Not Everyone …

Today’s Parishioner’s Pick come from the Sermon on the Mount – Jesus’ longest recorded sermon found in Matthew 5-7.

I love a good sermon – I have from even my childhood.

Imagine hearing Jesus preach! Must have been amazing. I can’t even imagine how powerful he would be. I’m sure he was a great preacher, but I don’t know if I would have liked him. Let me explain, because that sounds blasphemous. The reason I may not have liked him as a preacher is because he was not afraid to get into people’s faces. He was not afraid to step on toes, to challenge people. Especially people like me who are religious professionals. And I don’t know if you would have liked him either because he was tough on people like you – religious people. People who went to synagogue every opportunity. People who knew the Bible well. People who knew all the right things to say and who knew the right things to do. An example of that is today’s Parishioner’s Pick from the Sermon on the Mount. It’s near the end of the sermon. Turn your Bibles to Matthew 7:21-23.

Matthew 7:21–23 (NIV) — 21 “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 who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Verse 21 we can all get behind. We can all agree that just verbal confirmation of who Jesus is is not enough. We must put his words into practice. At this point in the sermon many of us would be Amening, nodding our heads in approval, maybe even giving Jesus a polite round of applause. We are all good with verse 21. There’s not some secret password that will get us in the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s what he says next that is a bit upsetting.

Jesus then envisions the day of judgement. He introduces a scenario and he uses the word “many.” This is not a rare exception. This is a scenario that will happen with some consistency. This is scary. This is going to happen to a lot of people – a lot of religious people. Not only do they have the right words but they have done impressive things in the name of Jesus. They prophesy. They cast out demons. They perform all kinds of miracles. In spite of that they are excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven. And with harsh words – I never knew you. Depart from me you evil doers!

I don’t think I would have heard a lot of amen’s at this point of the sermon.

Is Jesus saying doing religious things don’t get you into heaven? If not, then what does? Didn’t you just say doing the will of the father gets you into heaven? Aren’t prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles your will?

What is Jesus getting at here?

This is when it’s helpful for us to understand some of the themes of the entire sermon. You really can’t understand what he’s saying here without knowing what he has said before.

One of the themes of this sermon is motives. Jesus is challenging religious people to examine why they are doing these religious acts.

He starts off hinting at this with his very first words – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There needs to be a spirit of humility in the heart of a follower of Jesus.

But he really gets into motives in chapter six. There he talks about three acts of worship – giving, praying, and fasting. These are things religious people do but Jesus says that it’s not just what you do, it’s why you do what you do. If you do these “to be seen by men” – if that is your motive – then God really has no need for that. Do we do these religious acts for the approval of people or the approval of God?

So, I keep that in the back of my mind when I come to our passage in Matthew 7:21-23. Prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles are good things but if the motive is to be seen by men then they are not actually doing the will of our father in heaven. And I think these three acts are chosen because these are very visible and since they are visible these acts are more likely to be performed to impress people. The focus can easily be off the person rather than on glorifying God. These acts can turn into performances rather than true acts of spiritual service. Performances don’t reveal who we really are.

All of us have a favorite actor or actress. One of mine is Tom Hanks. I loved his performance in Apollo 13. But he is not an astronaut. I loved his performance as Captain Sullenberger, the Denison Hero we just celebrated. That doesn’t mean he can land a plane in the Hudson River. I’m not flying on a jet piloted by Tom Hanks. I loved him as Forest Gump, but he is not Forest Gump. I loved him in A League of their Own but he is not a baseball manager. He’s a performer and that’s all well and good in Hollywood but in the Kingdom of Heaven there are no places for performers.

Jesus is not a fan of performances.

And that’s what religion can become – people just playing a role. And we can be convincing to others, but we can’t fool Jesus. He’ll say, “I never knew you.”

If Jesus doesn’t like performance then what does he like?

I think he likes fruit. He uses that term on occasion. In fact, he used it it eh section just before our passage today:

Matthew 7:15–20 (NIV) — 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

You can’t fake fruit. Fruit reveals what a person really is while a performance is what someone wants you to think they are. Jesus wants a good heart. He knows that if the heart is right then genuine fruit will be produced. So, as we read this passage the challenge to all of us is where is our heart. That’s a challenge for you and for me. And it’s these people whose hearts are sold out for Jesus – these are the people that Jesus knows. These are the people who are invited into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus knows fruit bearers not Performers! What am I? What are you?

Jesus tells a story about who gets invited into the Kingdom.

Matthew 25:35–36 (NIV) — 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

And these people don’t even realize what they have done because they were not performers – they were fruit bearers.

These are the people Jesus knows.

The person who hands out food to the hungry – I know him.

The woman who provides clothes for the needy – I know her.

The man who sits at the bed of an ailing wife – I know him.

The person who visits those who are imprisoned – I know them.

The father who after a long day of work take the time to read his kids a Bible story and pray with them before bed – I know him.

The mother who even though exhausted gets her kids all ready for church ion Sunday because she wants them to know Jesus – I know her.

The elderly woman who can barely walk gets up and comes to church because she can’t wait to hear the songs of her faith – I know her.

The student who reaches out to the kid that no one else will even look at – I know him.

The sinner who comes before God in tears for his sins – I know him.

The widow who is waiting in line to give to the temple and, after others have proudfully put in their treasures, drops in a small offering, but all she had – I know her.

Does he know you?

This will always be a struggle but we must hear Jesus’ warning We may not like what he says to us. We may not like his preaching. But he’s direct with us because he truly does want to know us. He does want to welcome us into the kingdom.

The Kingdom doesn’t need performers. It needs fruit bearers.