Created in Christ Jesus to Do Good Works – Ephesians 2:10

 

“Created in Christ Jesus to Do Good Works” – Ephesians 2:10

We live in an age where Christian consciences are burdened and weighted with “shouldas,” “couldas,” and “wouldas.” Add an "if," as in "If I woulda..." or "If I coulda..." and it can become almost crippling at times. These are words of judgement, lament, sadness, guilt and shame. They invade our lives, and they touch the Christian life in so many ways, it can contaminate every aspect of life, sucking joy, peace, happiness and contentment completely dry. Worst, it leaves us feeling as though we don’t do anything right, that whatever we touch is wrong, and left unchecked, satan uses it to even doubt our very life as a child of God.

Let me be more specific. Probably 20 years ago, a young mother came to me, terrified, that she was a disaster as a mother. She ran down a long litany of things she perceived that she wasn’t doing well enough at – there were dirty dishes  in the sink, laundry wasn’t folded, she forgot to keep an appointment, her boss wanted her to take on a greater responsibility in the company – it was a great career move, one she wanted, but she was worried how that would impact her time with her new son and husband… I think you get the idea. Finally, she got to the end of the list and she said something like, “…and with all of this, I feel like a total failure, like nothing I do is good enough, and even God is disappointed in me.”

Hmmm….what do you say to a mother who feels that way? Or a father, or a student, or a 20-something who is trying to make it in the world where, as the saying goes, it’s a dog-eat-dog world and you feel like you’re holding the last Milkbone treat.  

In Ephesians 2, Paul begins the chapter by setting up the fact that although we were dead in our trespasses and sins, in His great mercy, God raised us to life through His Son, Jesus Christ because of His great love for us. Think of that for a moment: God’s love was so perfect and so complete that while we were still drenched, soaked, dipped in, and  saturated with sin – the ten dollar word is “concupiscence”; let me know if you work that into a sentence this weekend – while we were still poor miserable sinners, in His rich mercy and love, He surrendered His Son for us, rescuing and redeeming us.

So there is no doubt, Paul writes what would become the keystone of the Reformation: “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” Paul strips any of our self-assertiveness, our self-righteousness, our self-aggrandizement, our self-inflation, and he places us humbly and gently at the foot of the cross. It’s as if Paul has us look up at the cross and say, “This – this is where your salvation rests. Not in what you have done or haven’t done, not in keeping the Ten Commandments, or your good works. It is all done by Jesus.”

Here is simple math, the Divine economy, if you will: Jesus plus nothing equals everything. Jesus plus anything equals nothing.

Faith clings to Jesus with Spirit-given power. Sometimes people say, “Pastor, my faith is so weak.” Good. It keeps you from being overly confident in yourself. Besides, it’s not about your strength, but His. In the words of the hymn, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling…” Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, Hebrews says – and it says nothing about what you bring to the equation. Spirit-given faith is its own source of strength.

I think every Lutheran knows those verses about being saved by grace, through faith. We know this. It’s almost part of our Lutheran DNA. Therefore, we know our sins are forgiven and we are redeemed by Christ.

But, somehow, we only think of this only in terms of our sins: “Jesus takes away our sins. This is most certainly true.” We know this. Here’s where people often go wrong when thinking about their daily life and whether they are doing good enough, wondering if they are a good enough mom or dad, husband or wife, son or daughter, student or employee, pastor or lay person. When it comes to our normal, daily routine, then we think that somehow, "good" is up to us. We have to balance the equation, ourselves. We take that equation and try to add our hard work, our sincerity, our struggle, our heartburn, to be good Christians, as if those things will make our lives, our efforts better. Christian piety, which places hope in Christ, gets replaced with pietism, hope in one’s self. Yes, there is an element of sanctified struggle in this world, but that won’t make us be the “good” person we want to be. If anything, the harder we struggle, the more it seems to slip through our fingers like warm jello.

The beautiful thing is that at the cross, Christ redeems every aspect, ever part of the Christian life. Every part. Not just your sins so when you die you go to heaven. He even redeems our relationships, our conversations, our work, our math exam, how we do the dishes and fold laundry - all of it! Your works, your efforts, your living of life this side of heaven under the cross, is all redeemed by none other than the blood of Jesus!

This means that you, as a baptized child of God, everything you do, imperfect though it may be, by God’s grace through faith, is also redeemed. And so your works, your sanctified work in love to your family and neighbor, is redeemed and made holy in Christ.

Do you remember that TV show, “Dirty Jobs?” The host, Mike Rowe, did some of the grossest jobs you can imagine – or not imagine, as the case might be. The goal of the show was to show that these dirty jobs were important. I cannot speak to his faith, or lack thereof, but I use this as an illustration for you. For the child of God, regardless the dirtyness of job, it is redeemed by Christ and it is a good work. From the mother who changes the baby’s loaded diaper, to the plumber who unclogs the adult’s commode, these are good works in the eyes of God. So, the frustrated mother whose sink overflows with dishes because she made her family dinner, and whose boss expects more because she is a good, faithful employee, and who goes out a Friday date night, even though she’s tired, but because she loves and cares for her husband, all of those things, even if they seem imperfect in her eyes, or her boss’s eyes, or even her husband’s eyes, God sees them as redeemed in Christ.

In God’s eyes, they aren’t just good enough – they are perfect in Christ Jesus. And if the work is good in God’s eyes, then how much more so is the worker of the works also made perfect in Christ.

Joy of joys, these opportunities for service in the Lord’s name, these good works, which are redeemed through the blood of Jesus, these good works have been prepared by God. He places people and opportunities in our lives where we get to interact with others. Some are fellow Christians, faithful men and women of God. Others have no concept of the love and mercy of God. Some are out-and-out deniers of the Triune God and want nothing to do with the cross of Christ. Regardless, God places these opportunities into our lives and journeys. We are given the opportunity to do good things, redeemed things, with, to, and for others. And you do them because it’s who you are in Christ.When you help the pregnant, Islamic mother-to-be load a bag of water softener salt into her shopping cart, you are doing a good work. When you tell the young Jewish waiter that you appreciate his attention at your table and tip him for it, you are doing a good work. When you bake cookies for the atheist widow down the street, and then sit and visit with her over a cup of coffee and that plate of cookies, you are doing a good work. When you complete your taxes, when you pump gas in your car to go to work, when you help your whining 3^rd grader with her math homework, you are doing a good work. When you tell your husband you love him, when you send a birthday card in the mail to your granddaughter, when you wave at the mailman, you are doing a good work. When you give your last dollar to the kid selling lemonade, or you tell your pastor’s wife how much you appreciate all the little things she does that no one knows about, or you tell the acolyte “thanks for serving today,” you have done a good work.

Good works don’t have to be marked with the sign of the cross, sanctified by opening Bibles together to study Ephesians, or Mark, or Isaiah, or blessed by the clergy. They don’t have to be grand or grandiose. They don’t even have to be pre-planned or strategically executed or even a conscientious decision. Good works are done, empowered and enabled by the love of God that has been poured out into you by the Spirit of God. It’s the same love that sent Jesus to the cross to redeem, forgive, and make you whole. Much like faith isn’t about the size of faith, but where the faith rests, the “good” of good works isn’t in the size of the work, but in the love of Christ that is in you as a baptized, redeemed child of God. It’s who we are – or, more accurately, whose we are. That love compels you to action.

So, what I told that lady, that dear sister in Christ, that daughter of God, that young mother who was afraid of being a failure, what I told her was this: “You feel that you aren’t good enough. God sees you not only as good enough, but perfect in Christ Jesus. You feel your efforts aren’t good enough. Even the uncompleted tasks are perfect in God’s eyes. You are redeemed and so is your work.”

And then I did the good work of my vocation. This poor, miserable sinner, who is also called by Christ to speak on His authority, did the only thing he could do. I said, “So you do not doubt this, but instead believe that even these works are holy, I forgive you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  You and your dishes, laundry, and parenting are all forgiven in Christ. Depart, and be at peace.”

And she did.
And she was.