His Hallmarks: His Grace,
Our Hope
Based Upon: John 20:19-31
Sermon
by Glen Dawursk, Jr.
www.yuthguy.com
Story: When I was a kid, my mom and dad collected
old beer cans as a hobby; but I decided that was not a good idea for a youth
minister to collect them, so I decided to collect Coke stuff instead. Currently I have an office filled with coke
collectables and an entire family room at home filled with coke stuff. And I still have room for more in case anyone
has anything they want to get rid of.
One thing
interesting about Coke is the shape of their classic bottle. It all stemmed from the popularity of coke
when it was created. Many people tried
to copy it and people became confused as to which was the “real thing.” So the coke company created this trademark
bottle design and began advertising it is the “real thing.”
I. The Hallmark is a standard identification on
precious items.
A.
Fine metals usually have “Hallmarks” on them: initials, symbols, etc.
B. Done for two reasons:
1. Started in the 1300 when King Edward of
metals to have a guarantee of purity. He wanted to make sure it was pure silver
– it is real!
2. It tells what “hall” it came from or who made
it.
In
II. Today’s Text: John 20:19-31
A.
Thomas was not originally with the disciple’s when Jesus appeared on
Easter.
1. “Unless
I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and
put my hands in His side, I will not believe it.” Is this so unusual? He wanted to see it for himself. Afterall…
2. “Why did Moses spend 40 years in the
wilderness? Because the men wouldn’t stop and ask for
directions. A lot of us
wouldn’t accept someone else’s word.
3. We all want to be sure.
What state
could Thomas have been from? The “show
me state” –
He needed to see the proof. He needed to
see the scars.
He needed to see the Hallmarks.
4. In the early church there was a heresy called
Docetism.
a. Jesus did not die
on the cross.
b. Jesus did endure
human pain.
c. Jesus only
“appeared” (Greek: doceo) or “seemed” to suffer.
5. Thomas needed to be sure. His “hope” rested on Jesus’ “scars – those
Hallmarks of God’s Grace. They would
testify to Thomas that Jesus was really the savior.
B.
A week later, Thomas saw Jesus.
1. “Put your fingers here…do not doubt but
believe”
2. Because of Jesus’ scars, Thomas’ response was
“My Lord, my God.” He recognized the
Hallmarks. He saw the hope for His
eternity before Him. For the first time,
he felt God’s love, God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
3. The risen Christ gave Thomas and gives us
today Joy…
4. But too
often we miss the “mark” totally!
a.
Isn’t
it amazing how Jesus desires to gives us His grace, but we often don’t want to
receive it?
b.
Or
we miss it because our worldly vision fogs up our view of God and we just don’t
see the grace God desires for us to have?
Especially at Thanks giving and Christmas time. Satan desires to fog us of the real focus on
God’s grace and on Jesus.
c.
Satan
does not want us to feel God’s grace. So
sometimes we need to “seek” it out. At Christmas we can not depend upon the media or the stores to show us God’s grace or to
focus us on Jesus.
d.
While
justification, the saving grace is a free gift from God, sometimes we need to
participate in the sanctification or seeking process in our faith walk.
e.
Ma says: “For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door
will be opened.” How awesome to know
that because of His grace, God desires to open doors for us – if we will just
seek Him daily.
C.
Having God’s Grace gives us Joy and hope, but
note, Jesus still had scars and it it doesn’t erase
our scars either. Even Paul had a thorn
in his side, physical ailment which “bugged him” – but he said it was a
constant reminder of the grace God had upon him.
1. The scares of our life are simply reminders
of what Jesus endured for us and of how He helps us to endure.
2. I Peter 2:24: “by His wounds you have been
healed.”
3. In turn, our lives – with our scars – become
proof of Jesus and His grace to others.
4. The scars give us hope – for they are the
hallmarks of His ownership.
D.
God’s Grace and our hope are based solely upon the empty cross and the
open tomb.
1. As the hymnist says: “Our Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus
blood and righteousness.”
2. At our baptism, Jesus’ blood marks us as His
own and from that time our faith and life are constantly being “shaped by His
hands.” But often our Hallmark – or what
I like to call, our “Grace-mark” becomes tarnished and hidden behind the
world’s “hopelessness” -- Especially at this time of the
year.
But I ask, what does Grace-mark look like? Is
your “grace mark” hidden?
a. Some churches show the crucifix with
Jesus still on the cross. I prefer Jesus
not on the cross, for we are a “resurrection” church all year long. We focus on that holiday above all the
rest. That is why we have worship on
Sundays as it reminds us of Easter every week.
WHY? Because if He were still
dead, we would have no hope for the future.
b. But some people live as if Jesus were
still on the cross.
Is he still
on your cross or is Jesus off your cross?
Is He dead or alive in your life? Where
is your hope?
Story: The
school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their
schoolwork during stays in the city’s hospitals. One day, a teacher who was assigned to the
program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child’s name and room number and
talked briefly with the child’s regular class teacher. “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his
class now,” the regular teacher said,” and I’d be grateful if you could help
him understand them so he doesn’t fall too far behind.” The hospital program teacher went to see the
boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned
to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered
as she told him, “I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and
adverbs.” When she left she felt she
hadn’t accomplished much. But the next
day, a nurse asked her, “What did you do to that boy?” The teacher felt she must have done something
wrong and began to apologize, “No, no” said the nurse. “You don’t know what I mean. We’ve been worried about that little boy, but
ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back, responding to
treatment. It’s as though he’s decided
to live.” Two weeks later the boy
explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple
realization. He expressed it this way: “ They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs
with a dying boy, would they?” The
teacher reflected hope. What do you
reflect? Is Jesus still on the cross for
you? Or have you felt his scars and seen
His life?
Claire
Boothe Luce once said “there are no hopeless
situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.” In the same way, I would say there are no
“graceless situations – only people who do not seek His grace.”
3. We need to live in the grace
and “hope” of things to come. Thomas
knew that. He wanted proof of Jesus’ life
because He knew that His eternal life depended on it.
Story: Through
hope, a self-made millionaire Eugene Land greatly changed the lives of a
sixth-grade class in
4. The Gospel message of Christ is not just that
He rose, but also that he endured the scars and sufferings of our life and He grace
gives us hope that we too can endure.
E.
Thomas went on to become a great apostle for Jesus.
1. He did not hide in the room behind a locked
door all his life. No. When He witnessed Christ’s resurrection and
touched His scars. Thomas boldly took the
risk of faith and responded with his life -- he became a martyr.
2. In a Rebecca St. James song her 8 year old
brother says the following words: “Unless you have something to die for, you
haven’t really lived.”
3. How do you respond to Jesus’
scars? His life, His
hope, His grace?
4. Someone once said,
“You may be the only Jesus some people will ever see.”
Will people see His “grace-mark” on you?
Story: As Vice
President, George Bush represented the
III. Conclusion:
We all have
scars. Some physical,
most invisible – but there never the less. We all have struggles. We all have daily problems. Being a Christian is simply not easy. And to make it worse, Satan is out to get
us.
What comfort
it is to know that Jesus has been through it all.
The Bible tells us that His grace is sufficient.
When I think
of the concept of “Hallmark”, I can’t help but conclude with the Hallmark
greeting card company’s slogan: note how it applies perfectly here. God truly did send us “His very best.”
Blessing: May God empower you with His Spirit to daily live with
the joy of His birth and our re-birth, may the hope from His resurrection give
us life today, and may the hallmarks or grace-marks of Jesus’ death be your
strength as we endure life’s hardships from now until heaven. Amen