We all have a way of
understanding the teachings of the Bible. And we like it when all the pieces
fit nicely together. But every once in a while you bump up against something in
the Bible that doesn't make sense. And try as you might, this one piece just
doesn't seem to fit with all the others. And especially for some of us, that's
a big problem. All the pieces are not fitting nicely together, and we don't
like that. But, believe it or not, it's good when that happens. It reminds us
that we're not done yet. There is still more for us to understand. It's
humbling, and it urges us on. This morning's text is one of those pieces that
doesn't seem to fit.
We've been taught that we are
saved by grace, something that is received through faith in Jesus and only
through faith in Jesus. And we know that that's right. There are, after all, a
lot of places in the Bible that teach that. But this morning's text doesn't
seem to agree with that. It's a piece that doesn't seem to fit. Some respond to
that by saying, 'Let's just make it fit.' Then they trim a little bit here and
squeeze a bit there and Voilà! it fits. Well, sorta kinda fits. But that's no
good. The best thing to do when you come upon something like this is to work to
understand that piece in its context as well as you can. And that's what I
intend to do. Today's text is John 5.26-29. As I read it I think that you'll
understand why I say it doesn't seem to fit.
So, taking these words at face
value I think that here is something that we can and should say. Doing good is necessary if you want to
avoid eternal punishment and enjoy eternal life. To say that another way,
those who will have a great eternity will have that great eternity because they
did what is good. According to this text, that will be the basis of Jesus’
evaluation. Now, that sounds a bit off, no? There isn't anything here about
faith or grace or any of the familiar things we usually hear with promises of a
pleasant forever. But this is what Jesus said, and we have to accept it - along
with what he said in, say, John 3.16. So, let's follow the trail before us and
see where it leads.
So, we need to do what is good if
we want to make it to heaven. What kind of good things does that mean? I
suspect that there have been some people who have read this and thought about
things like being nice to people, helping little old ladies across the street
and being a hard-working employee. There's nothing wrong with those things.
But, I think that it's important to be a bit clearer here. The good things that
we are to do are not things that we notice here and there, and decide to do.
Rather, they are things that the Father calls us to do. He decides which good
things, not us. And seeing that is very important.
So, consider this from something
Paul wrote.
For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The good things that we are to do
are things that God has prepared beforehand for us to do. So, the Father will
call us to do this or that. He will point out something that he wants us to do.
He decides. Those are the good things that we need to be doing.
Now, in this we will imitate
Jesus. Earlier in this conversation with the Jewish leadership Jesus said that
when he did whatever, all he was doing was submitting himself to what the
Father wanted him to do.
I
seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
The Father decided what good
things Jesus was to do and those are the things he did. Likewise, the Father
decides what good things we are to do. Those are the things that we should be doing.
That makes a difference. It may
well be that the Father will want you to be nice and help little old ladies and
pleasant things like that. But it may also be that the good that the Father
will want you to do will include something quite different, something, for
example, that is not pleasant but will hurt. It doesn't have to hurt
physically. There are many ways that life can hurt. But it may well be that the
Father will call you to something like that. In fact, it's pretty clear from
other places in the Bible that he will
call you to that sort of thing from time to time. Remember what Jesus said.
If
anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me.
Self-denial and cross-bearing
hurt. But it's part of being Jesus' disciple.
And, again, in this you imitate
Jesus who, at the call of the Father, did things that hurt. The things that the
Father calls us to do will not be the same for all of us. For some it will be
one thing and for others something quite different. We're not all the same, so
our callings will not be the same. But we all are called to do good. And
sometimes doing that will hurt.
A question to slip in here is
whether there is some overarching purpose to this doing good. Is there some
point to what we are called to do, or is it just about being the kind of people
who do good? Is there a particular goal here? I have recently rediscovered the
beauty and power of the Lord's Prayer. Here are the first three requests,
according to the venerable King James Version of the Bible. 'Hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.' Let me
rephrase them using words that are a bit more up to date. 'I want your name to
be made special. I want your kingdom to arrive. I want your will to be obeyed.
And I want all these things to happen here on earth in the very same way they
are already happening in heaven.' That's the goal of our doing the good - the
sometimes painful good - that the Father directs us to do. That's our mission:
his name, his kingdom, his will.
And again, in this we imitate
Jesus. He was a man on a mission, guided in that mission by his Father. We are
to do good, just like Jesus did. We are to do the good things that the Father
calls us to, just like Jesus. We are to be people on a mission, just like
Jesus.
It's at this point that you might
be getting a little nervous. And I don't blame you. I've just told you that the
Father has expectations of you and that your eternal fate depends on meeting
those expectations. Remember those two very different resurrections. And anyone
who is even just a little honest with himself will admit that meeting those
expectations - well, shall we say that that might be a little difficult? Or
let's just be completely honest. There is no way that that is going to happen!
Really now, who can be evaluated by Jesus and pass the test? Oh, that might
happen if there were a third category so that it's not just those who do good
and those who do evil. But what shall we call that third category? Those who do
more good than evil? But even if we had this third category, who would qualify?
Just consider your life up to this point. Have you done more good than evil?
Bear in mind we're long past just helping little old ladies who happen to cross
your path. The good that qualifies as 'good' is the good that the Father has
called you to do. And remember that he evaluates according to those three
aspects: what you do, how you do it, and why you do it. So, who qualifies for
this third category? Who can say that up to this point in his life he's quite
sure that he's done a pretty good job hearing the calling of the Father and
doing the good required of him? Not perfect, but not that bad a job. Who?
Someone quite naive might like to think that he would qualify for this third
category but only the naive. This, however, is where I remind you that there is
no third category. There are only two categories: those who have heard the
Father and have done what he called them to do, and those who haven't.
So, are we all destined for the
resurrection of judgment? We have not done the good that the Father has called
us to, not well enough to pass the test. Jesus' words in our text should have a
chilling effect. So, what do we do in such a situation? We understand what is
expected of us. The Father has called us to do good. He has called us to
advance his name, his kingdom, his will. We also understand that we have
utterly failed in doing that. Remember his standards. Utterly failed. Surely,
we deserve the worst. I hope that this is abundantly clear to you. If it is
not, then you do not understand sin. And you do not understand your own soul. But
considering these things leads the child of God to one more thing that he also
understands. He understands that he has a Savior. Jesus is full of mercy for
sinners - for failures - who deserve the worst. So, the child of God cries out
for that mercy, the mercy of forgiveness. And that, of course, is what the
Cross is about. Jesus suffered the worst so that there might be the mercy of
forgiveness for failures like us. And to whom does the mercy come? And we're
back to the familiar repentance and faith. We're back to the Gospel. There is
grace for sinners who repent of their sins and believe the Gospel.
However – and this is the main point
of this sermon – this does not mean that since there is mercy, since there is
the grace of forgiveness, you don't have to worry about doing good, you don't
have to take Jesus' words in our text seriously. God forbid that any of you
think such evil! Again, to whom does
the mercy of forgiveness come? It comes to those who repent and believe. To
repent is to acknowledge before the Father the ugliness of your sin. 'That is
so wrong, Father. I am so sorry that I've done it. I know that it is such an
insult to you, the one who loves me so.' But repentance never stops there.
Repentance goes on to say, 'And Father, help me so that I might change. I want
to do what you want me to do. Change me so that I don't sin like this again but
rather submit to your calling.' The repentant child of God returns to life
eager to listen for the Father so that he might do the specific good that the
Father calls him to do. And all of this also fits with the 'faith' part of
'repentance and faith'. We repent and again come to Jesus in faith. But it's
not just looking to him as Savior. To believe in Jesus is to believe in him as
Lord also. Believing shows as doing what you are told to do. So, the repentant
child of God returns to the battles of life, eager to submit to Jesus' Lordship
over everything he does.
This will distinguish real
repentance and faith from the counterfeits, a real child of God from the
phonies. God's child may sin. In fact, he does sin and not just a little. But
each time that he repents in the way that I have described, there is mercy.
There is the grace of forgiveness. The counterfeit may utter some sort of
prayer. But there is no returning to work at doing the good that the Father
calls him to. For this person there is no forgiveness. And the reason is clear.
There has been no repentance and faith. For this person, despite his bold
claims that he believes in Jesus, what awaits is the resurrection of judgment,
an eternity of the justice of an angry God.
Remember Jesus' warning.
Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your
name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
workers of lawlessness.’
One last thought. This has to do
with the voice that will whisper in your ear. This voice has two basic
messages. What some of you might hear will go something like this. 'You're
doing a great job. Oh, sure there are a few little areas that need some work,
but nothing of any great importance. You're doing fine. Keep up the good work.'
I can't imagine that being true of any person in this room – or anywhere else,
for that matter. We all sin and we all are very good at it. And the ways in
which we sin are both subtle and profound. There isn't a person here who
doesn't need some dramatic change in this or that area of his life. So, don't
believe the voice. It is lying to you.
What others of you might hear
will go something like this. 'What a loser! You sin and sin and sin. And then
you do this repent-and-believe thing. Do you really expect that you will be
forgiven for that sin again? Yeah, that sin. Again?!? Come on, get real.
You are a worthless piece of garbage.' When you hear the voice this is what you
say. 'I know that I fail - a lot. There are sins that are lodged so deep in my
soul that I don't even see them. But I have a Savior and he is full of mercy
and grace for failures like me. He has provided forgiveness for all my sins.'
It's when you can respond like that that you are able to return to the mission
the Father has given to us and do your part.
That voice belongs to the father
of lies, Satan. He will sound persuasive. Do not believe his lies. Rather,
repent and believe the Gospel.