A, Pentecost 3 Proper 4 - Matthew 7:21-23 "What God Wants"
Only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven! The will of my Father in heaven! The one who does his will, enters the kingdom of heaven!
The will of God. What God wants! The purpose of God, the desire of God, his opinion, his wish. The Father’s delight, the goal of God, his intent, the determination of the Divine One. What is it that God wants?
Only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven! I urge you to not let these words pass you by, let them burn themselves into your meditation — right here, right now!
Why?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father 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 deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NRSV)
This is for you who call yourselves Christian. “Not everyone who calls themselves a Christian and says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
On that day many so called “Christians” will say to Jesus, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ When Jesus says “on that day” he is speaking of a day we all will face — the day of judgement, the day eternal life, or eternal damnation, is realised.
On another day Jesus said, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42 NIV) Only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Before we hear just what it is “to do the will of Jesus’ Father”, first, we need to hear where else this phrase is used in the gospel according to Saint Matthew.
It’s no accident that the last place we hear these words, is on that day when Jesus is challenged by his humanity in the garden of Gethsemane as he kneels and prays to his Father in heaven, just before he’s arrested and led away to be tried and crucified. If it is not possible for this cup to be taken away… may your will be done. Only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven.
The first hearing of the phrase, “the will of my Father”, in Matthew’s Gospel is spoken just before Jesus warns with the “Lord Lord” passage. Both are preached by Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew’s Gospel we hear both first and last references to the “will of the Father” in the context of prayer. The prayer as he knelt and sweated tears of blood at Gethsemane is, in fact, the same prayer he gives first in Matthew 6:10, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Then, having been given access to God the Father in heaven, as “our” Father, Jesus continues to carry this theme of family and God’s will as we hear Matthew 12:46-50…
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46,49-50 NIV)
Therefore, God is our Father, and we are brothers and sister of Christ; in fact, we are children of God, when we do the will of our Father in heaven. Jesus goes on to say: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4 NIV) And a few verses later “the will of the Father” reference appears again …it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. (Matthew 18:14 NRSV)
Through my observations as a father of my children, the thing that endears them to their mother the most is when they hear her and follow her will. I suspect that this is the same in every household. So when we as God’s children take it upon ourselves thinking we are bigger than his little ones, and turn to our own will doing what we consider best, doing this or doing that, thinking we justify ourselves by doing it for Jesus; perhaps this is not very pleasing to our Father in heaven.
Maybe we need to stop; humble ourselves, seek his will, and listen to what Jesus is saying. Heed his warning when he says, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.
Hear that — named evil-doers by Jesus himself! Lord, Lord, we did this and we did that all in your name! And at the judgement, what is won? Jesus’ declaration, doing this and doing that, earns expulsion as evil–doers!
This doesn’t mean what was done was not without effect. The sad thing is that although the will of God was passed on in all its power, his powerful will in his word wasn’t hung onto by those through whom it passed. Rather, the condemned hang onto and centre their justification on the power of their doing instead of him who justifies all by perfectly doing the will of his Father in heaven. Don’t rejoice in what you do, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven!
Then, in consideration that evildoers, or rather doers of a doers own will, can and will be expelled, Jesus challenges us who feel we are safe, to think about the following scenario: “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” (Matthew 21:28-31 NRSV)
And we “good” Christians join with the good Jews of Jesus’ day and answer, “The first.” And so Jesus says to us as well, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the
Hear what Jesus is saying! Tax collectors and prostitutes were the doers of what was considered evil, yet they were entering heaven before those who Jesus considers evildoers — individuals who did many right things in God’s name. To parallel the tax collectors and prostitutes of Jesus day to individuals of our age, perhaps Jesus is saying to you, “Truly I tell you, politicians and paedophiles are going into the
Are you one who thinks your thoughts and actions, even just a little bit, are advantageous in manipulating God’s will for entry into his kingdom? I tell you that all prostitutes, paedophiles, and scandalous politicians entering the kingdom of heaven, know that it is not what they do, that grants them entry and eternal life in heaven. Nor should you think for one second that “how” you do any deeds for Jesus or anyone else is any less saturated with evil works than those who know their works are evil. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
So what is it that we do, when we do the will of the Father in heaven? It is this: We believe! It’s as easy as that and it’s as difficult as that! We repent of all beliefs in self, whether good or bad, and believe in the one the Father has sent. Believe in Jesus! He is the only one who can do the will of the Father in heaven. He did his Father’s will and he died. None of us have the power or will to do that. But what we can do is believe in he who put aside his will and won eternal life for us by following his Fathers will, even unto death.
Believe Jesus’ death is enough, believe his word of life, believe in what he did for you in your baptism, believe his faithfulness to you ever since your baptism, believe that in baptism you were baptised into Christ’s death.
In believing, you do the will of God. In believing, your confession, “Lord Lord”, will give glory to Christ and the merciful God who sent him to save you. In believing, you allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit you never knew you were capable of producing. In believing you will see deeper and deeper the depraved indifference that hides your true reality. In believing, you will rest more and more in the power of he who has mastered sin and death and in its place gives forgiveness and eternal life. But whatever your do, don’t believe in yourself — your works, you abilities, or your emotions — they are tainted with you, and you are not God!
Let these words permeate every part of your being, carry them with you, mediate on them, and remain in the faith God has given to you. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
Christian! Every opportunity you have to surrender what you believe, in submission to what God wants you to believe — take it — for Jesus sake.
This is what God wants. Amen.
