"Problem: Why isn't Goodness Enough"

 Scripture:   Matthew7:21-23; Luke 13:23-30

 I like to listen to the oldies station on the radio.  The songs bring back some great memories of when I was growing up in the ‘50s and 60s.  The other day, the station played “Last Kiss” by J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers – are you old enough to remember that one?  It was one of several “teen tragedy” songs from that era, and as a reminder, in this one, a boy and his girl friend go out for a ride, but wind up in an accident, and the girl tragically dies.  As he says good-by to her with one last kiss, we hear the chorus – “Oh where oh where can my baby be, The Lord took her away from me.  She’s gone to heaven so I got to be good, So I can see my baby when I leave this world.”

 The problem with this song is that many folks of that generation, as well as others throughout the ages, have taken it to contain some basic theological truths – first, that when something bad happens to us, it is God at work. And second, that if we can just be good enough, we will be welcomed into heaven.  Unfortunately, there are problems with both thoughts.  First, God is goodness, and the struggles that we go through in life are usually due to human failure, not God’s.  And second, no one will ever be so good that they will be able to gain entry to the kingdom of heaven all on their own, but God’s truth holds out a far better possibility for us – one that we can discover and achieve.

 But let’s back up, and consider each of these possibilities.

 Read Matthew 7:21-23

 This passage from Matthew 7 is offered near the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  And in the next verse, the Lord tells the crowd (and us!) “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-28)  It seems that false prophets are exposed for who they truly are in the strangest of ways – sometimes in those great old songs we used to love, and always through the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the bedrock of our faith!

 The point in these verses is that there is a lot of goodness that is constantly being lifted up throughout the world, but the only good that we can truly depend upon is that of our Lord and Savior.  God has known from the very beginning that we will never be good enough to live in the way that he can, and he wants us to know that anyone who proclaims human goodness as being sufficient must be seen as a false prophet.

 Over these last many months, we’ve all heard the Covid-19 virus described as “evil”, and it may be very well be so, and it will be God given gifts of wisdom, trust, and ability that will defeat it.  But the real test will be who will get the credit for victory over the virus – will God be given the victory, or will it be human intervention and human abilities that finally bring it to its proverbial knees?  We’ll see, won’t we!

 That’s the point – that when we take credit for God’s benevolence, and greatness, and goodness, we become a false prophet.  In Jesus’ teaching, he actually says that the “evildoers” mention that everything that they did was in the name of Jesus, but we have to wonder if they actually believed their own words!  It isn’t what we say, it isn’t what we do, it isn’t what we accomplish that matters in this life – it is all about what we believe and what we claim in Jesus Christ! 

 These three verses are actually about the Day of Judgment – when the sheep are separated from the goats, when believers are welcomed, and the worldly are sent away.  The question, though, is where will we find ourselves – inside at the heavenly banquet, or outside in the darkness, wondering what went wrong?

 Read Luke 13:23-25

 “Make every effort to enter by the narrow door”.  In John’s gospel, Jesus tells us that he is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).  And in the early verses of that chapter, he tells us that he is “the gate for the sheep”.  In those days, a shepherd would build an enclosure for the sheep to stay in at night.  There would be wolves and other predators on the prowl for an easy meal, and the entrance – the gate – would be the shepherd’s place to sleep, and anyone wishing to do harm to the flock would have to get past the shepherd first.  And Jesus says that anyone who tries to enter the pen by any means other than the gate, is nothing more than a “thief and a robber”. (John 10:1-18)

 So in our passage from Luke, when Jesus refers to “the narrow door”, he is referring to his teaching regarding the Good Shepherd, who serves as the gate for his sheep.  Humanity would much prefer a wide doorway that has no gate whatsoever!  I’ve heard others say, and I’m sure that you have, too, that it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are faithful to whatever you believe.  Unfortunately, whoever the one is who you believe in, will also be the reason and way to whatever your eternity will be.  Remember that Almighty God is the one, and only one, who created heaven and earth, and his offer of eternal glory is exclusively for those who follow his way.  All other promises will come from thieves and robbers and false prophets, and their eternity has also been carefully and thoughtfully prepared for them by the Lord – and it is not going to be an especially nice place to live in! (Matthew 7:13-14)

 For many, the narrow door will become a closed door.  And the image of many standing outside, knocking on the “narrow door” seeking entry, reminds us of the famous painting of Jesus standing at the door of our lives, knocking, asking us to let him in to our heart!  If we have chosen to exclude Jesus from our lives, how could we ever imagine that he would let us into his?

 Read Luke 13:26-30

 So when the knocking and pleading doesn’t work, Jesus tells us that they will try the fellowship tactic.  Table meals was a time for showing love to your friends, and for being welcoming to strangers.  Jesus foresees the time when some will believe that spending time together is enough.  But we have to remember that Jesus ate with everyone – not just those who believed in him and his teachings, not just with those who he knew would join him in eternal fellowship, but with many, including Pharisees, Sadducees, and run of the mill people from other ways of life.  Some would come to his way and life, but most of them would not.

 He says that some will have heard him teaching on the streets of their hometowns, but that won’t be enough, either.  There are many in our churches today who hear the word of God each and every week, but “hearing” isn’t enough – receiving and believing and acting on the word of God is what is important!  And many in our churches today, even those who may have been members for years, are going to find themselves on the outside, wishing that the door would open for them, too, but discovering that it never can.

 Feasting together at fellowship time is a wonderful experience.  We can visit with each other, catching up on life-issues, sharing precious memories together, and remembering other personal and poignant times that have come to mean so much to us.  But this is a poor and inadequate substitute for the heavenly banquet that awaits all who have given their lives to Jesus and his ways.  And neither fellowship nor simply hearing the message of Jesus Christ will ever be enough to open the door to eternal glory.

 But there will be people from every corner of the earth, from every age, from every background, from every nation, from every belief, and from every false hope who the door will open for!  But in the midst of all of these differences, the one thing they all will have in common, is their ultimate rejection of the ways of earth and the lies of those “false prophets”, and their surrender to the ways of Almighty God as taught to us by his Son, Jesus Christ.

 It's not about hearing his word, but about receiving it and living it.

It’s not about knowing about him, but rather about loving him and trusting in all he has shared with us.

It’s not about being good for him, but rather about leaning upon the goodness that he has given for us.

It’s not about contentment in faith, but rather about constantly striving to grow and serve in faith.

It’s not about discovering our own way out of sin and into righteousness, but rather about being bathed in the atoning blood of Jesus which cleanses us from our failures in the world.

It’s will never be about what we do, but always about what Jesus has done for us.

 Have you surrendered your hopeless life and ways to Jesus?  Do you believe and trust in him, and him alone? 

 Faith and obedience to the ways of Jesus Christ will be our only way to glory, for there never has been, and never will be any other!