Date: November 5, 2023
Festival: Evening Prayer
Text: Matthew 23:1-12
Preaching Occasion: Christ the King Lutheran Chapel, Mt. Pleasant, MI
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Has anyone—a teacher, mentor, coach, or parent—ever said to you, “Do as I say, not as I do”? My dad would always say this when he was teaching me how to drive a stick shift. I remember one time, when we were on a long road trip to Texas, someone on the highway ticked him off and he sped up, cut in front of the guy, and continued speeding. He looked over at me and said, “Do as I say, not as I do.” We both got a laugh out of it.
That’s basically what Jesus tells the crowd and His disciples. “Do and observe whatever they tell you,” He says, “but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice it” [v. 3]. In other words, they’re hypocrites. What they preach is the Word of God, but their actions do not match what they preach. This is good advice for any preacher you hear, even me. If at any time I or any other pastor do something that doesn’t match what we preach, which ought to match what Christ preaches, go with what the Word of God says rather than our poor behaviour. The challenge of every pastor is living as an example of a holy life, but we still fail. So, while our pastors and mentors can be good examples, our ultimate source of how to live ought to be the Word of God, for while the behaviours of people change, the Word of the Lord never changes.
The main problem Jesus has with the scribes and Pharisees is that “They do all their deeds to be seen by others” [v. 5]. Instead of humility, the Pharisees seek honour. Instead of doing good works simply for the sake of their neighbour, they want to be seen by others. This really hasn’t changed much in the 2,000 years since. People need an incentive to donate money to charity, for example. When a company encourages its customers to donate to a good cause, it always goes like this, “If you give this or that pledge, you have the chance of receiving a reward,” or “You will get this reward.” For example, you all know I’m a gamer, and every time a video game company has a charity drive, they always advertise in-game rewards to the players. People think they are giving out of the goodness of their hearts when what they’re really doing is purchasing that reward they want.
And how many videos have we seen of people recording themselves doing good deeds? If they’re recording the good deed they’re doing just for clout, is it really a good deed? No, because they just want to be seen by others and be praised for it. So, what makes a work good, and how ought we to do them?
This is where our Confessions are really helpful. Like Scripture, our Confessions make it clear that good works do not save us. Rather, to quote Paul, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” [Eph. 2:8-9]. We are justified by grace through faith, not by works. Because we believe this, some will say we deny good works, but this is not true. The Catholic Church made the same accusation at the time of the Lutheran Reformation, but at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, the reformers confessed, “such faith should yield good fruit and good works,” and “a person must do such good works as God has commanded for God’s sake but not place trust in them as if thereby to earn grace before God” [AC VI, 1].
In other words, good works flow from faith, not the other way around. This is just what Paul says in the next verse, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” [Eph. 2:10]. God does not command us to do good works for the purpose of saving us; rather, God saves us by His grace through faith in Christ for the purpose that we do good works for our neighbour who needs them. So, it is faith in Christ that makes a work good. As Hebrews [11:6] says, without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Now, how ought we to do them? Again, our Confessions are helpful. Faith is not idle. Rather, as our Confessions say, faith “is a living, busy, active, mighty thing… It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them… This knowledge of and confidence in God’s grace makes people glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and all creatures. And this is the work which the Holy Spirit performs in faith [FC SD IV, 11-12].
As Christians, we do good works simply because we love people because of Christ’s love for us. It is not Christ’s command, per se, that moves us to do good works; rather, it is because of His grace that we are moved to love others, which means to do a good work. We do not think about whether a good work should be done; rather, we do it without even thinking about it. It comes as naturally as breathing. Neither do we record ourselves doing a good work to seek glory for ourselves, for “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” [Matt. 23:12]. This does not mean we humble ourselves for the purpose of being exalted, for then it would no longer be humility, and God is not fooled by a charade. Rather, as Christ said, we let our light shine before others through our good works so that glory may be given to God our Father in Heaven [5:14-16]. This means that most of the time, nobody will see the good works you do, and that’s okay, for as Jesus also said, “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you” [6:4].
Lastly, Jesus says, “The greatest among you shall be your servant” [23:11]. This is simply how the kingdom of God works: the greatest in God’s kingdom are not those who are served, but those who serve, which Jesus portrayed for us when He, the King of the universe, washed His disciples’ feet [John 13:1-20; cf. Mark 10:45]. Consider, then, how Christ has called you to serve in each of your vocations. Perhaps you tutor someone. Maybe you help a classmate with an assignment. Some of you volunteer to babysit during the ESL classes here, and our babysitting night is coming up not this week but next week. Some of you also serve as LCMSU board members. Sometimes serving is much simpler, such as helping us move the tables and furniture in the chapel to prepare for an event. If you get married, you’ll be called to an exclusive love with your spouse. If you have kids, you’ll be called to care for them and raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord [Eph. 6:4]. Whatever job you have now and in the future when you graduate, you’ll be serving someone in some capacity. All these and more are good works.
Even though Jesus says God our Father will reward us, we still don’t do it for a reward, for He knows our hearts and quickly sniffs out our selfishness. We do good works because the love of God moves us. The reward, whatever it is, is merely an outcome. Christ is our Instructor [Matt. 23:10], and He instructed His disciples, including us, how we ought to love one another by washing feet. To love one another, then—to do a good work—is to love others as Christ has loved us, which is to become a servant and lift someone up, whether in prayer or in servitude. Christ our King served us in His life, death, and resurrection not for Himself, but because of the love He has for His Father and His love for you and me. Thus, we love one another not for a reward or self-praise, but for our love of God and one another because of the cross that stands as the greatest symbol of love.
To Christ belongs all the glory, now and forever. Amen.
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