2023-04-30 Eternal Rewards

When I was in High School, I did not enjoy Phys-Ed at all. At least the organized sports like soccer, basketball and volleyball. Dodge ball and Long base were fun. If you’re wondering what Long base is, it’s a cross between baseball and dodgeball using a volleyball. I was skinny and reasonably quick on my feet so I could avoid getting hit fairly well.

The worst day in Phys-Ed for me was the annual Track and Field day. I hated individual competition because it exposed my lack of ability even more than with team competition. As I recall, every person had to enter at least two events. I remember entering long jump and the mile run. Since I had no interest and had a rotten attitude, I of course didn’t do any training. Believe it or not, I won the mile race, but that’s because only one or two other people ran it. Somehow or other I managed to keep on my feet for the required laps and afterwards collapsed under some bleachers to cool off. I remember my legs being like rubber afterwards.

In all athletic events in those days, the winner got a red ribbon, second place got a blue ribbon, third place a white ribbon and fourth a yellow one. I don’t remember there being participation ribbons. In any case, winning was celebrated. For a non-athlete with a bad attitude, all the ribbons that people wore just reminded me of my place in life, at the bottom. I didn’t like it. The truth was, I hated losing, but I didn’t put the effort that would help me to win. Needless to say, maturity was severely lacking. I still struggle with losing. That’s why I don’t like playing games where I have little chance of winning. I at least want the possibility of winning. I think those years of being mediocre at best, has influenced me towards wanting to include everyone in the fun. I don’t like the idea of all the elite players on one team clobbering everyone else. I like the idea of everyone having a chance at winning. I tend to cheer for the underdog. At the same time, I admire and value the pursuit of excellence. It seems to me that effort and ability should be rewarded.

I end up vacillating between the idea of everyone being included and valued and the idea of the pursuit of excellence where only those who put in the effort get rewarded. They both seem right to me and yet, sometimes seem to be contradictory.

What about you? Where are you at? Do you love competition and want only those who excel to be rewarded? Or do you want everyone to be equally valued? Or, do you think it’s possible to do both at the same time? Well, according to Jesus, it is.

Jesus said a lot of surprising things during his ministry. Things like, “The first shall be last and the last first.” and “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” But did you know that he promised rewards to those who excel at serving him while at the same time, promises that all who believe in him will have eternal life? Does that ring true to you? Does that seem right?

Well, keep listening. Today, May 14 and June 11 I am going to talk about the eternal rewards that Jesus promises to those who serve him.

Pray.

At first glance, this idea of eternal rewards seems to run counter to the central Biblical concept of grace. How can there be rewards for some people in heaven and not others? How does this fit with the picture of absolute grace when we trust in Jesus?

The interplay between our belief and our trust in God on the one hand and our actions, what we do, on the other hand is everywhere in scripture. Bruce Wilkinson says this, “It’s been my observation that people all over the world fall into one of two camps on this issue. One camp emphasizes the consequence of beliefs on an individual’s eternal future and tends to minimize the importance of works. The other camp emphasizes the consequence of good works on an individual’s eternal future and tends to minimize the issue of belief.” (blank)

Our Beliefs Matter

John makes this especially clear in his biography of Jesus. John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. John 3:16, the verse most of us have memorized or heard frequently, says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life.” Then in v18 he says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already.”

In Acts 2, when Peter is preaching to the crowd that formed after the infilling of the Holy Spirit, he says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The act of being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ was an act of belief. Later, when Paul and Silas are in prison, after the earthquake, he told the jailer and his wife, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Clearly, belief in Jesus is integral to us being saved. When Peter and John were forcibly brought before the Sanhedrin, Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Belief in Jesus determines our destination. According to scripture it’s simple. If we believe in Jesus, after we die physically, we will go to live with God in heaven and the new earth. If we don’t, we will go to an eternal torment in hell. In all of his teachings while on earth Jesus identified only two possible locations in the afterlife, heaven and hell. And we get to choose which one we will go to by either choosing to love and worship God through Jesus Christ or choosing not to love and worship God through Jesus Christ.

When a child is adopted in this world by non-biological parents, the order of adoption gives the child the right to move in with their new parents. The child becomes the parent’s child, and the parents home becomes the child’s home. The same is true with God, all who choose Jesus receive the right to become his children and if you become his child, you get to move in with him at his place after you die.

Jesus illustrated this extremely well on the cross. The criminal on the cross beside him said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” It was a radical act of belief in Jesus. Even though Jesus was dying on a cross, he believed that Jesus would come into his kingdom. In response, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It was simple, the criminal, at the very end of his life, believed in Jesus and, just like that, his sins were forgiven, and his eternal destination became paradise, the home of God.

Does this seem fair? That someone who has lived a life of crime could be granted eternal life with God? No, it doesn’t. Grace isn’t fair. From our perspective it’s patently unfair. It grants favour to those who don’t deserve it.

Jesus illustrated this in his parable of the workers in the Vineyard. (read Matthew 20:1-16) (blank) Jesus is saying that God has the right to be gracious to whomever he wishes and to give the same wages to people who worked for him for vastly different time periods. So, Corrina’s grandma, who loved Jesus all her life and lived 100 years will get to spend eternity in heaven with Jesus just like the criminal on the cross who spent part of one day trusting in Jesus. The wages in this case, are the same. Trust in Jesus and you get salvation. Period.

Our beliefs matter. Who we trust in for salvation matters.

Actions Matter

But our actions also matter. And they matter in two very different ways.

They Verify our Faith

The first way is that they reveal whether or not we really believe. Turn with me to James. I’ll read a few passages. First 1:22-25. (read). Now turn to 2:14-26. (read) (blank)

James is pointing out that any of us can say we believe in Jesus. It’s our actions that show whether it’s a real faith or not. Faith is proven by how you live. Jesus made this clear in Matthew 25 when he talked about the last judgement. Those who cared for the poor and destitute and those in prison went to live with God in heaven, those who didn’t were banished to eternal fire, hell. Remember what Paul said in his famous love chapter in 1 Cor. 13? (read 13:1-3) (blank) If we are truly followers of Jesus, his love in us would lead us to care for those around us. It would lead us to put our faith into action. The cold hard reality is that some people who claim to believe in Jesus will be shocked on judgement day by the destination they end up at. I don’t like saying it. It hurts to say it, but some will end up in hell instead of heaven not because of their stated beliefs, but because of their actions, their behaviour, which shows that they really didn’t believe.

That’s the first way that our actions matter.

Our Actions Determine Our Eternal Compensation

The second is much less stark, but still important. Our actions matter because they determine our eternal compensation.

There are quite a few times in the biographies of Jesus where Jesus speaks of rewards for service. In Luke 6 Jesus is preaching to a crowd on a level place, it’s not the sermon on the mount, but the sermon on the plain. Much of the content is similar. (read Luke 6:20-23) then later, after teaching that we are to love our enemies, Jesus says in v35, (read). Then v38. (read) (blank)

The word that is translated reward here is the same word that is translated as wages elsewhere. In other words, by doing good works, by returning good for evil, you are earning wages in heaven. Jesus promises to pay your wages in the future.

In Luke 14, the story that was read earlier, Jesus says in v14, “Although they (the poor, crippled, lame and blind) cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Here the Greek word speaks of repayment for services done. The same word is used by the Good Samaritan when he tells the innkeeper that he will repay him when he returns. When you do good now, your payment won’t come now, but later, in heaven.

Now many of you, like me, have usually thought that these wages and repayment that Jesus speaks of as being heaven. The reward is heaven, the repayment is heaven. And certainly, heaven is an incredibly great gift. To be able to live in the presence of God here on earth and fully in heaven is an amazing gift from God simply for believing in Jesus and putting that belief into practice.

However, these verses speak of a reward in heaven, a repayment in heaven. We’re already there and then there will be a repayment. Paul captures the this in a different way in 1 Corinthians 3. (read vv10-15) (blank) Do you catch what Paul is saying? The foundation of our faith is Jesus. That is how we are saved. It is on that foundation that we work and labour for God. We build on this foundation by working for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Each of us works at a different task. Paul laid the foundation by preaching the good news of Jesus to people who had never heard. These people received the good news of Jesus, and a church was born. Others, people like Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos, Timothy, etc., then came to teach the new believers and build them up. They were building on the foundation Paul had laid.

But there are different kinds of quality of work. He lists three that are non flammable and three that are flammable. Our work will be tested and if it passes the test and doesn’t burn up, we will receive a reward. But it’s not salvation! Even those whose work is burned up will receive that. What the reward is, Paul doesn’t say, just that there will be one and that it is determined by the kind of work that we do while on earth.

Our actions matter. What we do for God matters, in this case, not in terms of salvation, but in terms of the kind of rewards we’ll receive in our next life.

In my next sermon two weeks from now, I want to delve into this a lot more, looking at what kinds of actions God rewards and how he figures out what will last and what won’t. Please pray for me as I prepare.

Conclusion

The story is told “of a missionary couple from Great Britain who had spent a lifetime serving God in some far corner of the earth. After forty years, they wrote their supporters that they were coming home and sailed for England.

When they laid eyes on their country’s coastline for the first time in decades, the man said to his wife, ‘I wonder if anyone will be here to welcome us home?’

As the ship sailed into Plymouth Harbour, the elderly couple stood at the upper deck of the ocean liner, holding hands. Then, to their surprise and pleasure, they saw that throngs of people crowded the dock, pointing in their direction and cheering. A band played. Men held up a banner that read, ‘Welcome home! We’re proud of you!’

The husband was deeply moved, ‘Isn’t this wonderful!’ His wife laughed happily, and they decided it was time to go below to collect their luggage.

But as they emerged onto the gangplank, their hearts pounding in anticipation, they were taken aback. The crowd had already started to disperse. Soon, it became clear what had happened. The huge welcome was not for them, but for a politician returning from some foreign success. In fact, no one was there to greet them at all.

The husband couldn’t’ hide his disappointment. ‘After a lifetime of service, this isn’t much of a welcome home’.

His wife took his arm. ‘come along, sweetheart,’ she said softly. ‘This is just England. We’re not home yet.’”

We’re not home yet. But when we get there, We will be welcomed into the open arms of Jesus, and he will pay us the wages he promised and pay us back for all the work we’ve done for him.

I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait.

Pray

Benediction: Colossians 3:15-17

Related Media

Related Sermons