Dr. Scott McKee: Well, good morning everybody. I say hello to those of you worshiping online this morning and those of you joining us from our campus at Farmington Hills. Thanks for sharing Pastor Sean with us here at the Northville campus today. We appreciate having him with us today. Today we continue our series to the book of Colossians, working through paragraph by paragraph.
Let's pray before we dig in. Oh God, pray that you would open this word now for our use and understanding. Be for us now our teacher and our guide. We pray this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
When I was in high school, I auditioned for and got a part in the school play. And the school play was a musical. So we had to act and sing and dance. And I don't dance. I had never danced.
I have two left feet. So I had to really work at that part of the show. And I went to every practice and I worked really, really hard. And eventually, I got the technical steps down. I memorized the steps, but I was still mouthing the numbers aloud.
And I was overthinking every step. The choreographer said I was wooden and mechanical. I said, thank you. She said, no, that's not a compliment. In a word, I lacked grace.
I technically had all the steps correct, but I was awkward and clumsy. And the most terrifying parts were dancing with a partner. I learned my part by myself, but I remember the first time I got to dance with my female dance partner, and she was gracious. She was full of grace. And when we danced together, a tiny bit of her grace spilled onto me.
A tiny little bit. And some of it even worked down to my feet. I've done the dance with grace, I've done the dance without grace, and I want grace. Because you can know the right thing, and you can do the right thing, but this world is tired of Christians who know the right thing and do the right thing, but in whom there is no grace. Without grace it's just awkward and clumsy.
Without grace somebody gets hurt. Without grace, there is no life. Think about it, what's the one thing the Church has to say to the world, has to offer this world, that the world cannot get somewhere else? You don't have to be a Christian to go on a disaster relief trip, or to build homes in the city of Detroit, or to sponsor kids in a school in India. You don't have to be a Christian to do those things.
Christians should do those things, and actually do lead the way globally in those initiatives. But other people do those things. There are other traditions and teachers who teach moral living. There's other ways to do that. The one unique thing we have to say to our world is grace through Jesus Christ.
Because where can this world get grace? We don't live in a grace filled world. This is a world where you get what you pay for. We say you reap what you sow, there is no free lunch, an eye for eye and a tooth for tooth. One author wrote this, he said, the one thing the world cannot do is it cannot offer grace.
It cannot say to human beings, you are lost but now you are found. You were guilty but now you are pardoned. You were dead, but now you have been made alive. So in this text, the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Colossae and he's very concerned about their living in grace. And he marvels at the ultimate expression of grace.
Now grace has always been around, God has been gracious since the very beginning, but the ultimate expression of grace, the one that human minds have tried to wrap their mind around for two thousand years and have failed to comprehend completely, is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, nailed to a cross. And this is so powerful, the Apostle Paul uses multiple pictures to try to communicate the power of this. Picture number one in verse 11. In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.
Now by way of background, here in the church of Colossae there are some people who think the church should be more legalistic and wants to require circumcision for everybody. We'll get more into that next Sunday. But here he talks about circumcision and baptism. These are the rights of initiation into God's people, into the church. Paul saying, what a wonder it is to these Gentiles, these Colossians who were outsiders, that now they're insiders.
Now they are part of God's family. They are brothers and sisters and that's part of the wonder of grace that's extended to you and to me. Because everybody in this room knows the pain of what it is to be on the outside. You know what it was like when teams were chosen up and nobody wanted you. Or you know what it's like to be spurned by someone you wanted to give your heart to.
Or you know the pain of being forgotten by somebody that you thought was a friend. Or you know what it's like to be held at arm's length by somebody in your family, maybe even your spouse. And now God says, you are chosen, you are baptized, you belong, you are wanted, you are desired by God, You're part of this family of God that will last forever. That's the wonder of grace. Then Paul gives another picture.
Verse 13. When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. The picture here is that you were dead and God has made you alive. This is the wonder of grace. It's a beautiful picture but Paul is not done, he throws out yet another picture.
Verse 13b, he says God made you alive with Christ, He forgave us all our sins. Having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us, He has taken it away, nailed it to the cross. Now he uses a financial metaphor and talks about a certificate of indebtedness. This is what we would call today an IOU. There is this massive debt that we owe before a just and holy God and that massive debt has been nailed to the cross.
It's been removed. Another picture of the power of the cross. But Paul's not done. He throws another picture here, verse 15. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
In the first century, when a Roman general would win a battle, they were allowed to have a victory parade through Rome. And they would disarm the defeated generals, that's the language Paul is using here, disarm to take away their weapons. And the defeated generals were made to walk in the parade at the end of the parade. I'm sure they weren't very happy about that, but it was a way to show that they too were paying homage to the conquering general. And Paul is saying here in the spiritual realm, that's kind of what's happened.
The rulers and authorities have been disarmed and now they pay homage, they pay tribute to the conquering king. Fred Craddock writes about a time when he was preaching on the story of the prodigal son. And he told the story the way it would have been told without grace. Like maybe the way a Pharisee would tell it. And in this version of the story, the father goes to the elder brother, not to the prodigal son, but to the elder brother, and says, Elder brother, you've been so faithful, you've stayed and worked so hard, I'm going to throw a party for you.
I'm going kill a fatted calf for you, and this robe and this ring are for you. And when he told that story, that version of the story, a woman at the back said, that's the way the story should have been told. He heard the father's love the old fashioned way. And a lot of us are more comfortable with that version of the story. God opposes the proud, the Bible says, but gives grace to the humble.
I don't just want to know the right thing. I just don't want to do the right thing. I want grace. Before I move on, I've got one caveat, and this is a very big one. How do you live in grace without abusing it?
In other words, how does God's grace not become a license for sin? Because this can happen. If God's grace, if everybody's okay all the time, then why does any of it matter? Those of you that know the Bible know the Bible warns about this a lot. This is Jude four.
For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only sovereign and Lord. The main point here I think is to understand what grace is and what grace is not. Grace is not God giving people whatever they want. It's not the softness of God.
Go back to the great story of grace and the prodigal son. The prodigal son came home to the father and threw himself at the mercy of the father and finally came home, and was received into the father's home again, that was grace. When the prodigal was out and wild living, Jesus said. Far away from the father. Didn't care about being near the father at all.
Because he had money and he had so called friends. But remember the story? One day, he came to his senses, the story says, and realized that his money was gone, his friends had abandoned him, there was a famine in the land, he was eating food that was for pigs. And he realized he had to go home to the father. And that painful realization, that pain that he experienced in realizing that, that also was grace.
The old hymn says, 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear. What kind of grace is that? Grace that taught my heart to fear. Well if someone is wayward and blatantly lies and betrays their friends doesn't care anything about themselves, but one day they look at a mirror and they realize the horror their life has become. And they get this conviction that the first step towards salvation, and that painful experience, that's grace teaching the human heart to fear.
And then grace my fears relieved. There's another way the story of the prodigal son story could have been told. Jesus did not tell it this way. But it could have been told this way. That while the son was still in wild living, the father went out to him and said, son, even though you are still living in wild ways, I will kill a fatted calf, will throw a party for you, here's a robe, here's a ring.
But the father did not do that. The father waited for the son to come home. Not because the son needed to earn the father's grace, but because grace always and only leads someone home. Grace always and only leads someone home to the Father. If you do not want to come home to the Father, you do not want grace.
You want an excuse. Grace will lead me home. Grace always leads people home. I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Mike Kowalczyk, come on up please. Mike and I have been acquainted for some time now.
Our sons went to school together, played football together. But Mike and I have known each other in a different avenue over this last year. Mike is a businessman, and he's the principal investor Northwood Pickleball, right located on our property. So we've talked a lot about pickleball recently. But last year, we talked about a lot more than that.
And I'd love for you to tell people your story of what's happened in your life over the last year or so.
Mike Kowalczyk: Thank you. Thank you, Pastor. Good morning, Ward. As you could tell from my attire, lack of rhythm during the song, offbeat clapping during the songs, I'm an eight thirty guy. Alright?
But I gotta tell you, I I think I might be a ten thirty guy. This is awesome. The band this is great. I've got a new new vision of award. I just when I thought it had everything I I could want in life, I found the 10:00.
Alright. And this is so cool. And that girl right there should be in the choir because she is amazing. My goodness. You're saying I did.
It was amazing. I've got good news and bad news. So Scott's like, where's he going with this? This is not what happened at at the earlier, 09:00. The bad news is I am not as nearly as eloquent as Jesse.
Jesse, congratulations. What a beautiful family. The daughters, a blessed moment that we got to share in. My gosh. Great testimony.
So the bad news is I will not be nearly as eloquent as Jesse. The good news is, during our small amount of time together, you're not going to see crying from either Scott or I was me. But you're not gonna see that. You're not gonna see discussions of circumcision. I think we're gonna have that in this one.
That's good. Okay. And and you're gonna hear a more refined speech that I had planned. Earlier this morning was much more raw and and this this will be better, I think. So as Scott said, I'm involved in the pickleball business across the street.
And about a little over two years ago, my friends and fellow ward members, Gordie and Robin Marcotte, while we were discussing the project, invited me to come to service. And I said, you know, it's probably pretty good business if I get to know who I'm gonna be doing business with. And so I said, you know, I'll go. Maybe press a few hands and meet some people. I know the project was kinda a little sketchy at some point, like what is going on here?
We're a church, not a not, you know, not a a pickleball facility. And so it'd be good business. And so I came with business in mind and met some people and thought about meeting some people, you know, see where that goes. And I walked through that door right there, and my life was changed forever. My life was changed forever because, I was broke.
Where's Chris Sockerman? Do not worry, Chris. Okay? It's a metaphor. It's not literally.
It's figuratively. So you're gonna get the run payment. Okay? I promise. So he's a little nervous back there.
Like, what do you mean broke? I was broke. I was, spiritually dead. And you're like, okay, where'd he come from? What's the story?
You know, is this, you know, what what's what's going on here? I had went, like many of you, to another church a couple miles away. It doesn't matter where. But, like a lot of people, I I or maybe not. But I went every day for about twenty five years.
And I'd sit. And I'm a good listener. I'd listen. And I listened and I listened and I never heard. Never heard.
Oftentimes, quite frankly, I'd sit and and I'd like, maybe I need to get closer. I've got ADD. Maybe I need to get closer. And I'd sit in the front pew and and listen. And I never heard.
Never heard anything. I'd be thinking about golf or other business deals or something. And so I literally got nothing out of it. Nothing out of it in a sense that it took me to a place that that Scott mentioned in Colossians that that is very, very painful and it it was it it was not good. It wasn't good for me.
It wasn't good for my family. It wasn't good, for the world. And, through those doors, my life was forever changed. I came toward, I listened, I heard, And and for the first time in my life, I understood. And and I am I am not particularly smart.
I went to a state school. And so I had to be told a few times. And through, some very frank discussions, through study, through counsel, with with not only Scott who, you know, again, because I listened but didn't hear, I went home and told my wife, you know, I gotta tell you, Scott's like a priest or something. And my wife reminded me, actually, he's not. And and so but he is someone that I think you you you will be better for if you meet.
She didn't have any imagination that I was gonna join the ward or or just fall in love with everything about it and finally hear the word of the Lord. But she just wanted me to be a better human being. And so, through that, pastor Sean, through his counsel, pastor Terrence, I forgot about you earlier, and I I could never forget about you. He's a great man who's made me a better person. And through all of you, whether you know it or not, You make people better either through how you live or how you demonstrate.
And I can't tell you this is the best compliment I can ever give a group. You not only do what you say, you say what you do. And whether it's Chris Ackerman or Lee Haller or John Nowicki, Debbie Mayer, the Tuckers, you've forever changed my life. And you made me not only see a better world, but hear the word of our Lord. And the debt I owe you is far greater than what we owe on the building.
And you said to me early on, I said, why are you doing this? Because I heard I knew he was taking a little bit of, like, what are we doing? Pickleball. Isn't it noisy? Isn't it gonna ruin the place?
Like, we're gonna be doing this and hear pop pop pop. Well, no. It's gonna be indoor. And so we kinda got over that. But I know you think and and I said, Scott, why?
He said, well, I I think that we can bring more of the community in and perhaps reach people in a way that they aren't reached today. Through our doors. Maybe they can go through doors doors. And those doors can lead to our doors. It's only about a 100 yards away.
And so while we're doing that with prayer groups on Thursday, everybody's welcome. While we're doing that with other outreach, while we're doing with that some financial things to help make it, and it the audaciousness of Bangladesh, unbelievable. But in the small individual ways to touch a human and a person and try to connect them with the Lord. That's what we're trying to do by following. But I would also tell you this.
I I, you know, we're not I'm never gonna ask someone, hey, did pickleball change your life spiritually the way it did mine? I'm not gonna do that. But what I can tell you and the Ward community is, I know it at least changed one person and it brought one person to God, and that's me. So I'm forever humble. I'm forever I told you there'd be no tears.
I can't thank you enough for what you've done for my life. God bless you. God bless you, Ward Church. Thank you so much.
Dr. Scott McKee: Some of our earlier conversations were about when Mike started watching The Chosen. If you discovered this series, The Chosen has a great representation of Jesus. And you were all lit up about those things. And Mike would say to me, Scott, did you know this? This is in the Bible?
Yeah, actually, actually I did. Mike thought it was but it's been fun to be along for your journey, and thanks for sharing that with us. Today is the first Sunday of Lent. And Lent is a time for Christians to identify with the suffering of Jesus as we journey toward Easter. And I want to suggest that we have the book of Colossians in mind this Lent.
And that we think about how do we stay close to grace. How do we live in grace? Because the people of Colossians, they got grace and then they started to lose it. They started to slip away. They started to slip into legalism and other things.
How do we stay close to grace? I'm going suggest three things this morning. Number one, stay close to the cross. Stay close to the cross. I need to be reminded on a regular basis that it's my IOUs that are nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ.
Did you ever notice that when you're intensely aware of your own fallenness, you're a lot more gracious to other people? When I'm aware of my own depravity, when I'm living in an intense awareness of my need for grace, I'm much more willing to extend grace to other people. It's kind of like when I go on a diet, I get judgy about how other people eat. But when I'm not on a diet, I'm like, I understand. We talk sometimes about living in the shadow of the cross.
Imagine you lived in the first century, and you literally lived in the shadow of the place that Jesus was killed, and you had that reminder in your life on a daily basis. How much more gracious would you be to people in your sphere? Let's stay close to the cross this Lent. Secondly, stay close to grace providing people. You and I need grace providing people in our lives.
People will welcome you and accept you no matter what. They're like grace providers. And you need them in your life because you've got other people in your life who are like grace impaired people. And they will judge you, and they will compare themselves to you. So you need people in your life who are just for you.
They speak the truth to you. When good things happen, they celebrate. When they see the darkness in you, they do not run away. They do not hide from it, but they pull in close. If you've got someone like that in your life, thank God for them.
Let them know how grateful you are for them in your life. If you don't have someone like that in your life, pray that God will bring someone like that into your life. A grace provided person. Stay close to grace provided people. Stay close to the cross.
And thirdly, one last thing, and I hope this will become a burning fire within us. Stay very close to sinful people who need grace, and extend it to them. Stay very close to sinful people who need grace and extend it to them. On one level that's everybody, right? We're all sinful people who need grace.
But I'm talking specifically here about people who do not yet know Jesus. Maybe people who never darken the doors of a church. Maybe people who feel spiritually lost. Get real close to sinful people and extend grace to them, and love them, and share your life, and share your faith with them. This is what Jesus loved to do most.
Extend grace to sinful people, especially people who realized they didn't deserve it. And this got him into trouble all the time. And he's still looking for people who will extend grace. So who are you inviting in? Because someone in your little world is just waiting for a conversation.
They're waiting to get invited. There's somebody in the cubicle next to you that's waiting for a spiritual conversation. There's somebody in your neighborhood waiting for a knock at the door. There's somebody where you could buy gas or buy groceries or get your haircut who's feeling like an outsider in their guilt and sin. There is one conversation away from coming home to the father.
You've got one thing in this world that we can offer people that the world cannot offer, and that is grace. Does it make any difference what else you can or cannot do? You have grace. Because grace, it was grace that was wrapped in swaddled in cloths and laid in a manger. And it was grace that dwelt among us.
It was grace that healed the sick and cured the blind and raised the dead. It was grace that was called a friend of sinners. It was grace that was nailed to a cross with our sin and guilt, and grace that a tomb could not hold, and grace that will one day come back again for you and me. And we've been there ten thousand years, and every other word has been used up and worn out, we'll just start to sing about the grace of God because there's no wonder in this world like it. Will you pray with me?
God, so grateful for your grace. Amazing. Amazing to this day. Thank you for the way your grace worked in Mike's life, and in mine, and hundreds of us here gathered today. Help us to stay close to grace.
Help us to not give way to legalism and judgment. Help us to be people of truth, yes, people who know the right things. People who do the right things. But let us be people through whom grace just flows. We pray this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.