly talented group of people. Paul is sure of this because of something that has nothing to do with them at all. Paul is sure of this, notice this, because of the character of God. Notice in verse 9 those first 3 words. Those first 3 words of verse 9 are where Paul is hanging his confidence on. They are this: God is faithful. God has been faithful. He is faithful. He will be faithful. God is faithful. It is his— Christian, it is his unbreakable character. He can no more stop being faithful than he can stop being God. And God's faithfulness is why Paul is so confident. He is confident that God will sustain them in the end because at no point along the way will God's faithfulness get wobbly. Just like, "Well, he was faithful last year, but I don't know about this year. I don't know." Still faithful. And it's not as though on that day God's faithfulness will waver and he'll be like, "Ah, on second thought, I don't know. I'm just— I can't do it. You're guilty. I'm sorry." It's not going to happen. Why? Because God's unbreakable character of faithfulness. Will continue.

26 · Ricky transitions from exposition to personal application by diagnosing the root problem—we tie our value to what we see in ourselves or others rather than to God's grace

Look, let me just encourage you. I think so many times when we look in the mirror, we look at ourselves without the lens of God's grace and character when we see ourselves or when we see others. We end up tying our value, our worth, our meaning, to what we see there without the lens of God's grace toward us.

27 · Ricky illustrates the theology of God's unshakable love with a personal parenting practice—he teaches his son Anson that his father's love is rooted not in Anson's performance but in the relationship ('you're my dad'), pointing to our heavenly Father's perfect faithfulness

Let me give you one small example. I've started this little rhythm. By the third kid, I'm finally getting slightly better as a parent, you know. Sorry for the first two, but this third one I've got great hope for. I'm just kidding. And— but Anson is— when he was about 2 or 3, when he could finally kind of do call and response with me, When he goes to bed, I often tell him, I often ask him, "Anson, why do I always love you?" And he smiles, and this is what I've taught him to say. He smiles and says, "Because you're my dad." Because here is my heart: I do not want him going to bed thinking that whether I love him or not is rooted in anything in him. I don't want him to think, "Well, did I obey a lot today? Then my dad loves me. If I didn't, my dad doesn't." Meaning I don't want his confidence to even be in his own character. I want his confidence to be, "Well, he's my dad." I want it rooted outside of himself and in a— now listen, I'm an imperfect father. Often I don't live up to that statement, but our heavenly Father perfectly lives up to his His character. statements of faithfulness and justification and salvation.

28 · Ricky applies the Anson illustration directly to the believer's relationship with God—our confidence must be rooted not in our performance but in our union with Christ and God's unshakable faithfulness

Because when our heavenly Father asks us, "Why do I always love you?" If our answer to that question is, "Well, I really did a much better job with my spouse this week," or, "I really tried much harder at work this week," or, "I really had a lot of quiet times this week," if our answer is any of those things, we have missed the point. When the Lord asks us, "Why do I love you?" our answer must be rooted outside of ourselves, and it must be this simple, glorious, beautiful truth: we are in Christ and God is faithful. Friend, I wonder if you believe that today.

29 · Ricky issues a direct pastoral charge to those who feel like failures—do not impugn God's character by thinking He will withdraw His love based on your performance this week; rest in His unshakable grace

Look, if you've— if you're in the bad week club this week and you feel like a failure and a mess and you have little to no hope for your life, look through the lens of grace today and do not root— do not impugn the character of God thinking, "Well, he will do opposite of what he said, and this week he will begin to judge me and love me on the basis of of what I have merited. He has said He will not. He has promised that for those in Christ, it is by grace they have been saved, and this is not of themselves. So here today, feel the affection of God. Look at your own life. Look at the lives of those around you through that lens.

30 · Ricky transitions to a church-culture application, contrasting the world's merit-based culture with the church's calling to build a grace-based culture where grace is both received and given

Let me end with this, an encouragement and a quote at the end. My encouragement is this. I want us to build a culture at Cross of Grace, as we've been talking about, that is a grace-based culture. We must build a grace-based culture, otherwise it's a merit-based culture, just like the world around us. Everything in the world around us is merit-based. It's effort-based. It's who's the most successful, biggest moneymaker, most attractive, most whatever. And what you merit is what you receive. But in the church, we must be a place where you receive grace and you give grace to others.

31 · Ricky gives specific, concrete instruction—point out the grace of God in those closest to you every single day, even if their progress seems minimal

And so let me encourage you, one specific thing: there should not be in your family a day that goes by that you do not point out the grace of God in your— those closest to you. The people you see every day, if you see them every day, you should be pointing out the grace of God in them every day. Look, sometimes you're like, "Man, well, they're barely making progress," you know? Great. The grace of God is at work in them. Sometimes you're like, "Well, they are— I mean, the most I can say about them is that they are at least facing the right direction," as I've heard it said. That's the best I can say about this kid this week. They're at least facing the right direction. That's the grace of God at work in them. Encourage them.

32 · Ricky gives a second specific instruction—every week, encourage the body of Christ by pointing out the grace of God at work in them, especially in leaders and servants who show up despite difficulty

And second, There should not be a week that goes by that we do not encourage the body of Christ by pointing out the grace of God at work in them. Look, man, if your community group leader walks in tired and leads a scattered, confusing Bible discussion, but you know that it took a lot for him to leave work at the door and try to come serve you, encourage that brother. If you can tell somebody who's serving on one of our teams, she has had a tough week and there may be some tired eyes there, but she is there, encourage that sister. Not because of what she's done, but because the grace of God you see at work in them.

33 · Ricky closes with a Stephen Ohm quotation that captures the sermon's central gospel contrast—the world runs on self-made identity, but the gospel gives us a free identity in Christ that frees us to live into it rather than build it

And let me end with this. Stephen Ohm in his commentary on 1 Corinthians says this, because we live in a meritocracy, This sounds alien. The gospel is an anomaly in a culture that runs on self-definition, self-help, and self-realization. But for those who have reached the bitter end of identity building and competency maintenance and future building, it is the greatest news imaginable. The gospel says, "Stop striving to build an identity. You have been given one free of charge because of the striving of another in your place." You no longer have to live in order to build an identity, but you can live into the identity that has been given to you.

34 · Ricky closes the sermon with a prayer that the congregation would adopt God's grace-oriented perspective and build a grace-based culture at Cross of Grace by encouraging others where God is at work

Would you stand? Let's pray. Oh, Lord, I am so grateful for the opening verses of this letter. Lord, I pray that when we see the mess in the mirror, the mess of those around us, Lord, we would have a gospel and grace-oriented perspective, which is another way of saying that we would have your perspective. Lord, I pray that even this week you'd give us the ability to encourage others when we see the grace of God at work in them. I pray you'd help us to build a culture— it's not a merit-based culture like the world around us, but a grace-based culture. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

35 · Ricky transitions from the sermon to the next part of the service—a members update—signaling the end of the preaching portion

Well, as we sing, um, here's what we're going to do. We're going to transition, kind of turn the page. We have a very brief— it really is brief— members update we're going to do.