8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. [1]
Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.[2]
Imagine raising a child the way we have worshipped God. Imagine if every conversation we had with our child was to begin with a focus on their failings, their inabilities, and their unworthiness. That is the question that I put forward to my congregation this morning. I’m questioning why every worship service must begin with a focus on our sinfulness, even wretchedness, as opposed to God’s goodness and the potential that is ours in Christ.
In our parenting we would consider a continual focus on our children’s failures to be, quite frankly, emotional abuse. I have known parents who have done that. The consequences are varied, but never good. What is troubling to me is that if the beginning and end of our every conversation with God goes no further than our sinfulness and God’s forgiveness, we’ve missed something very important.
Christ did not die solely for the sake of the forgiveness of my sins. No, the redemption of the world is NOT, is NOT, I repeat—just about our being able to live as forgiven sinners. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
We are a new creation. We are what he has made us. We are created (and re-created) in Christ Jesus for good works. God intended from the beginning for this to be our way of life.
This morning I proposed to the congregation that we should begin our service with a different sort of confession. Let’s start with Psalm 8:3-9. And then, let the pastor respond with Ephesians 2:8-10. Prior to beginning the Eucharist, I was handed a note from a parishioner that said “Pastor Dave, Start next Sunday with God’s wonders, not our sins!” Another parishioner was not so delighted and informed me that he would continue praying that I would quit ignoring part of scripture. Overall, though, the feedback on the sermon was very positive. To focus on our potential in Christ Jesus, as opposed to our failures apart from Christ, struck a resonant chord.
As Lutherans we have focused so much on justification that the “new obedience of faith” and the relationship between faith and good works has often been totally ignored. True, we are not saved by what we do. We are saved for the sake of the work to which we’ve been called. There is a purpose for which we have been saved. Again, our Lutheran predisposition has been so leery of works righteousness that we often have failed to deal adequately with the new life that is ours in Christ Jesus. Jesus says: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus does not say: “You can do nothing.”
The bottom line: If we focused on the potential that is ours in Christ Jesus, and all that the Holy Spirit can do through us, instead of this constant fixation on our sinfulness, might we discover that we can realize much more of that God given potential than we currently do? It’s worth a try.
