The man was trying to give people
something, but no one was taking it. Most ignored him, many crossed the road to
avoid him and the odd one who did listen refused his offer. He wasn’t trying to
sell something, nor did he appear to be some crazed religious fanatic, but
clearly people did not want what he was offering. What was he handing out that
seemed so objectionable? Five-pound notes. What a monster!
You don’t get owt for nowt.
We have a saying in Yorkshire: ‘You don’t get owt for nowt’. Now for those of you not fortunate enough to have been born in God’s own county, let me translate. It means: ‘One does not receive something without paying for it’.
I recently had to visit
someone in hospital. Upon arriving in the car park, I made my way to the Pay
Station. There was a notice on the machine which said: Machine broken – parking
is free today. As parking at hospitals can be quite costly, I should have been
jumping for joy, but not me, I was suspicious. Parking at the hospital can’t be
free - right? So, I pulled out my phone and took a photograph of the sign, just
in case. We are by nature, suspicious of anything labelled free.
Now back to our friend with
the five-pound notes. Why were people not taking them from him? As I said, most
were not even listening to him and the ones who did appeared highly sceptical.
One said: ‘Oh yeah, what’s the catch?’ You see there must be a catch because
you don’t get owt for nowt – right?
Is it really free?
I believe those refusing the free five-pound note can be broadly put into three groups; let’s call them:
The Distraught, The
Desirable and The Disheartened.
The Distraught
The distraught are ones who
have no desire for the five-pound note. Why? Because these ones simply cannot see
or hear what the man is offering.
They are so weighed down by the
pressures and circumstances of life, that each day is a struggle just to
survive. So pre-occupied are they with the things of this world, that they do
not even hear what is on offer. They reject the free gift without even knowing
what it is.
Jesus knew people like this.
He said these people were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
The Desirable
The desirable are ones who
are interested in the five-pound note, but they want to know what they need to
do to receive it. They see the gift, and want the gift, but they cannot accept
that it is free – they must play their part to earn it. This belief is a
central tenet of so-called Christian cults.
A verse from the Book of
Mormon, familiar to Latter-day Saints is 2 Nephi 25:23:
“For we labor diligently to
write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ,
and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved,
after all we can do.”
Though this verse is often
played down or re-interpreted by modern Mormons, traditionally it has been
understood to mean what it says. We are saved by grace (the free gift) but we
can only obtain it after we have done all we can do (we have to earn it).
It is the same for the
Jehovah’s Witnesses:
Salvation cannot be
earned by attendance at meetings or in any other way. It is free, a gift from
God. Yet, Jehovah God does require efforts on our part if we are to
receive his gift of everlasting life’ Watchtower.
15 Jan 1986 p.10
Note what is being said
sounds like a contradiction. Salvation is a free gift but God does
require efforts on our part (we have to earn it).
Does a free gift
require payment?
Imagine buying your
partner a wonderful gift, something they have always wanted. You have wrapped
it beautifully and, as you present it to your loved one, you say ‘I have bought
you a gift’. They excitedly unwrap it and when they see what you have got them,
they throw their arms around you; at which point you pull a receipt out of your
pocket and say: ‘That will be £100 please.’ The moment you do that, and I don’t
suggest you try that on a loved one, the gift ceases to be a gift.
The Disheartened
The final group are ones who
are interested in the five-pound note, but they don’t believe they deserve it.
It doesn’t matter how much you tell them that it is gratis, and they don’t have
to do anything to earn it, they cannot accept the free gift.
There are many who, like
this, feel unworthy and unlovable, too sinful for the free gift. This reminds
me of the time Peter experienced the miraculous catch of fish and he said to
Jesus: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8)
Peter response to the free gift from Jesus (in
this case, a net full of fish), was to say I’m not worthy.
Friends there is a fourth group, consisting of those who gladly receive the free gift. These are the ones who, being harassed and helpless, seek a Shepherd. They are the ones who realise that there is nothing they can do to earn the free gift, so they just receive it. These ones knowing that they are unworthy, give thanks to God for the free gift of grace.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
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