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Eager Believers

Pastor: 

Pastor Mike

Sermon Date: 
January 31, 2010
Bible Passage: 

Titus 2:11-3:2

            Why was she so eager to embarrass herself? A woman like that showing up uninvited at a house like his?!? You didn’t have to be a gossip columnist to know the things she had done, the reputation she had. And yet here she was. A black-tie event and she shows up in a skimpy red dress. So eager to get in the door, so eager to make a scene. The fact that she tried to talk to Jesus would have been scandal enough, but she did so much more. To the horror of the host, she stood behind Jesus all night, shamelessly dripping tears on his feet and wiping them dry with her hair. People shook their heads. The host thought about calling the cops. And Jesus…just smiled. Her eager actions, inappropriate as they seemed to some, were the most beautiful thing he had seen all night.

            God loves eager service. So why are some people so eager to do good deeds for God? Eager to give. Eager to volunteer. Eager to obey the commandments. Repenting when they fail and rejoicing when they follow. What causes that? It’s not a bargaining chip. Christians know heaven is a gift and God’s love can’t be earned, so why care about all the good deeds? Why are some people such eager believers?
            If you’ve seen the logo for this sermon series, you might know the answer to that question. If not, listen to Paul’s letter to Pastor Titus, 2:11, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” The answer to the eagerness question is wrapped up in that word “grace”. Eager service is the product of grace. Do you know what “grace” means? You will in a second because today is Slap-a-Pastor Day! I need a brave volunteer who is willing to slap me. (Pastor Mike gets slapped!) Ouch! Do you know what I’m going to do to you for that? I’m going to give you $5. And that’s grace. Grace is undeserved love. It’s the opposite of payback. It’s giving a gift when the hand-print is still on your face. It’s when you should get blasted, but instead get blessed. It’s when we don’t deserve an ounce of love, but get a ton of it.
            And grace is exactly what has come to us through Jesus. God’s unearned and saving love appeared to all people through Jesus. That’s only possible by grace. The “be-good-enough-for-heaven” system only works for the perfect, neat, tidy, moral, and righteous folks. But grace works for the rest of us. It’s God’s unearned loved for black sheep and guys who messed up their first marriage and the sexually sinful. It’s for those who have a reputation in the neighborhood and girls with eating disorders and those who have been abused. Grace is for spiritual wanderers and those who suffer from depression. Grace is for the proud and worrisome and lazy. Grace has appeared and not just for some, but for all, for you. Grace is the fact that God looks at you with your handprint on his face and he forgives and loves. That’s the good doctrine of grace.
            And that good doctrine produces good deeds. It must. Grace cannot not change us. A few years ago, I worked at an ice rink. I got to know a lot of hockey families and smell a lot of locker rooms. One of varsity players who attended church quite often caught me on a spring afternoon, “Mike, can I talk to you? I don’t know how things work in your church, but can I confess to you? You see, our prom is on Friday night…and, well, you know…it’s prom. So can I just confess to you now so I don’t have to next week?” What?!? You want to confess and tell God you’re sorry in advance for the sins you plan to commit? You’re not eager to serve, but eager to sin?!?
That young man didn’t really know God’s grace. Listen to v.12-13, “12[Grace] teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Grace does not just appear to us, it also teaches us. It teaches us to say, “No!” to whatever is opposed to our God. That’s why true Christian faith and repentance always go hand in hand. There is no such thing as an unrepentant believer. There is no such thing as a repentant unbeliever. There is no one who believes good doctrine but does not do good deeds. Because the grace that saves us also teaches us to hate sin. Oh, we still struggle. We are still tempted and we daily see how weak we are, but we hate our sin. We don’t revel in it; we regret it and repent of it.
That’s the key to understanding the connection between good deeds and good doctrine. Some people think grace is earned and find that good deeds become fear-filled, guilt-ridden chores. But that’s wrong. Other people assume God’s grace is a free pass to sin. After all, if God forgives regardless of what I do, why not just sin all the time? But that’s wrong, too. A friend once asked me that question. “So can we just do whatever we want?” I asked him if he was saved. “Yes.” How? “Jesus died and forgave me.” Good. So do you want to sin? “Well, no.” Why not? “Because I want to serve God.” Exactly. Grace had not just saved him; it had taught him and changed the desires of his heart. Good doctrine produces a desire, an eagerness, to do good deeds. That’s exactly what Martin Luther taught. Someone once confronted him after he taught that people are forgiven purely by God’s grace and regardless of works. “If this is true, Dr. Luther, a person could live however he pleased!” “Indeed,” Luther said. “Now, what pleases you?” 
            Brothers and sisters in the faith, what pleases you? Loving God and loving others, right? That’s the desire of every Christian. Then be eager to say, “No!” to worldly passions and ungodliness. Like those old commercials about using drugs—“Just say no!” Whenever temptation calls, just say, “No!” Not, “Well…I really shouldn’t…I kind of promised I would try harder…I made this resolution.” Just say, “No!” Say that with me—“No!” When you feel that desire to get promoted so you can get a little more glory, just say, “No!” When you are pressured to compromise your purity for ten minutes of passion, just say, “No!” When you are tempted to say, “My kids made me angry,” as if you were a victim and you didn’t choose to lash out, just say, “No!” When you feel like rebelling against your parents or the IRS, just say, “No!” When the marriage is tough and you think a divorce would just be easier, just say, “No!” Whenever sin creeps near the door of your heart, get out the shotgun of godly living, stand on the front porch and shoot first and ask questions later. Because grace is not a reason to sin. It is the reason not to. God’s undeserved love changes us; it makes us eager to do good deeds.
            When should that happen? Listen to Paul. “12[Grace] teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” When should we do good deeds? Now! “In this present age!” Don’t wait until tomorrow. If you are living together, don’t wait until the wedding day. Do a good deed now. If you are filling out the divorce papers, rip them up now and ask God for strength. If you are accepting cash to avoid Uncle Sam’s taxing hand, report it now. This present time is the perfect time for good deeds produced by the good doctrine of grace.
            Your family needs that. My friends need that. For the sake of the example you are setting for your children, say “Yes!” to the beautiful commands of God. For the sake of the Christian Church’s integrity, say “Yes!” to repentance and turn from your sin. For the sake of the people who look to you to see what Christianity is really all about, say “Yes” to self-control and patience and godliness and holy living and humility. Grace makes that possible. Grace teaches us and makes us eager to do good deeds.
            This is really the heart of Christianity. In fact, grace and what it does in us is so important, Paul repeats himself. “14[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” We are eager to do good deeds! Why? Because Jesus redeemed by his grace. To redeem something means to buy it back. If you’re a coupon-junkie, you know all about redemption. Whenever you bring a coupon to the grocery store, the store, in essence, “buys the coupon back” from you. They pay a price for the coupon. That’s what it means to redeem. Here Paul says, “Jesus gave himself to redeem us.” We were slaves to sins we couldn’t erase, but then Jesus paid the price. He gave himself, his life, his own blood to buy us back. 
And the effect? He purified you to be his very own people. You belong to God! You are his prized possession. And God protects his prized possessions. He’s like my daughter with her “pinkie”. Pinkie is her little pink blanket. Some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten on parenting came from an Eastside member. “Buy two of those pink blankets right away. Because if one is in the wash and she finds out, you will have a serious meltdown.” He was right! Brooklyn is so protective of her pinkie, mom has to sneak it away while she’s sleeping to wash it. It is her prized possession.
Friends, you are God’s “pinkie.” That doesn’t mean you’re soft and silky, gentlemen. And it doesn’t mean God is a temperamental toddler. It simply means he cherishes you and will fight to keep you in his care. He will use angels and friends and pastors and parents and teachers and miracles and the economy and children and funerals and everything else under his control to keep you in his care. He is eager to immerse you in the gospel so that grace overwhelms you. And the result? We are “a people who are his very own, eager to do what is good.” Good doctrine produces good deeds.
That’s why she did it. That’s why the scowls of the graceless couldn’t stop her from kissing the feet of the Giver of grace. She was eager to do a good deed. And Jesus knew why. After all, it was his good doctrine. “She loved much.” Why? “Her many sins had been forgiven.” Yours are, too. So what are you eager to do? Amen.

 

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Eastside Evangelical Lutheran Church and School
2310 Independence Lane Madison, WI 53704
Phone: 608-244-3045 info@eastsidelutheran.orglogin