Sand Mountain Sermonette 29
Ephesians 1:7-8(a)
The Gift of Grace
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us.” Ephesians 1:7-8(a)
I was blessed to have known my Papaw Mabrey’s siblings. They were all Christians and I loved them very much! There was my Great Uncle Marvin and his wife, Eunice. Marvin was a rural mail carrier like my grandad. Then there was my Great Uncle Audie and his wife Maudine, who owned a parrot named “Mabrey” whose cage was positioned just inside the front door to their home and would carry on a conversation with you every time you came over for a visit. And then, there was their precious sister, my Great Aunt Grace. Grace fashioned her hair in a bun, wore silver horn rimmed glasses, had a gold tooth near the front of her mouth, was always giggling, and dipped “Tops” Snuff. Great Aunt Grace was only four feet in stature, but her heart of love rose to the stars!
Great Aunt Grace lived in my hometown of Albertville and I will never forget the time she invited her siblings and their families over to her house for a Christmas Eve Party. Although I was only early elementary school in age, I still remember that night just like it was yesterday. For one thing, after we had been there for a short time, and while folks were talking and mingling, Aunt Grace invited me to have a dip of her snuff from the can she always had in hand. As a kid, I thought that sounded neat, but after one dip, I asked her if I could have a glass of iced tea. She gladly got ahold of one and I downed that tea in a few seconds washing the snuff taste away. In retrospect, I am thankful for my Great Aunt Grace, for since that night, I have never had any desire to dip snuff!
But the most memorable event of the evening for me was a gift I received from my great aunt who had special gifts on hand to give all the children who were present. My gift was a little plastic house that had a roof and featured thirty-one little doors all numbered 1 to 31 representative of the thirty-one days of Christmas. Behind each door was a small chamber housing a little plastic toy or a piece of candy. Oh! What a gift for a young boy, and what a loving heart attributable to the giver of the gift! I was so excited I opened every one of those doors before I went to sleep that evening.
When you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, the Bible says you enter God’s House of Grace which features way more than thirty-one doors you can open; each one blessing and revealing to the believer the love, mercy, and benevolence attributable to the character of God! And Paul is telling us this all begins when one comes to the cross (the blood) of Christ and is lavished with the forgiveness of his or her trespasses by the glorious grace of God. And for that, I am thankful for GRACE. My Great Aunt Grace, “Yes!” But most of all for her pointing the way to God’s rich and endless supply of grace which proves His initiative to first love us; the unlovely, which is a most beautiful thing! Do you know how much God loves you and how beautiful you are in His sight? Just open the door! Merry Christmas!
Pastor Louie