July 7th, 2024
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
Fake News: Accountability vs. Grace
1 Cor. 15: 1 - 10
Ephesians 2: 4 – 9
July 7, 2024
I have always known this person as a tireless servant of God. Sunday School Superintendent – back when that was a position of both significant work and insignificant recognition, Cub Scout Den Mother, endless Team and Classroom Mom, Church Secretary, and the one who cleaned the pews in church after every Sunday for decades. This person labored diligently, faithfully, and without desire for recognition. She was always doing something for someone, or the church, for as long as I knew her.
This person was also haunted by the mistakes of her past. Oh, she was always honorable, ethical, legal, a great friend; but until the day she died she felt guilty for the honest mistakes of simply being human. Maybe she was a little old school and tough on her first child. Maybe she wasn’t home enough for her children when life circumstances forced her to get a full-time job. Whatever it was, even as a faithful believer in the goodness and mercy of God still she worried that her mistakes were so consequential (at least in her own mind) that they may result in a negative judgement from God.
“I just hope I’ve done enough for God to accept me,” she said to me year after year, sermon after sermon, discussion after discussion.
It used to break my heart. For a long time, I thought this sentiment was her own hangup. She had a rough upbringing. She had some insecurities. She had some general self-doubt. But the older I got, and particularly – the longer I served in the church, I came to realize that, like all of us, she had some insecurities but those were not really the basis of her worry over her ultimate salvation – or lack thereof.
No, this person was raised in the church when large portions of the American Church had lost its way. What do I mean by that? I mean that the church lost its hold on the gospel and instead embraced religion as its central proclamation. We bought into the religious fake news that our works determined our ultimate outcome. I think Tim Keller said it best in his book, “The Reason for God.” Keller wrote:
“There is, then, a great gulf between the understanding that God accepts us because of our efforts and the understanding that God accepts us because of what Jesus has done.”
To put it another way, there is a huge difference between the understanding that our entrance into heaven is a result of the accumulated value of our good works and the conviction that our eternal destiny is determined by grace found in Christ’s death and resurrection. One understanding is heaven as an earned result while the other is heaven as the eternal continuation of a faith relationship with Jesus begun in this life.
For decades, we turned the gospel into an institution of moral obedience. To be a Christian was to be a follower who was obedient to the will of God. It was that obedience – measured by how often we did the right thing – that determined whether or not our religion had a beneficial eternal consequence. Keller describes this as “I obey – therefore I am accepted by God.”
It’s interesting that the Jews of Jesus’ day had the same problem. Yes, they were the chosen people, but it was their obedience to God’s law that kept them as members of the chosen. Somehow, they put the behavioral cart in front of the relational horse. Obedience as an ongoing responsibility became more important than faith as a relationship.
The danger of this mindset – often unspoken, and almost never admitted to – the danger is that if one believes that we are saved by the continuing accumulation of good works then you can avoid Jesus as Savior. In the same book, Keller continues:
“You can avoid Jesus as Savior by keeping all the moral laws. If you do that, then you have ‘rights.’ God owes you answered prayers, and a good life, and a ticket to heaven when you die, you don’t need a Savior who pardons you by free grace, for you are your own Savior.”
A reliance on salvation based on obedience and the accumulation of good work leads one to a constant worry if they had done enough of the right stuff – or, conversely – done too much of the wrong. There is a restlessness, a worry, a constant state of judgement trying to determine if we are good enough. The idea of peace, or resting, or being still in God is often overcome by the anxiousness of obedience.
Tragedy befalls us – what did I do, or not do, to deserve this? An unfortunate event occurs – why was God not protecting me? Why aren’t my prayers answered as I expect? Why do I have to struggle so much just to get through life? Haven’t I done enough? Haven’t I given generously? Haven’t I served sacrificially? I’ve been obedient – I have done my part. God, why aren’t you living up to the expectations that my obedience demands?
“Oh Jim, this is way too harsh. I would never think I had saved myself. And I would never think that I have some kind of rights before God.” But when we struggle, when we wonder where God is, when He seems to come up short – isn’t that what is really going on? God has come up short, God has not lived up to his responsibilities as a provider for the obedient. Rarely are we willing to sit, be still, and engage in this kind of self-reflection, thinking over this kind of works salvation that our church has sold us.
Religion as moral obedience also raises another problem. Part of the problem of today’s church in our culture are the judgements that reliance on moral obedience can move one to make. If we are evaluating the quality of our own obedience, it is not a far leap to project that evaluation on to others. Who is in? Who is out? Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is obedient. Who is not? These are judgements we often make when the validity of one’s religion is based on satisfactory obedience.
Friends, we are not called to religion, we are called to faith. We are not saved by obedience. We are saved by the grace of God. As our text has said,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Saved through faith – not obedience, so that no one may boast. Saved through faith – as a gift of God, not our earned reward for the quantity and quality of our good works. Grace – freely given, bestowed and showered upon the undeserving. Grace at the center of our faith. Grace at the center of our self-understanding. Can grace be at the center of who we are as a church?
Service, centered in grace, as an expression of how we understand the blessings that we have received, then becomes an offering of love and sharing instead of action that generates some kind of expected return. We serve - not to get recognized, not to generate membership, not to tip the judgement scales in our favor – but instead as a response to the grace that we have received.
Discipleship – Bible studies, prayer groups, fellowship participation – is engaged in on a regular basis not as an expression of our desire to be obedient, but instead as a commitment to learn, understand, and better reflect the One who freely gave Himself for us.
Worship is not a religious obligation, a way to culturally network, or a resume enhancement. Worship becomes an expression of relationship just like courting, vacations, and date night might be. We worship to draw closer to this fountain of grace that is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Culture is no longer an object for our judgement but instead becomes an arena for us to express the same kind of love, acceptance, and grace that God has given to us. Our behavior is no longer an anxiety ridden set of behaviors motivated by fearful obedience but is instead – and please hear this – our behavior becomes a joy-filled, love infused set of actions that you anticipate will please God.
Religion is all about obedience. Faith is about a relationship with Jesus – grace received, and grace extended. A desire to please this God with whom we are in relationship then results in our obedience as an act of relationship. May we be a people and a church known for this kind of grace. Amen.
1 Cor. 15: 1 - 10
Ephesians 2: 4 – 9
July 7, 2024
I have always known this person as a tireless servant of God. Sunday School Superintendent – back when that was a position of both significant work and insignificant recognition, Cub Scout Den Mother, endless Team and Classroom Mom, Church Secretary, and the one who cleaned the pews in church after every Sunday for decades. This person labored diligently, faithfully, and without desire for recognition. She was always doing something for someone, or the church, for as long as I knew her.
This person was also haunted by the mistakes of her past. Oh, she was always honorable, ethical, legal, a great friend; but until the day she died she felt guilty for the honest mistakes of simply being human. Maybe she was a little old school and tough on her first child. Maybe she wasn’t home enough for her children when life circumstances forced her to get a full-time job. Whatever it was, even as a faithful believer in the goodness and mercy of God still she worried that her mistakes were so consequential (at least in her own mind) that they may result in a negative judgement from God.
“I just hope I’ve done enough for God to accept me,” she said to me year after year, sermon after sermon, discussion after discussion.
It used to break my heart. For a long time, I thought this sentiment was her own hangup. She had a rough upbringing. She had some insecurities. She had some general self-doubt. But the older I got, and particularly – the longer I served in the church, I came to realize that, like all of us, she had some insecurities but those were not really the basis of her worry over her ultimate salvation – or lack thereof.
No, this person was raised in the church when large portions of the American Church had lost its way. What do I mean by that? I mean that the church lost its hold on the gospel and instead embraced religion as its central proclamation. We bought into the religious fake news that our works determined our ultimate outcome. I think Tim Keller said it best in his book, “The Reason for God.” Keller wrote:
“There is, then, a great gulf between the understanding that God accepts us because of our efforts and the understanding that God accepts us because of what Jesus has done.”
To put it another way, there is a huge difference between the understanding that our entrance into heaven is a result of the accumulated value of our good works and the conviction that our eternal destiny is determined by grace found in Christ’s death and resurrection. One understanding is heaven as an earned result while the other is heaven as the eternal continuation of a faith relationship with Jesus begun in this life.
For decades, we turned the gospel into an institution of moral obedience. To be a Christian was to be a follower who was obedient to the will of God. It was that obedience – measured by how often we did the right thing – that determined whether or not our religion had a beneficial eternal consequence. Keller describes this as “I obey – therefore I am accepted by God.”
It’s interesting that the Jews of Jesus’ day had the same problem. Yes, they were the chosen people, but it was their obedience to God’s law that kept them as members of the chosen. Somehow, they put the behavioral cart in front of the relational horse. Obedience as an ongoing responsibility became more important than faith as a relationship.
The danger of this mindset – often unspoken, and almost never admitted to – the danger is that if one believes that we are saved by the continuing accumulation of good works then you can avoid Jesus as Savior. In the same book, Keller continues:
“You can avoid Jesus as Savior by keeping all the moral laws. If you do that, then you have ‘rights.’ God owes you answered prayers, and a good life, and a ticket to heaven when you die, you don’t need a Savior who pardons you by free grace, for you are your own Savior.”
A reliance on salvation based on obedience and the accumulation of good work leads one to a constant worry if they had done enough of the right stuff – or, conversely – done too much of the wrong. There is a restlessness, a worry, a constant state of judgement trying to determine if we are good enough. The idea of peace, or resting, or being still in God is often overcome by the anxiousness of obedience.
Tragedy befalls us – what did I do, or not do, to deserve this? An unfortunate event occurs – why was God not protecting me? Why aren’t my prayers answered as I expect? Why do I have to struggle so much just to get through life? Haven’t I done enough? Haven’t I given generously? Haven’t I served sacrificially? I’ve been obedient – I have done my part. God, why aren’t you living up to the expectations that my obedience demands?
“Oh Jim, this is way too harsh. I would never think I had saved myself. And I would never think that I have some kind of rights before God.” But when we struggle, when we wonder where God is, when He seems to come up short – isn’t that what is really going on? God has come up short, God has not lived up to his responsibilities as a provider for the obedient. Rarely are we willing to sit, be still, and engage in this kind of self-reflection, thinking over this kind of works salvation that our church has sold us.
Religion as moral obedience also raises another problem. Part of the problem of today’s church in our culture are the judgements that reliance on moral obedience can move one to make. If we are evaluating the quality of our own obedience, it is not a far leap to project that evaluation on to others. Who is in? Who is out? Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is obedient. Who is not? These are judgements we often make when the validity of one’s religion is based on satisfactory obedience.
Friends, we are not called to religion, we are called to faith. We are not saved by obedience. We are saved by the grace of God. As our text has said,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Saved through faith – not obedience, so that no one may boast. Saved through faith – as a gift of God, not our earned reward for the quantity and quality of our good works. Grace – freely given, bestowed and showered upon the undeserving. Grace at the center of our faith. Grace at the center of our self-understanding. Can grace be at the center of who we are as a church?
Service, centered in grace, as an expression of how we understand the blessings that we have received, then becomes an offering of love and sharing instead of action that generates some kind of expected return. We serve - not to get recognized, not to generate membership, not to tip the judgement scales in our favor – but instead as a response to the grace that we have received.
Discipleship – Bible studies, prayer groups, fellowship participation – is engaged in on a regular basis not as an expression of our desire to be obedient, but instead as a commitment to learn, understand, and better reflect the One who freely gave Himself for us.
Worship is not a religious obligation, a way to culturally network, or a resume enhancement. Worship becomes an expression of relationship just like courting, vacations, and date night might be. We worship to draw closer to this fountain of grace that is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Culture is no longer an object for our judgement but instead becomes an arena for us to express the same kind of love, acceptance, and grace that God has given to us. Our behavior is no longer an anxiety ridden set of behaviors motivated by fearful obedience but is instead – and please hear this – our behavior becomes a joy-filled, love infused set of actions that you anticipate will please God.
Religion is all about obedience. Faith is about a relationship with Jesus – grace received, and grace extended. A desire to please this God with whom we are in relationship then results in our obedience as an act of relationship. May we be a people and a church known for this kind of grace. Amen.
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