Words of Hope

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(32) And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,

Like a grim-faced sheriff from an old Western, Jesus has set his sights on Jerusalem. There’s going to be a show-down and nothing in this world can stop it now. Everyone can see it in the steel of His eyes and the determination in His every step. And they are amazed – for the know this will be a glorious battle unlike anything they have ever seen before. And they are afraid – for they also know that someone – either the Chief priests or Jesus himself – won’t be coming back. It is both a great and terrifying moment.

The very air is thick with tension as Jesus calls His disciples to His side. Without missing a step He lays out the dire scenario. (33-34) saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

Heavy and ominous words, but words that Jesus has spoken to them before. This is the third and last prediction Jesus will make concerning the passion. And with each new telling it grows in shocking detail. In a gruesome litany He tells one and all exactly how this will happen. He leaves not one thing out so that when the time comes there can be no doubts that this is what was meant to be! But there are additional words that Jesus utters on this occasion. This last prediction of His coming death and resurrection is now also the first time Jesus will also explain why it must happen. The disciples, the crowds that follow in awe, you and me … we need it to happen this way! If He will not willingly march up there to His gruesome fate at the hands of sin death and the devil we who follow would be left defenseless.

The reason Jesus must steady himself to face what is coming shows itself in the words of two of His closest disciples only moments later. It is a bitter irony that we read: (35-37, 41) And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

How those words must have torn at Jesus’ soul, biting deeply into his heart. Caught up in the gravity and greatness of the moment, His words had simply slid off deaf ears. Not one had sunk in. They saw an opportunity to share in glory. Sure it would be tough, but when Jesus won, they wanted to be there, standing on either side. And they were not alone, just the quickest out of the gate. (41) And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. “Why didn’t we think of that?” you can hear them complain to one another. Better get in there before I completely miss out on my share.

And not one of us here could blame any of them one bit. Not one of us would have done any differently in their place. For everyone has within them an insatiable desire for glory. A desire that has been in every heart ever since we threw away the glory of God’s image in the garden of Eden. Missing that God-given glory, we now seek to claim some small glory in our own image and likeness. And any kind of glory will do, any amount will be fine – just so long as we are not left out of our share. Fame, wealth, recognition, power, if not in the community, then among friends. If not among friends then at least at home. Something – anything that’s at least a little better than others is glory enough.

Congregations fall into this too. Getting jealous, feeling inadequate, seeking some small measure of recognition. We may not be as big as them, or have as many youth as those, but we defend pure doctrine! We may not be as wealthy as them, or have as nice a building as some, but we have real heart. We may not be as successful as them, have as many programs as some others, but we are strong in adversity, overcoming obstacles that would have done in other congregations long before now. There is always some small measure of glory being sought and found. Some small glimmer of greatness to be held up. But always glory and greatness that seeks to hold up ourselves at the expense of someone else, even if that someone else is only hypothetical. And that is why Jesus must go up to Jerusalem.

(42-45) And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Full of ambition and pride, everyone wants to be first in line. Everyone wants to be recognized for something. But true greatness and glory are not found there. True greatness is seldom recognized. And true glory is rarely sought. For greatness is found in service, and glory in sacrifice. And that is why Jesus has come. To serve this world by giving His great life as a ransom for those of us so busy seeking personal glory that we can’t see any different.

Perhaps that is why Jesus answers James and John as kindly as He does. There is no recrimination, no anger. The words, though firm, are fair and kind. (38-40) Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

Notice something very important here, dear friends. Although the request is soundly denied, Jesus’ answer shows that such glory is a reality. To share in Jesus’ glory and honour is an actuality that God the Father has indeed prepared and fully intends to give! But He will do so on His terms, and for His reasons. Two thieves have already been singled out to share in Jesus’ glory of the cross. When Jesus won, they would be there, hanging on either side of Him. Both will have been brought there by pride and the pursuit of personal glory. One will stubbornly die for it. The other … the other will submit to God’s terms and seek the glory that is found in looking only to Christ. Two will share in Jesus’ death that day. One is sharing in His glory even now.

And he is not alone. James and John had their share in Jesus glory too. Each in his own way would drink the cup of suffering to its bitter dregs in service to their Lord. James would be the very first of the apostles to die for his faith. And long after all the others were gone, John would live out his last lonely years in exile for his faith. Even though they did not understand what they asked, God answered and made them able. Just as He will do for each of us.

For all who belong to Christ, must suffer for Christ. All who follow Jesus will one day die for Jesus. That means you and me, it means this congregation and all we have done here. And worse yet, the world may never even know – or care. But God knows, and God cares, and so He strengthens us to face our calling as Jesus once did the same.

And He steels our eyes, and sets our steps by giving us the cup of salvation in Jesus blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins. He purifies us for the task ahead by washing us in Baptismal waters and in the blood of Christ once awash on the cross. And neither of these appears great or glorious, to the world that sees them, but such is the way it has always been. And it doesn’t make them any less so. No greater gifts could be given us as we struggle through this life of suffering and service. No greater glory could be ours, than to share in the cross of Jesus – the glory of God, and serve one another, and the world around us, with this wonderful news.

AMEN.

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This morning you may have noticed that the title for my message seems somewhat unusual. All right, maybe it seems down right boring. Math is something that most people grudgingly put up with in their lives. Whether it was (or is) algebra and statistics in high school or making and keeping the cheque book and monthly budget, math is usually something that needs doing rather than something that is enjoyable. What does math have to do with Faith though? Perhaps you could say that in mathematical terms the faith response of a congregation is inversely proportional to the length of the Sunday morning service. In other words, the longer the service, the less positive the response! Perhaps it has more to do with a logic problem: The pastor has three major points to make in his sermon and fifteen minutes in which to make them; How much time can he spend on each point. The answer is of course 10 minutes.

Our text for this morning is related to mathematics in a very different way, however. The entire message of these seven verses could be summed up in a simple mathematical equation. The equation goes something like this: Faith minus good works = Faith plus good works. Now anyone who has had even a little bit of math could tell you that in the equation I just gave you “Faith – good works = Faith + good works” there is only one way for the two sides to be equal: good works would have to amount to nothing. At least that is what logic dictates. The workings of God, however, are not always logical. In fact, in this text we see quite the opposite.

What do I mean by Faith minus works? The first of the two major emphasis found in these verses of scripture is that our Faith, and thus our Salvation is a gift from God. Paul is very clear that we have no part in our being saved. “And this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works.” As clearly stated as this thought may be, it is one of the hardest for us to get past. Human beings have this crazy idea ingrained in their heads. “There must be some part that I have to play in all of this. There must be something that I have to do.” Adam and Eve’s original sin was just that, they wanted to be “in the loop”. They wanted to know what God knew. The way our world runs today just reinforces this idea naturally found in each of us. If you want food to eat, you have to work for it. If you want to have a secure retirement, you have to plan and save now. If you want to be successful in work or school, you have to put in the effort.

Over and over and over again, we are told that if it is important in our lives, then we must play some part in earning it. Imagine then, this message from God that your eternal salvation is won for you completely without any participation from you. Many people can’t handle it! And so they start inventing rules of their own making to follow, to give them some part in this whole process. In Jesus’ day you could see this most plainly in the Pharisees. Their entire lives were devoted to following rules. Man-made rules that helped them to feel like they were part of God’s plan. Rules that helped them feel like they were earning salvation in some small way. You can see it still today, in any group that says you must work toward your salvation. If you’re good enough, if your faith is strong enough, then God’s promises are yours. Yet, who here has not gone through days when they have felt as if they could never be good enough?

Likewise there are groups that say there are things that must be done in order to maintain one’s salvation; proper confession of sins committed, good deeds that prove the repentant state of the heart. As if we could make atonement for every sin we have committed! Finally there are other groups that say you must call Jesus into your heart, before God’s promises are truly yours. If this were really the case then God would only come to those whose faith is worthy of Him. What then happens on those days when you feel like your faith is gone? Must God have left too, or was He really even there?

The danger in all of these, no matter how insignificant they may seem, is that it puts the burden of our salvation upon ourselves. It robs God of the glory that is rightfully His. It renders His grace ineffective in our lives. It also leads to another danger that Paul clearly warns against; boasting. Just as natural as it is for us to want to play a part in all that happens to us, so too is it natural for us to boast over our accomplishments. We take pride in work well done. This pride lead the Pharisees to look down on other believers, those who weren’t as good as themselves. Have you ever felt you were a better Christian than someone else, even for a moment? Whose standards were you using to make that judgment?

Paul states in verse five that “we were dead in our transgressions.” As gruesome as it may seem, this is a wonderful picture of what sin has done to all mankind. A corpse may be the best looking, most life-like corpse there ever was. It may be the most well behaved of any cadaver ever. It could be the role model of all the other corpses, but it will never be alive. All of our works, get us no closer to heaven, they earn us nothing. Faith – works.

And yet, before we forget, you cannot take the works out of faith unless faith has already been made part of the equation. Paul also states in verse 5 “God who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” Good works are not necessary for God comes to us where we are … in sin, and in death. He came to us with new life. Notice the verb tense “made us alive with Christ; by grace you have been saved through faith.”

This salvation is a done deal. It is already signed sealed and delivered. No need to haggle, to bargain, there is no waiting, no background check into our character. We possess salvation right now! We possess it through faith, also a gift from God. We read in Titus 3:4-5 “But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, He saved us not because of righteous things we had done but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Faith itself is the gift of God through the Holy Spirit. It is the gift we receive in our Baptisms. It is the gift that is strengthened in the Lord’s Supper. It is a gift freely given. Faith minus Works. The gifts of God without any merit on our part.

Does that mean then that works have no place in the Christian life? Not a chance. Remember the equation: Faith minus works equals Faith plus works. Perhaps you can see where the second part is going. Having been given the Gifts of Faith and Salvation from our Lord the ONLY real outcome is that we will do good works. But this again is by the grace of God.

As verse 10 reads; “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are new creations in Christ Jesus, created specifically to do good works, they are a part of the very nature of being a believer. Think of it like a tractor. The grace of God in Christ Jesus is the engine, it supplies the raw power needed. That raw power needs to be converted into something we can use in our lives. In a tractor this is done by the transmission, or in us by the Holy Spirit, who gives us faith. We are the tractor itself a machine designed specifically for a purpose. Tractors are made to pull things. It’s what they do. They are not made to drag race, or take the family out to the movies. Christians are made to do good works. It’s what we do.

And these very works show the grace of God in our lives once again. He is not content to just let us stumble about blindly, trying to guess what would be a good work or not. He prepares them in advance for us. He not only makes us able but gives us every opportunity. Whether at work, or at home, at school or at church; whether with family, friends, neighbours, or fellow worshipers everything we do from the least to the greatest can be a good work if it is done in faith. 1 Co.10:31 reads; “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Faith plus works; the second part of the equation.

Faith minus works really does equal faith plus works. Salvation really does come from God alone through Christ on the cross. Having been brought to faith by the Holy Spirit then we cannot but help to do the good works God has laid out for us. Nowhere else in all of scripture will you find the true meaning of Christianity laid out so clearly as these verses in Ephesians 2. Perhaps you could sum them up in one final formula: Take one human remove all pretense of worthiness add the gifts of God, the death of his Son and Faith through the Holy Spirit and you get an equation that equals everlasting life, with a necessary by-product of many good works.

AMEN.