B, Pentecost 19 Proper 22 - Mark 10:11-12, 14-15 "Jesus on Divorce and Children"

God gave humanity co-creative power when he created Adam and then Eve from Adam and gave her to him in the Garden of Eden.  And in cleaving to one another they produced children.

One might say, “But the animals do the same, they have co-creative power too!”  And they do but only to a certain extent. 

God brought forth animals from the earth, whereas humans were created from the earth but are also created in his image, and in his likeness.

A male and a female human being have the co-creative power to make images of God in the likeness of God.  And further to that God has given humanity dominion over all he has created from the earth.

The blessing of God fell on Adam and Eve after he created them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 ESV)

Jesus was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit, without her cleaving to a man, without the effort of a man.  Jesus was both the Son of Man but also the Son of God in the one person.

Jesus is tested twice in the Gospel reading for today.  First by the Pharisees when they tested him on divorce and then by the disciples when they incensed him by rebuking those bringing children to him.

Jesus teaches his disciples from these two testing events.  First, he says in response to the Pharisees, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (Mark 10:11–12 ESV)

Second, when he saw the disciples rebuking those who were bringing children to him said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:14–15 ESV)

Divorce, adultery, and hindering children; things have obviously changed somewhat since God placed Adam and Eve together to be fruitful and multiply.  Yet Jesus is placed right in the thick of humanity’s destructive ways. And in doing so brings the kingdom of God into the presence of these difficult situations.

Anyone who has had anything to do with divorce or relationship breakdown knows just how complex the issues are that feed the collapse.  At the heart of a separation one deals with guilt, fear, grief, anger, betrayal, role responsibilities, loss of trust, and insecurity. 

When Jesus is tested by the Pharisees, he tells the Pharisees it is because the hardness of heart that Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written.  He then takes his hearers back to the beginning of creation, to the foundational function of being male and female.

When we are in a relationship with another person, regardless of the type of relationship, we are in a relationship with someone who bears the image of God.  

We can ask God, “How am I honouring you in my dealing with the other person who bears your image?” Then we can think about our relationships with our spouse or our partner, and then our children or our parents, and then our neighbours, who all bear the image of God.  But as you do, ask yourself, “What is it that I want or need from that relationship?”

Now ask yourself, “What does Jesus want or need from his relationship with me?  Are my wants and needs from my relationships the same as his wants and needs with me?  What were Jesus’ wants and needs from his disciples and the Pharisees?”

Divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children quickly bring to the fore all the messes in our families, the church and society today, and with that judgementalism and egalitarianism issues. 

So determined has our society become to provide a safe place for children and to stop gender discrimination that in our zealousness we have forgotten we are blessed as men by God and blessed as women by God, both being created in his image.  And the children we’ve created in his image have been indoctrinated and confused by the judgementalism of gender rights, identity, and equality.  And with that comes the suppression of the blessedness of serving each other as men and women, and as children and adults.

Through this self-centred mentality of seeking our rights in sexuality, in gender equality, as autonomous children, and as individualistic adults; divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children, seems to be accepted as normal.  As divorce, adultery and the hindering of children becomes the norm we continue to lose the blessedness of being fruitful and multiplying on this earth.

But Jesus comes to us right in the heart of divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children.  He shows us what it is to be blessed and fruitful without being the son of a human father, without ever being married, without having children and without hindering children.

How does he do it?

He comes as the Son of Man and the Son of God.  Jesus was sent as the new Adam.

In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  (Hebrews 1:1b–3 ESV)

Jesus came to be the Saviour of us and our fallen relationships.  He does this through the forgiveness of sins.  He can do this because he comes in the image of God, without sin, but bearing all sin for the forgiveness of all sin.

He brings forgiveness within marriages, he brings forgiveness where marriages have ended in divorce, and he brings forgiveness in adultery.  Jesus also serves children who are caught up in divorces and relationship breakdowns, and he seeks to reconnect with children who have been hindered from coming to him.

God has put all things in our messy world under his control.

Now in putting everything in subjection to him [Jesus], he [God] left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.  But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.  For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:8–11)

We might not see that God is in control of our broken families, church, and community, but we are called to trust his word.  God conquers all broken marriages, all adultery, and all hinderances of his children created in his image.  He does it by teaching us in his word how we get it wrong, by showing us the righteousness of Jesus’ life, but gives us forgiveness and salvation through his death.

God calls us not to divorce ourselves from him or his church by seeing and hearing he is making all things new as he showed John, recorded in Revelation chapter twenty-one, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:2–3 ESV)

Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and from it came divorce, adultery, and the hindering of children.

You and I are called to eat from the tree of knowledge of sin and salvation, that is the cross, so you and I are forgiven and saved from this adulterous and Fatherless generation. 

Receive God’s invitation of blessing and fruitfulness, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb… These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9 ESV)

And, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter 1:2 ESV)

Amen. 

B, Pentecost 17 Proper 20 - James 3:13 "The Great Bone of Contention"

James 3:13 (ESV) Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

The great bone of contention in the church is sin.  But it is a hidden and buried controversy in many ways. 

We as Christians are fearful of being seen to sin, as being sinners.  However, in the bible we learn that we are never free of sin because we all carry the nature of sin from our earthly origin in Adam.

As Christians many of us are led to believe we are to appear as though we are without sin, that we are good people, without much consideration over what goodness is in the eyes of God.

Then, there is the degree of the sin committed.  A little white lie or a devilish delight is believed not to be as bad as murder or adultery.  Theologians discuss the differences of these as venial sins or sins that are minor and forgivable, as opposed to mortal sins that are deadly and separate one from God.

However, on the one hand, scripture teaches, sin that is forgivable can become unforgivable, when one believes they don’t need forgiveness for it. Therefore, in not asking for forgiveness show themselves as unbelievers.  But on the other hand, a sin that appears to be unforgivable and mortal can indeed be forgiven by God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Luther pointing to our baptism into Christ Jesus says, “Even if a Christian would, they could not lose their salvation, however much they sinned, unless one refused to believe.  For no sin can condemn except unbelief alone.  All other sins, so long as the faith in God’s promise made in baptism returns or remains, are immediately blotted out through that same faith or through the truth of God, because he cannot deny himself if you confess him and faithfully cling to him in his promise.” (The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, LW 36:60 edited here with inclusive language)

The flip side of the sin coin is forgiveness and grace, where cheap grace is pitted against unaffordable grace.  Unfortunately, this discussion is more about the individual and their justification for forgiving or not forgiving rather than the expensive but free grace that comes from God for us all.  In fact, grace is cheapened or made unaffordable when sin is not dealt with appropriately. 

Therefore, while we fail continually to consider what sin is and fail to learn from our sin because we are pretending to be finished with sin or hide from the reality of sin because of our fear, we hinder God bringing us to maturity and giving us wisdom in Jesus Christ.

It seems we Christians when exposed to learning something from our sins, and the forgiveness of them, are like a dog who guiltily cowers because he’s been caught in the act of chewing his bone.  We quickly want to hide and bury the bone of sin.

Yes, it is true, we can become so focused on sin that we end up losing focus on God.  But the opposite is also true when we lose sight of sin, we end up becoming focused on gods and idols that have nothing to do with our Triune God!

Four extremes tend to arise when one is challenged on sin.  The first is, now that I am a Christian, I am no longer a sinner. And because I am no longer a sinner I no longer sin. 

This so-called “sinless one” naturally burdens others as they become puffed up proclaiming that stopping oneself from sin is easy.  Forgiveness for “the sinless one” also becomes a thing of the past because if one no longer sins then there is now no need for forgiveness.

The question then goes begging, “If they are no longer a sinner, why then do they need Jesus or the Holy Spirit anymore?” Rather, the so called “sinless one” really doesn’t have a biblical view of sin because they have become their own god.

Opposite to this is the second extremity: The Christian who believes their sin cannot be forgiven. This is either someone who cannot stop sinning because they struggle with sins of addiction or they commit a one-off sin they believe cannot be forgiven.

For the addict, the proof is in the pudding due to the cycle of sin in which they live.  This person lives a life of guilt and effort to work the guilt away.  They continually attempt stopping sin which entices them even more with its temptation to please.  However, pleasure quickly becomes pain as sin sours them the moment gratification is reached. The more one focus on the sin the more one is absorbed by sin. 

Or, the person may not struggle with a sin of addiction.   But having believed they were the “sinless one” the person is found to be with sin.  They are crushed by the shame of their misdeed.  They end up believing they have fallen too far from their Christian ideal to be forgiven.

Both the addict and the idealist fall into a cycle of shame. It’s a cycle that kills the person’s spirit and destroys any true faith that struggles to exist under the futile faith of their idealism.  This shame can lead a person to spiritual and even physical suicide.

These two extremes are one end of the bone of contention where sin is focused on too much.  One focuses on the extreme of one’s ability to not sin while the other is absorbed in not being able to stop sinning.

Then there are the third and fourth extremes on the other end of the bone of contention.  Where there is not enough attention to sin as defined by God’s word. 

The third extreme or “knuckle on the bone” is still a variant of the first.  This is where the presuming “sinless one” is confronted with God’s definition of their deeds as sin according to his word.  The result is they work tirelessly to demonstrate why they are not a sinner.  In reality, they are thrown into chaos by this revelation and work to blame and deflect their sin as someone else’s sin or they justify themselves by redefining God’s word on sin. 

This person is tempted to walk even further away from God because the ideal they have held, is shown for the hoax that it is, especially when life gets difficult, someone dies, or they are led into suffering.  The god they have upheld is an idol and not the Triune God. 

When a crisis comes the person cries out, “God if you will save me, I’ll be good, and start coming to church etc. etc.”  Then the moment they hit the clear God is jettisoned from their minds once again.  There is absolutely no importance attached to sin by this person. This person walks to the beat of their own drum.  God is not important to them. 

The fourth and last nub of the bone is the person who believes, “because I’m a Christian I can do as I please”.  Jesus’ death on the cross is a get out of jail free card to be played on judgement day.  They live life never learning anything from their sin or the forgiveness of it.  They ignore the reality of their sin.  Therefore, they have no understanding or awe of the depth of God’s work undertaken to forgive them. 

Between these four extremes there are many variants and mixes. Every one of us sits somewhere between the knuckles on this bone of contention.

In fact, sin is also the one great similarity between Christians and non-Christians.  Outside the church a person might call it human nature, passions, guilt, or narcissism rather than plain old sin.

If we are to reach out into a world that struggles with the same sin, we owe it to God for his sake and for the sake of our neighbour’s salvation, to understand our sin and the forgiveness of it, so we can share that forgiveness in the world.

Learning from our sin teaches us more about God’s work of salvation and in this learning, we are plunged further into the unfathomable depths of God’s grace and love for us. 

What a wonderful thing to be proclaiming to the world!

When we think we are facing enemies around us, when it seems like someone is going to steal our bone, and we try to bury and hide it, God wants us to chew on this bone and leave it in the light.  It is he who has given us Christ to chew on in the word of God. We are called into this meekness of wisdom. A good work to see our sin, confess our sin, and proclaim Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of our sins in this bone of contention. Amen.

Thankyou Lord Jesus for serving each of us and saving us from sin by taking your place on a cross that should have been each of ours.   Thank you, for continually sending the Holy Spirit into the hearts of your people to show us our sin but also to show us the way of meekness, maturity, and wisdom is found in no one else other than you.  Help us to learn from our sin, to trust you so we are freed to confess you and our forgiven sins to others who need the same forgiveness as us. Amen.

B, Pentecost 16 Proper 19 - Mark 8:27-38 "Jesus' Love and Death of Peter"

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”  And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”  And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”  And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. (Mark 8:27b–30 ESV)

Why did Jesus charge the disciples to tell no one about him?  This seems to go against the proclamation of the Gospel.  He came to be the Christ and now that they had learnt enough to know Jesus was the Christ, they are not allowed to tell anyone. 

This is peculiar.  Here in the Gospel of Mark it’s the first mention of Jesus being recognised as “the Christ”.  So why does Jesus immediately seek to shut down word getting out that he is the Christ?

Jesus’ language recorded here in Mark is a strong rebuke.  It’s not just a casual suggestion but a stern warning not to speak. In the same way Mark reports Jesus rebuking the demons in Mark chapter one, he admonishes the disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ!  Why?

The answer reveals itself in what happens next. 

“And he (Jesus) began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’” (Mark 8:31–33 ESV)

First Jesus rebukes them not to tell anyone about him. Now he rebukes Peter in the harshest way calling Satan, literally the accuser, to get behind.  How could Peter proclaim Jesus as the Christ when he was influenced by Satan to accuse Jesus’ explanation of the Christ as being wrong?  After Jesus says not to tell anyone about him being the Christ, Peter rebukes Jesus speaking of his anointing through suffering, rejection, death and then resurrection.

There was nothing inside of Peter that could have prepared him for that kind of Christ.  All the ideals and presumptions Peter had of the Christ were wrong.  Not only did they come from his human spirit as well as the expectations of a Jewish community in waiting; but as Jesus reveals, it came from Satan himself!

There is only one place from where true faith and understanding can come!  And this is from God himself.  It must come from the divine holy work of God! 

It was God the Father who provided Jesus so he could be the Christ.  It was Jesus, Son of God, and Son of Mary, who would do, and has done, the passive work of being anointed as the Christ.  And it’s God the Holy Spirit proceeding from God the Father and God the Son who reveals the Christ to us and within us as he opens the word to us and within us.

All tongues need to be silenced, and Jesus needed to send the Holy Spirit to reveal and teach before anyone could proclaim the Christ. The generations from Adam to Abraham, from Moses to Malachi, time and time again proved that following God by one’s own effort was not doable. Peter was no different, nor were the disciples, and even today we need to be taught why Jesus needs to be the Christ that he is. And we the Christian chuch he needs us to be.

Jesus’ love for Peter required Peter’s death.  Peter didn’t understand this; nor did he understand what Jesus being “the Christ” entailed.

This picture of Peter stands in stark contrast to the same Peter of many jokes who stands guard and meets people on their arrival at the pearly gates of heaven.  Unfortunately, most of these jokes portray the wrong idea of what it is to be a Christian and therefore represent a Christ that is not what Jesus Christ is all about. The following seems to do the same but with a twist at the end.

There was a man who died and went to heaven and met Peter at the pearly gates.  Peter says to the man, “This is the deal.  You need to acquire one hundred points to get into heaven.”  The man thinks then says, “I went to church regularly.” Peter replies “Ok that’s two points.” “Oh” says the man, “that’s not many! Then he says, “I was faithful to my wife for fifty-two years”, thinking, “that should get me a few brownie points.”  “That’s another two points”, replied Peter.  “Well, I tithed and volunteered every week of my life”, the man expectantly says hoping for a big addition to his score.  “That’s another point”, says Peter.  “What!  At this rate it will be only by the grace of God that I get into heaven”, the man retorts in exasperation!  “Spot on sir”, says Peter, “That’s one hundred points!  Come on in!”

A silly joke yes!  But it captures the essence of what it is to be a Christian and what it isn’t.  Also, it points to something other than our works that allow us entry into heaven.  And it helps us focus on the function of the Christ; what Jesus allowed happen to him for him to be the Christ; that the generations before and since are not able to do.

The grace of God sent Jesus to the cross.  The grace of God raised Jesus from the grave. And by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit comes revealing, through the cross and death, Jesus as the Christ.  Jesus is the only one anointed to be the Messiah, the Rescuer of humanity.  And to this end he reveals in his word through the Holy Spirit what it is to be a Christian. 

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he (Jesus) said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?  For what can a man give in return for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’” (Mark 8:27–38 ESV)

I imagine the crowd not having much of a clue to what Jesus was referring when he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  They knew the cross to be a barbaric punishment of death meted out by the Romans and they also knew from the Law in the book of Deuteronomy that anyone hung on a tree was cursed (Deut 21:22-23).  However, they did not know this was to be the way the Christ was to redeem humanity, beginning with the Jews.

But we do!  And still, we like Peter, those before him, and many since, still fail to grasp just what the Christ is and therefore, who we are as Christians.

Enter 2020 and Covid-19 and our inability to worship the way we use to.  Perhaps we have been spoilt or even deceived in the past believing we need our ideals of community and friendships to be church. 

The reality of the Christian Church is that we are community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ, alone.  Jesus rebukes all community based on anything other than him. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, martyred by the Nazis at the end of World War Two wrote: 

Just as surely God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great general disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. (Life Together: 26,27)

What does this mean?  Regardless of how good our intentions might be, if our community is based on yours or my desire, it’s a wish dream.  And like Jesus putting Peter’s desire to death, he calls us to the same death, by saying to us, “Get behind me, Satan.”   And he does so because so often what we believe to be church is not what Jesus knows as church.

The good news in this is Jesus’ death and resurrection! In him putting Satan behind us, the Holy Spirit puts Christ before us!  Indeed, within us!  He did it in baptism and he continues to renew us in him daily as we allow the death of sin within though confession, and Holy Spirited belief we are forgiven.  This is forgiveness realised by faith in the word of God where God reveals his promises to us.

Perhaps in this time of isolation you might be led into a deeper sense of community in your time alone with Jesus Christ in his Word. 

Jesus’ love of Peter required Peter’s death.  Jesus Christ’s love for the church requires the death and resurrection of the church in him.  Jesus love for you and me requires his death, and our death, so we can pick up our cross and follow him.  Our love for others requires our death to self so we can pick up our cross and lead others to Jesus the Christ. Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father send you Holy Spirit into our hearts so we can deny ourselves, pick up our cross, follow Jesus the Christ, and be his messengers of forgiveness and love even in these days of lockdown and isolation. Amen.

B, Pentecost 15 Proper 18 - James 2:8-10, 12-14, 17 "The Good Works of God"

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing well.  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.  For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.  What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?  So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:8-10, 12-14, 17 ESV)

What good works have your done lately? 

What goes through my head on hearing this question makes me squirm with anxious uneasiness.  I am trapped somewhere between overweening pride and crushing desperation as waves within toss to and fro between the poles of self-righteous goodness and woe-is-me-ism. 

“Good works hey!  I’m looking pretty sweet today!  How good am I?  It’s so hard to be this good but I’m doin’ it!”

“I wish I could be as good as you!  I am such a failure!  I’m going to have to work much harder if I am ever going to that good”

Exposed is a narcissism that seeks attention because I am so so good, or the opposite, because I am so so bad!

Now in this temptation to strut or wallow, I thank God he has made me aware of this narcissistic Old Adam; the old man within.  Although both fill me with sickly dread, I am appreciative that God has given me this knowledge of my sin and sinful nature.  

Yet I ask the question, “how does one do good works freely?”  My Old Adam is such a sly old coot; a silly stubborn fool that’s had years of practice getting his own way.

Faith and good works go together.  We all know that from God’s word.  Yet I find myself striving to do works that glorify me.  Or I hang my head in shame for the dodgy deeds I’ve done.  The result is I’m led by the Old Adam to downgrade my faith in God as no more than a good or bad feeling. A feeling measured on the scale of my perceived popularity!

And then I hear texts like James telling me that faith without works is dead.  A voice inside says to me, “You must be dead! You’re not good enough!  Is there any point doing good works anyway?”

James does confront us with stern language!  He doesn’t mince his words in the slightest!  He says, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself,’ you are doing well.  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” (James 8:8-10 ESV)

How can I not show partiality and love my neighbour as myself when I’m not even sure how to love myself?  I only seem to glorify myself because of my goodness or seek attention because I’m such a failure!

Yep!  The Old Adam within is a wily old pig of a person!  He’s like a dog that returns to its vomit!

Despite feeling the sting of the Law in light of my impotent lovelessness, the word of God teaches this old dog a new trick.  God calls me not to trust my feelings but to trust him and his word of liberty and freedom. 

How do I do good works freely?  The freedom of God reveals to the Old Adam, the old dog, that there is no new trick to learn.  The Lord Jesus says to my heart, “come behind, stay, abide, remain!” In fact, it’s God who sorts out the sheep from the goats while the dog sits.  But even more, God doesn’t just let a sleeping dog lie, he wants it to die.

It’s at this point I realise the devil’s taunt within that, “my faith is dead”, is the Holy Spirit revealing that “my works are dead” and I will never be able to do good works by myself.  But instead, it’s the Holy Spirit who is doing good works within, without my having to feel a certain way or do the things prescribed by my Old Adam.

What I have been struggling in is a return to the knowledge of good and evil. A familiar trick from the old dog, the Devil, himself.  It’s not a new trick, however, he’s been up to this old game since the Garden of Eden!

But thanks be to God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit wills within us knowledge of sin and grace.  The sin of our being and the deeds that come from it, once revealed in us frighten us and show us we need a Saviour, namely Jesus Christ, to whom we flee.  And once we are there, we realise it’s he who has been sorting the sheep from goats within each of us the whole time.

Like a farmer sending out his dog to muster the mob, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit into your heart to heard and separate the sheep from the goats.

God works good works!  He first works mercy, and he continues to work mercy for us.  He needs to while the Old Adam continues to daily seek to resurrect himself back into his persuasive position of good and evil deception. The Old Adam wants us to be like the father of lies, Satan, doing works of judgement and accusation that lead me and others to eternal death.  So, God needs to work mercy!  God works good works of mercy! 

King David confesses in Psalm 51, “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” (Psalm 51:6 ESV)

What are these truths and wisdom in the inward being, the secret heart?  Earlier in the psalm David refers to knowing his sin and God’s knowledge of it, the truth and justification of his word, and the blamelessness of his judgement.

How amazing it is to know that exposure of our struggle with sin is a good work.  It shows us what God deems as good is that which we would rather hide just like Adam and Eve sought to do in the Garden.  This good work leads into other good works of faith beginning with confession of sin, justifying why God sent Jesus to die on the cross in place of our eternal judgement of death.

Finally, Jesus tells us in Matthew’s Gospel that we are not aware of our good works.  Like sheep and goats, he sorts out the motives deep within us.  And it’s good that he does this now while we are living because at the resurrection, he will sort the sheep from the goats.  

He says, in Matthew 25, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.”  Matthew 25:31–33 (ESV)

Jesus goes on to say to those on the right and the left, the works they did or did not do, did or did not serve him.  Even if we do seemingly good works to justify ourselves, they are not good works at all. 

Alternatively, the works that seem to be ones that condemn us and kill us in the eyes of the world, like confessing sin, confessing Jesus, being real about our inabilities, being completely sincere and transparent that appears to be foolishness, weakness, and shows vulnerability are not all that bad for those who trust Jesus’ good work at the cross, the Father’s good work of providing for us, and the Holy Spirit’s good work of encouraging within us faith.

So, what good works have you done lately?

I have done the good works of God!  Because God works good works in me! Amen.