The Apostle Paul writes in our Epistle, this morning, not about us, primarily, but about Himself. Most of everything he says is describing himself and how He is approaching his ministry on behalf of his hearers. He writes the way he does, and describes the things that he describes to underline both the urgency of the message, and the very real possible consequences of receiving the message and with it, the grace of God. He describes for us the cost of discipleship – his own – as he proclaims the message of the grace of God. He is both urging his readers to believe, and warning them of the potential costs of discipleship. Our theme is, “Not In Vain”.

The Apostle Paul urges us “not to receive the grace of God in vain.” First, of course, we have to have some idea of what he is talking about, and second, we have to understand what it means to receive it “in vain”.

So, first, what do you think he means by the grace of God? He means, in this case, the whole Gospel. He means that entire story about the Son of God coming to earth, taking on human form and human nature and making the commitment to us that becoming one of us means. God must have clearly understood what that would mean for Christ and for us. He knew that once He was one of us, He had no way out. He was entirely committed. He took on our nature and our burdens and He bore the burden of whole Law of God. He faced extraordinary temptations, like those in our Gospel today of the confrontation of Jesus with the devil. But He faced many more and greater temptations than those. He faced the temptation to destroy those who taunted and tortured Him. He faced the temptation to wipe away with a thought the gross sinners around Him. He faced the temptation daily to pack it all in and drop the flesh and return to heaven.

Do you know why He did not? Because He understood what was at risk, what the consequences of surrendering to those temptations were. He knew that without Him, we were lost. Without Jesus, we have no hope. So, He resisted all the temptations and stayed the course and kept the Law and then died innocent, not personally deserving to die, bearing our guilt and our sins and God’s own wrath over our rebellion. He carried it to the cross and nailed it to the cross in His own body and died there in your place and mine. He knew what was coming as He prayed in Gethsemane, which is why He prayed so fervently, and why His sweat came like great drops of blood. He understood the cost – and then He paid the price – for you and me. And now He pours out forgiveness and everlasting life for all who will receive it. All that is needed to receive it is to know the truth, and to trust God to keep His Word and raise us from the dead, and bring us into that everlasting life in glory.

That is the grace of God. And you have just received it. You have heard it. That is one form of receiving. If you heard what I just said and did not believe it, or apply what Jesus did and gives to your sins and your guilt, then you have received the grace of God in vain – you have received it as if it were empty and worthless and powerless to save. It doesn’t matter whether you dismissed my teaching and preaching about forgiveness, or simply did not make the connection between Jesus’ death and your life, either way you would have treated the grace of God as a lie, or as a meaningless fantasy – having no relevance to your life. That is what “in vain” means, and Paul entreats us not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Another way to receive the grace of God in vain is to hear it and accept it as true, but not allow it to have any part in shaping your life, who you are, how you think, or what you do. The Gospel is a transforming power. It changes people. I want you to understand that I did not say that it can or may change people. I said that it changes people! The Gospel creates faith in us. The Gospel teaches us how to serve God. The Gospel creates the desire in us to be new people in Jesus Christ. The Gospel teaches us stewardship – you know, using the things of God which He has given to us for our use in ways that will accomplish His will and bring praise to His name.

Still, some people come to church each week and go home unchanged. They live for their pleasures. They chafe against the Word of God, and do not humble themselves before it. The service is “church” and life is everyday, and the two never mix. Their opinions are not altered, nor shaped by the Word of God. They are shaped by family and friends. Their behavior – what they will do and what they won’t do – is just like everyone around them. They are afraid to be different. Such people make their decisions more on the basis of what they want, or what their relative think, than what they think God wants, or what is clear in His Word. They, too, receive the grace of God in vain.

Now, I know that every one of us can identify to some degree with what I have just described. That is because every one of us has the battle of the flesh going on in us – our spirit, shaped by God and His grace, does battle every day with our flesh, which is shaped by our sinfulness and the corruption of our society around us. The fact that we can identify with some of what is clearly wrong does not excuse the wrong. It should cause us to examine ourselves and repent, and seek to put right what is wrong within us so that we do not receive the grace of God in vain – that is, receive the grace of God in such a way that we also deny it and build within ourselves the edifice of sin and death that we have seen destroyed by Jesus with His grace and forgiveness. For if we do that we shall go to hell at the last – to die eternally, and yet never been over and done with it – dead and gone; we shall suffer the torments of the damned – fire and pain and grief and remorse, along with Satan and his demonic hoard forever.

The life of the Christian is a life of self-examination and repentance, and renewal at the fountain of God’s grace – the Word proclaimed, and the gift of the holy Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. I admit a life of repentance doesn’t sound like fun at all times – or even tolerably pleasant at some times. But this is the life of the Christian. I hear God’s Word, and I apply it to myself. I examine myself in the light of God’s Word and I find my sins and failures and fears, and I repent. I ask God to remove them and strengthen me. It is frustrating and difficult at times. At times there is even the temptation of despair. But this is the life of a Christian. It is not part of the life of a Christian, but the life – an on-going process that we dare never turn away from, for fear that our flesh will confuse us, deceive us, and lead us into misbelief, or despair, or other great shame and vice.

Paul describes his experience of the life of a Christian. Listen again:

“in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left.”

Clearly, the life of a child of God is not necessarily going to be fun at every moment. It is not necessarily going to be awful either, but it can have its moments – and you want to be aware, and know what price you may be asked to pay. And it helps to also be conscious of the consequences for failure to follow God and endure all that He gives you to endure for His name: eternal death.

None of us is the Apostle Paul. None of us began our life in Christ with the words from God which God spoke about him: “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake." Our lives will not be like his, exactly. But they may contain people mocking us for the faith, in fact, that is almost certain. Your life may contain illnesses to be borne in faith. You may discover that your favorite pursuits or your cherished prejudices and wisdom are wrong and must be discarded to remain faithful.

Not everything Paul listed on His ‘price tag’ was bad. “In purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness,” These are things we would hope to say about ourselves. “In the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God;” We know we depend on the Holy Spirit. We need to be guided by the Word of Truth. We long to receive and should willingly give genuine love. And we need the power of God, and hopefully we will experience it in ways we understand and know that it is His power. “By the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left.” We possess these, often without realizing their power – the Word and the Sacraments, the holy absolution and the fellowship of the saints. It is true here as in other parts of your life, the things we must endure to be faithful are not always things we would be unwilling to bear. Some are wonderful! But some are difficult.

Today is the day of salvation. Now is the acceptable time. God is freely forgiving sins and freely giving eternal life and salvation to all who believe. You don’t need to earn it in any way -- you can’t. But you do participate. Paul says we are working together with Jesus Christ. We work by His grace and by His power and by His help and guidance. We share in the work. He gives, and we receive, and we walk in that paths the God sets before us – and they are not simply always pleasant or simply always awful in this life – but a little of each, and you should be prepared, so that you do not receive the grace of God in vain, but with understanding, and commitment, and purpose, and faith.

Once you understand and believe, then your journey will be much like Paul’s – some parts pleasant, some not so pleasant, but all leading to everlasting life with our Lord who has saved us. We, too, will serve “by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” And when we receive the grace of God it will be not in vain!

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)