Sermon Cloud

If you ever see me "browsing" in gift shops in Salado or Fredericksburg, know ye that Brenda is surely nearby. You see, I'm not a browser. For sure, I never browse solo.   At best, I'm more of a "co-browser" or a "a parallel browser." Maybe the more accurate term for me is that of a "sub-browser, since Brenda is the Browser-In-Chief and I am just a foot soldier. Or perhaps I'm a "survival browser," - a poor soul simply trying to avoid death by boredom. My belief is that you go to a store with a specific thing in mind, you buy it, and then you leave and get on with your life. ("And all the husbands said, 'Amen!'") But Sunday's sermon text – 1 Corinthians 15:10 - reminds me of one item I discovered while survival-browsing one day. It was a Texas Bragging License. The reason that experience comes to mind is because it was clear that when Paul met Christ, he surrendered his bragging license.

There was a time when he was very proud of his credentials as a spiritual "super-star." Paul once told the Philippians:

If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Philippians 3:4-7.

Paul lost his bragging license that day on the road to Damascus when Jesus appeared to him and he was brought to his knees. Suddenly, everything his life stood for was taken away and all he could do to help himself was to plead for mercy from the Lord. And that is exactly what he received! And he was changed forever.

So when you read Romans 15:10, you hear a man who had lost his bragging license and could say nothing other than, "by the grace of God, I am what I am." From that time on, he would only brag about the Lord. "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14

You will never verbally tear apart or mercilessly criticize another person if your heart is truly broken over your own unworthiness before God. You can't breathe and swallow water at the same time. Neither can you judge someone else all the while believing that it is only by the grace of God that you are what you are.  

One of the wonderful opportunities we have to experience the grace of God is in our small groups. We can come together and share our burdens and our joys, just as the Bible says we should. As believers, we are the "blessed who bless." It is such a joy to be able to share our stories and our songs and our struggles with each other. God gives us grace. We give grace to each other! Small groups such as Sunday School and home groups are a great setting to say to each other, "by the grace of God, I am what I am."

So if you see me out shopping in the near future, you can know two things. First, I'm not there because I want to be there. And second, I will not be shopping for a bragging license for either you or me.

I can't wait to see what is on the next page.

Gary