Lent 2025 - What’s the Point

(And yes, my parents still, to this day, give me cash on my birthday. It’s a pretty sweet deal. Not sure how much longer that’s gonna last, but I’m not going to question it.)

And so, naturally, I asked them:

“Well… how much you looking to spend?”

(If you’re wondering: yes—I’m aware of what that says about me.)

But I’m a good Iowan, raised in a middle class home. We need to know these things.

So they gave me a number—and here’s what I asked for:

These shoes.

These shoes were my 40th birthday present from my parents.

(And again, if you’re wondering: yes—I’m aware of what this says about me, too.)

And yes, I’m aware that right now almost all of you have devices either in your pocket or your purse or even in your hand right now that will allow you to have some kind of idea of how much my folks spent on me for my 40th.

In fact, I’m going to make it easy on you:

They are Jordans.

They are Jordan 11s.

And if you want to be specific, they are Jordan “Bred 11s.” The original came out in 1995-96; these are replicas. But they’re genuinely Jordan.

Now, I didn’t buy them new from the manufacturer. So, nah nah nuh boo boo. Guess you won’t know exactly how much they cost.

But I did buy them from a seller that could guarantee me that they were authentic. And that’s a big deal in the sneaker world. Because there a ton of fakes.

So I bought them from a seller who could provide me with some proof of authenticity.

Now:

I know that’s a long story. About sneakers. At church. During Lent.

But here’s the point:

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A gift is always free—but not always authentic.

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(Repeat.)

I could tell you that my folks bought be Jordans for my birthday. But they might not actually be Jordans.

Genuinely Jesus

And, believe it or not:

It kinda works the same way with Jesus.

Now I know that sounds like a leap. But hang with me.

Let me describe to you the “genuine article.” Life with Jesus—what it authentically is, how do you get it, what’s it genuinely like. Doesn’t matter what denomination you are, at what point in history you lived, where you’re from—here’s how it always genuinely works with Jesus. Genuinely Jesus.

Here’s the first thing:

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Genuinely Jesus

Jesus’ gift of salvation is free. We can’t pay for it ourselves.

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That’s genuinely Jesus. His gift of salvation is a gift because it’s something only he could give.

Salvation is a gift because it has to be. You and I don’t earn our way into it—because we can’t. Sin continues to frustrate even our best of efforts.

Which is why the Bible is so clear about this:

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Ephesians 2:8–9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

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Salvation is a gift because it has to be. Our sin creates this continual debt with God. Every time we fail to love our neighbor. Every time we choose selfishness over generosity. Every time we let anger control our tongue. Every impure or covetous thought. Every time we fall short of who we ought to be and what we ought to do, we introduce a little more distance between us and God. And that’s a gap that we can’t close. It just gets wider.

But thank God for Jesus—who not only lived perfectly, but lived perfectly for us.

God makes Jesus’ perfect life of perfect obedience a gift to us. 1 Corinthians describes it this way:

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1 Corinthians 1:30 “…you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

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Think of it this way:

If my kids ever get themselves in financial trouble—maybe they make bad decisions with a credit card or get upside down on something—and my wife and I choose to pay off their debt (and not make them pay us)… take some of our own money and zero out their balance, freeing them from that obligation, making them whole again, and then tell them: you don’t have to pay us back—

That’s exactly what God does for us in Jesus. The life he lived counts for us. The death he died counts for us. His resurrection will one day be ours.

And it’s not because we did anything to earn it. We could never. It’s a gift. It’s free.

So, one more time:

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Genuinely Jesus

Jesus’ gift of salvation is free. We can’t pay for it ourselves.

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Let’s take it another step:

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Genuinely Jesus

Jesus’ gift of salvation is free. We can’t pay for it ourselves.

Jesus’ gift of salvation came at great cost. He died for our sins.

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It’s free to us—but it cost Jesus everything.

It’s free to us—but it came at the cost of Jesus’ life.

Now, this would’ve been a concept that would have been a lot more familiar and made a lot more sense if you were a Jewish person who lived 2-3,000 years ago—because:

You would’ve seen your parents bring grain, or a bird, or a lamb, or a goat to a priest. And you would’ve watched that priest offer it to God. As a sacrifice. For your sin.

In other words:

You would have plenty of memories and real life illustrations of this ongoing spiritual reality that, while you fall short in some way, God has made a way for you to be right with him.

You’d have these vivid images in your mind of blood splat on an altar.

You’d have the voice of the priest in your mind proclaiming your sins as forgiven.

You’d remember walking up to the tabernacle or the temple conscious of the separation you created between you and your God—but then walking away cleansed and close again.

And so when the authors of the New Testament talk about Jesus and what he did on the cross, that’s why they say that Christ died for us—like in 1 Corinthians or in Romans:

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1 Corinthians 15:3 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

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Was this gift of salvation free to us? Absolutely. But it wasn’t free for Jesus. He secured it by paying for it. His life for our sins. To cleanse us and bring us close to God once more.

So here’s where we’ve been:

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Genuinely Jesus

Jesus’ gift of salvation is free. We can’t pay for it ourselves.

Jesus’ gift of salvation came at great cost. He died for our sins.

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Let’s take it one more final step:

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Genuinely Jesus

Jesus’ gift of salvation is free—meaning we can’t pay for it ourselves.

Jesus’ gift of salvation came at great cost—meaning he died for our sins.

Jesus’ gift of salvation is received by faith. We confess and believe.

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If we don’t get it by paying for it, and we don’t get it by earning it, then how do we get it?

First by confessing our need for it. My sin created a debt with God.

Then believing that what Jesus did | paid that debt.

Here’s how a couple of biblical authors describe this:

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1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Acts 16:31 “They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”

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Okay? We receive this gift of salvation from Jesus by confessing our need for it and by believing that Jesus paid it all for me.

So: these three things make up the “genuine article.” This is “genuinely Jesus:”

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Genuinely Jesus

Jesus’ gift of salvation came at great cost—meaning he died for our sins.

Jesus’ gift of salvation is freely given—meaning we can’t pay for it ourselves.

Jesus’ gift of salvation is received by faith—meaning we confess and believe.

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Proof of Authenticity

So here’s my question for you:

If that’s the genuine article,

Wouldn’t you think…

That you should always be able to tell…

When someone genuinely believes it?

Wouldn’t you think…

That when someone claims to have the genuine article…

That you should be able to know…

If their claim is true?

Because you and I both know:

There’s a lot of fakes out there.

There’s a lot of people out there who claim to have the genuine Jesus,

But live in such a way that makes you… wonder.

In fact:

Maybe that’s you.

Maybe when you look at the person in the mirror…

Or look back on your past...

Or consider the path that you’re walking in the present—

Maybe you’re not wondering about someone else.

Maybe you’re wondering about you.

So how do you know? Shouldn’t you be able to tell? Is there even a way to tell?

Turns out there is “proof of authenticity,” so to speak, when it comes to the genuineness of our relationship with Jesus.

Just like for my Jordan 11s:

If they’re genuine:

The toe cap will be slightly milky in color.

The lace tab will have a wavy line of patent leather.

The stitching will be properly aligned. All signs telling me that what I have is the genuine article.

Turns out..

Turns out there’s a “proof of authenticity” even when it comes to a genuine, saving relationship with Jesus as well. And we’re going to take a look at what that is here in a sec.

But before we do, just remember:

We’re not talking about how you get this saving relationship. Because we’ve already seen that.

It’s a free gift. It cost Jesus everything—but we receive that free gift when we admit that we need it and believe that he did it. For us.

We’re not talking about how we get it.

What we’re talking about now is how we know that we did.

Because there will be proof. There will be signs that what we say we believe we actually… believe.

Exegesis: John 13-15

Turn in your Bibles with me to John 13-15.

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John 13-15

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You know, Pastor John gave the Apostle John a lot of grief last week, didn’t he? Talking about how little he wrote on the Garden of Gethsemane.

Did anyone catch the irony of that? You’d think you’d go a little easier on the guy you were in some way named after…

Anyways (explain how to find John… oldest one of the original twelve… writes really intimately about Jesus. You get the sense that he hung on Jesus’ every word).

And we’re gonna be in a few different places in these (3) chapters. But we’re gonna start right in the middle. Go with me to chapter 14. John chapter 14. And go down to verse 15. This is Jesus talking. And here’s what he says:

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John 14:15 “If you love me…

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So there it is. If… if…

In other words:

What’s the proof of authenticity? If you really know me… if you really love me… if you and I are genuinely friends… if you love me… what?

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John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

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He says something similar just a few verses later. Jump down to verse 21:

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John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

John 14:21 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

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Now, I know I’ve already said this a few times, but it’s so easy to get confused about this. So I’ll say it again:

We’re not talking about how you get a saving relationship with Jesus. You don’t “obey hard enough.” You don’t “keep enough commands.” We’re not talking about how.

What we are talking about is how you know.

Jesus says:

If you and I really know each other,

If you really have this saving gift of mine—

This gift that cost me my life, but that I freely gave—

If you really received it by faith—

If you really love me and are loved by me,

Here’s how you’ll know:

You’ll be someone who does what I say.

You’ll be someone who lives how I say life ought to be lived.

Now:

If your mind kinda starts spinning out at this,

Because what exactly do you mean, Jesus? “Keep your commands?” Like… all of them? Most of them? Perfectly?

Just calm yourself down. Jesus didn’t die on the cross for our sins so that we can live a life of performance-driven anxiety, constantly wondering whether we’re good enough. Galatians sums up that mentality well when Paul says that “if righteousness (or right standing) with God could be attained by following the law (or just trying really hard to obey)—”

If that was even possible, then “Christ died for nothing.”

Jesus isn’t saying that you need to obey hard enough to earn his love.

What he’s saying is this:

If you really know him, then you’ll live a life of increasing obedience.

Real Jordan 11’s have straight stitching.

Real Jesus-followers will live a life of increasing obedience.

But not just generally. Specifically.

In other words, there’s a hallmark of a Jesus-kind of obedience. Just like a genuine dollar bill has a watermark, a genuine relationship with Jesus is always marked by a particular kind of obedience.

Here’s how Jesus describes it in John 15. Turn with me there. John 15. And go down to verse 9. John 15:9. What is the hallmark of a Jesus-obedience?

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John 15:9–12 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

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And if we had read John 13, what we would have seen Jesus just do is wrap a towel around his waist and wash his disciples’ feet.

When Jesus says to them,

“Love each other as I have loved you,”

The image of him washing their grimy feet would’ve been fresh and loud in their minds.

He goes on to say:

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John 15:13–15 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

John 15:16–17 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”

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So what’s the hallmark? What’s the proof of authenticity?

If someone claims to know Jesus, believe in Jesus, have a saving relationship with Jesus, received this costly-to-him-but-free-to-us gift of his death on the cross for their sins…

What should you expect to see, no matter who they are, where they’ve been, what they’ve done, or what’s been done to them?

Here’s what you should expect:

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The proof of authenticity for a saving faith in Jesus is obedience to Jesus’ command:

Love one another—

In the way that Jesus loves us.

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Friends:

If we really know Jesus,

If we really have experienced the kind of love that comes from receiving this incredible gift he’s giving us,

Here’s what should be happening in us:

We should be dreaming about ways to be generous with one another.

We should be the kind of people who just can’t wait to put someone else’s needs before our own.

We should be praying for ways to take all of this generosity that Jesus has freely given to us and use it to bless and serve someone else.

That’s why one of the steps we talk about taking around here at Prairie Lakes is “giving generously.” Giving generously is love in action. That’s really what it is.

Get this:

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With Jesus, living generously isn’t an option; it’s proof.

With Jesus, living generously isn’t an obligation; it’s a gift.

Because with Jesus, living generously isn’t something you do for him, but with him.

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CLOSE: Stories of generosity: I don’t always get this right, but… tithing (if you’re not new around here, this is 101-level stuff); staff/new babies; barber bought his own shop

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