Good Stewards of God’s Grace


Zephyr United Methodist Church

Early First United Methodist Church


May 28, 2006


Rev. Eddie Smart

1Peter 4:1-11

      Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), 2 so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. 3 You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme. 5 But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.

      The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.


Have you ever heard the expression “That will preach!” Someone tells a story or expresses a thought and the listener responds with “That will preach.” There have been times when I have read passages of scripture with the thought of using it for a sermon and thought to myself, “I don’t see a sermon in that text.” The text for today’s sermon was selected because it was referenced in the study material we have been using in our current study entitled “Serving from the Heart.” As I read that text again this week, I would read one verse and say to myself, “That will preach!’ I would read the next verse and have the thought, “That will preach!” This passage from 1 Peter is rich with material that can feed our souls and direct our paths, offering words of wisdom..

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention...so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God.”

Why should we live faithful lives? This passage points to the story of Jesus–of his suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. That is what provides motive for living the life of a faithful Christian. Endnote Because Jesus Christ died on a cross for you and me, we choose to live as He taught us to live. We choose to live according to the example set by one who although “He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross.” Philip. 2:6-8 (NRSV)

That is our motivation. JESUS–the stories of Jesus. We choose God’s will over our own will because we accept the idea that Jesus died for us. We believe that Jesus is the only son of God.

Diana and I went to see the DaVinci Code Friday afternoon. I have not read the book. I could not bring myself to reward Dan Brown for his labors and his abuse of “The Story” for financial gain. I decided to see the movie because the book and movie have drawn so much attention and we must be prepared to address the issues raised. The story Brown tells is not one that would cause me to surrender my will to God. That story does not call me to love my enemy, be serious or disciplined.

In an address last summer to a group at Seattle Pacific University the well respected New Testament scholar and Anglican Priest, N. T. Wright suggests that if Brown could not get straight the description of those things he could see, namely Westminster Abbey, why would we believe what he writes about things he has not seen. Wright said, “If Brown is so careless, and carelessly inventive, in details as easy to check as those, why should we trust him in anything else?” Endnote

Brown uses of the Dead Sea scrolls as one of the sources to suggest that the church had suppressed the truth about Jesus for centuries. I would like to think that Brown’s use of the Dead Sea Scrolls for revealing the truth about Jesus was what I call the “Da Brown Code”–a way of giving us a wink as he tells his story. You see the Dead Sea Scrolls don’t say one word about Jesus or the New Testament church. They gave us incredible information about the Old Testament and nothing about the New. What an obvious mistake!

The DaVinci Code was supposedly coded information that Leonardo DaVinci left behind in his works, especially that well known Fresco “The Last Supper.” What if Dan Brown did a similar thing in his novel? What if he deliberately uses information that is obviously wrong like saying the Dead Sea Scrolls have information about Jesus. What if he uses glaring errors as a code that says, “What I am telling you is the truth really isn’t.” I would like to call these glaring errors “DaBrown Code.”

 “DaBrown Code” appears in his use of the Council of Nicaea and Brown’s understanding of Constantine. The Gnostic gospels that Brown frequently quotes were not considered by this council for inclusion in the canon (our Bible) because they were not written for another 100 years. Dan must have used the “DaBrown Code” again when he claims that Constantine determined what books went into our Bible. Constantine had absolutely nothing to do with it. Most of what is in our Bible was set even before Nicaea. Endnote

If this passage from 1 Peter has so much in it that will preach, why have I taken you on this side journey? For the same reason people climb mountains–it is right in front of us. The DaVinci Code is here, and there are some folk who will watch the movie or read the book. They will come to the conclusion without farther investigation that Brown was right, and the stories we have about Jesus are all wrong. I don’t want you or anyone you know to be misled by Dan Brown. Every word of scripture I read today hangs on the fact that our gospel stories give us a true picture of Jesus.

By the way, if you take it for what it is, pure fiction, the movie is a great suspense thriller. It could even be fun watching it and discovering for yourself “DaBrown Code.”

1Peter reminds us to love one another. It says love covers a multitude of sins. Many of you have spoken that little proverb. Love covers a multitude of sins. What on earth does that mean? David Bartlett offers the idea that the sins that are covered belong to believers, not unbelievers. He sees the love and the sin coming from the same person at two different times. Endnote It parallels Paul’s idea of the old becoming new–the old man dies and the new in born. The love that comes when following God’s will can cover the sin that comes when following human desire.

Bartlett then admits that a “masterful sermon” preached by Kiekegaard is very persuasive. Kiekegaard believed that this text means that the love of the faithful covers over the sins of others. Your love can cover the sins of others around you. There is no question that Jesus has called us from the gospels to love one another.

Be hospitable to one another without complaining. How often do we say that we are hospitable? I told Jana this week that we are not as hospitable as we think. For example, there is a vase sitting on a table outside our sanctuary. On the vase is a sign that reads, “Flower fund.” How many of you here today do not know what that sign means? Do you know how the flower fund is used? We make assumptions all the time that those who are new to our family of faith know the traditions. Anyone present who does not know about the cover-dish meal once a quarter?

Verse 10 sums it up. “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” We have been talking for weeks now about those gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit when we become Christians. We have talked about the use of those gifts. We receive the gifts that we might use them for the common good. We are told that we are like different parts of the body that must all work together. It is the harmonizing of our gifts within the Body of Christ, the church, that maximizes their effect.

God has gifted you. Do you know what spiritual gift is yours? Are you a good steward of all that God has given you? How are we using these gifts for God’s kingdom? How are we using our gifts to build up one another? How are we using our gifts to build up this church? How are we using these gifts to build up the United Methodist Church? How are we using these gifts to build up the Christian church?

Are we speaking the very words of God? Are we serving with the strength that God supplies?

Is God being glorified as we are good stewards of God’s grace?