Show Others Godly Grace - Leviticus 25:10-22,35-38

Have you ever tried to extend your best example of Godly Grace to a hateful, down right disruptive child? Have you ever tried to treat in a graceful manner some adult that has just mistreated you intentionally in the presence of others who were your friends, co-workers or just peers? As a school administrator, I found that children who had never been taught to respect authority really did not understand or even know that they were personally obnoxious individuals. You can be assured that children that are brought up in a broken home where there is nothing but argumentation, disrespect and little or no love shared or extended between parents and children will reflect this same life style when they arrive in your Sunday school class—if you are lucky enough to have them come at all.

Just remember that Christ faced death on the cross in order to save obnoxious children that cursed him, and voted to have him crucified. He suffered as we do. He felt pain and neglect when it occurred. And when he faced the cross, He prayed that God [his father] would let the cup pass if it was possible—but he also prayed that God’s will be done in the end. He extended his grace to you and me; [our forbearers, you and I, and our offspring were the children in his classroom that day] and he was kind and generous to us and we did not deserve his grace.

Our church is crying for help in the classrooms of Children’s Church. I can understand why the need is as great as it is. Many of the children are “sent” to church by parents that really just want to bee free from parenting for a couple of hours each Sunday, and if they bring the children—they just drop them off and pick them up later. Our teachers are faced with a problem as they are confronted by overwhelming numbers of “untrained” young citizens who do not know how to act at church. Here is my information for you [teachers and aids] today as taught in Leviticus. Just make sure that you recognize what your problem really is and who is the cause and do not fail to show your grace [God’s grace] toward the children who need it so badly especially during this time of growth when they do not realize that they are being neglected.
We have reminded you before that the last ten chapters of Leviticus are known as the Holiness Code. It is so because God warned his people to be “holy because I, the Lord your God am holy” Children that come from homes that practice God’s holiness and teach it to their offspring are usually not the ones that cause the greatest problems at church and in school.

Most if not all of our problems emanate from the fact that parents do not realize who owns their homes. They act as though they bought and paid for it, and no one else has any authority over them and their homes. Just you remember this: God created this old earth and everything it contains, and therefore it belongs to Him. As owner of the earth…land….God has always had the right to decide who would live on it. He also created us [you and me] and therefore he has a right to decide on a code of behavior or conduct for us. He treated us gracefully, and now he demands that we treat others as he treated us. Listen to me! Don’t get to cocky and self assured. Remember that there was a day when the Canaanites were a powerful nation who owned and liven in the land of Canaan. They simply refused to live according to God’s directions and God evicted them and gave their land to the Israelites.

In America we have refused to live according to God’s values. Parents have refused to keep the home sacred and refused to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We have sent our kids to church, when God demands that we not forsake the gathering of ourselves together to worship him—which means that we are compelled to take our children to church. You may not believe me…and I really hope that I am wrong…but I fear that we are nearing the time when we will not enjoy a free America any more. The end to our way of life that we have enjoyed for over two hundred years is just a few days ahead. The only one single true opportunity that Christians still have is the opportunity to show God’s grace to those we encounter each day. Don’t expect the people you encounter daily, or even our own government to show God’s grace in return. God will see that we are rewarded if we continue to treat others as he requires believers to do.

If you want to really understand how important it is to God for his people to obey him and treat each other with respect and dignity, you owe it to yourself to read this entire lesson from Leviticus 23 to the end of the book. Tithes and offerings are the Lords and his people have no choice but to obey his instructions. The misuse of God’s name is to blaspheme him, and required death in that time. A blasphemer was stoned to death, and all of those who heard were required to take part in the stoning. Here is where we get the law regarding the penalty for murder. A murderer should be killed. The bible teaches “an eye for an eye and a life for a life.” If chapter 24 were practiced in our courts today, we would enjoy far less carnage than we have today.

God even demanded that we treat his land with honor and that we use the land for six years and let it rest on the seventh. Just think how much more productive land would be today if this practice had been put in motion when America was discovered. On the 7th year…Sabbath year…the land could have had two or three cover crops of soil-building crops like lespedeza which has the nodules of nitrogen on its roots—these could and should have been plowed under—thus rebuilding the soil.

Some would still ask; what would we eat on that seventh year, when all growth was plowed under? Why don’t you read verses 18 through 21 of Chapter 25? Does God mislead his people? It sounds to me like we would have all prospered greatly by following his commands.

Some of the conditions have changed over the years from Old Testament time to this dispensation. But God has not changed. See 26; 14 and on. If you disobeyed God then there was punishment meted out—and if you are disobedient today, you will pay a price. The gift of salvation…God’s grace is not a license to disobey. Neither is it a license to ignore, mislead, or mistreat others who are in need of knowledge about God and who need to be shown the power of God’s grace to save through their faith.

This reminder is so important that it must be emphasized over and over. Christians are saved by God’s GRACE through the faith that God has given them. Now that they are saved, they are obligated to teach and demonstrate their Christian life by extending their grace to others even when they may not be pleasant and lovable. To fail is to disobey God. Disobedience will bring disaster into one’s life. Disobedience is sin. Sin causes death and can only be redeemed by a blood sacrifice. Christ shed the only healing blood—we must accept it as payment in full for our sin…there is no other way.