|
 |
 |
Teach Us Jesus Christ Text:
Matthew 7:15-29 We have told the whole story of the salvation of the world in the incarnation, birth, life, teaching, preaching, healing, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord. Last Sunday we were launched into this long, green season of Sundays after Pentecost with our Lord's command, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Our minds have been enlightened to understand that God the Father is known only through His Son Whom He has sent. The Holy Spirit operates through the Word and Sacraments to draw us to the Son Who, because of His saving work, reconciles us to the Father and presents us to Him clothed in His own holiness and righteousness. Therefore we sing in today's hymn, Shine in our hearts, O Spirit, precious light; Teach us Jesus Christ to know aright. [LW 155:4]
The Word of God today strongly suggests that before one can make disciples of other people, one needs to be a disciple him or herself. Beyond that, as we are going and making disciples, how do we know that we have done that? Whether for ourselves or for others, therefore, the question is how do you know a disciple when you see one?
We ask this question, first of all, using today's Old Testament reading as the launching pad, the diving board, the foundation that leads us to Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount. Having told the story of Jesus through the Gospels in the first half of the Christian year we now “rewind,” if you will, go back and review all that he has said and done, but now through “resurrection eyes,” having our minds opened to understand how all the scriptures testify and point to Jesus.
The words of our Old Testament reading emphasize how Israel, God's people (that includes you, now!) are to literally embody, be absorbed into God's Word. It works its way from the inside out. It is first to be “in your heart and in your soul” [Dt. 11:18 (ESV)], that is, inside of your very being. And how does that happen? It happens when and because your Christian parents or “spiritual parents” (whoever that may have been) have spoken God's Word into your ears and mind. It begins very simply through Mom and Dad, having brought you to the water of Holy Baptism, reading Bible stories and teaching you how to pray, morning and evening and before and after meals. It happens through Sunday school, Confirmation instruction, Bible study, through sermons and through Christian conversation, seeing and interpreting everything through “Christian eyes,” “theological eyes,” that is, through comparison and interpretation of everything through the lens of God's revealed Word.
That's what Moses means when he says, “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” [Dt. 11:19 (ESV)]. In other words, the Word of God infiltrates your conversation whether you're just sitting around, or going on vacation. When you see a rock or something at a national park with a plaque on it that suggests the age of the rock or whatever as being in the billions of years old, there is your opportunity to tell your children that God's Word disagrees with that “evolutionary” world-view; that that rock or river valley or whatever was created by God only thousands and not billions of years ago. The Word of God is meant to be read, spoken, heard and learned by heart. It is to be inside of you.
But that is not yet enough. For God says through Moses, “you shall bind [these words of mine] as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes…You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” [Dt. 11:18, 20 (ESV)], that is, God's Word is to proceed from the interior to the exterior, from the heart and mind to action and life, and from there to those around you in the world.
This is what Jesus is talking about today when he says to you, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” [Mt. 7:15-16 (ESV)], that is, what's inside shows itself on the outside. And when what's on the outside, our words and actions, contradict what we say is on the inside, we must judge ourselves and others by confession and life, what's on the outside, for only God can judge what's on the inside, in a person's heart.
The burden of our text today is to understand especially these words of Jesus: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” It is a burden because these words seem, at first hearing, to contradict the pure doctrine that says a person is saved by grace alone through faith without the works of the Law. “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them” sounds like mixing good works with faith.
Yet these words are saying nothing other than the words we heard through Moses, namely, that what is in your heart and soul will show itself in your words and actions. What, after all, does it mean to “do” the will of the Father? In Matthew 12 we are told of the incident that, while Jesus was speaking to the people, “his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.” When word was brought to Jesus he responded with the unusual words, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” He was using this incident as a moment for teaching. “Stretching out his hand toward 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 12:46-50 (ESV)]. Turn that around and you get “whoever is related to me is doing the will of my Father.” It is significant that he stretched out his hand “toward his disciples” and identified them as those who do “the will of my Father in heaven.” What is it that his disciples have done? Simply to be a disciple of Jesus, to hear him, follow him, believe in him. Being in a saving, faithful relationship with Jesus is what “doing the will of the Father” is all about. You see, it's not as much about specific works or activities as it is the fact that Christ has called you to faith and you follow him.
Look at it this way. Nothing done by an unbeliever, no matter how “good” it may appear to the public on the outside, is a “good work” because the first piece of the puzzle is missing, that is, he or she in an unbeliever, out of relationship with God. But everything done by a believer, short of our continuing struggle with sin, no matter how mundane or ordinary it may be is considered a good work simply because he or she has become a child of God through faith in His Son.
The believer, the disciple does truly good works, does the will of the Father, most of the time without even thinking about it. We certainly do not keep a record of so-called good works in order to impress God or as a sort of transcript that we hope will get us into heaven. When you hear Jesus' words and follow him in simple repentance and faith you're already a citizen of heaven as St. Paul says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” [Ephesians 2:19-20]. Having been brought by Jesus to the Father, our sins washed away by his blood, given the gift of faith, even our most mundane or “secular” activities become truly good works because of the person who is doing them, children of the heavenly Father, the redeemed of the Lord, the Christian Disciple.
A disciple is, literally, a learner or a hearer of the Word. That's where it started with you and me, and that's where it always starts, continues and ends for all. The emphasis of both Moses and Jesus is on hearing the Word. Today, as we are sent out into the world to make disciples, we are reminded that we are a minority. Most people don't believe in Jesus. We are given a “heads up.” But we are also given the great confidence and joy that it all depends on Jesus and on his Word. Beware of false prophets. But do not be afraid, have the confidence and joy that by faith you have been built into that house built on the solid rock of God's Word, the rock that is Jesus. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand. [LW 368 refrain ]____________________
| |
