Trinity 8
Matt 7:15-23
8/6/17
When you think about the finances of
the state of Illinois, would you say that the state is travelling towards a
narrow gate on a difficult path, or towards a wide gate on a easy path? The
question is, of course a biblical allusion.
Sometimes it is expressed as the straight and narrow way or the broad
and easy way.
We know that the allusion assumes the
narrow gate and difficult path leads to a good outcome, while the wide gate and
easy path leads to destruction. In the
case of Illinois, it’s not hard to answer the question. After all, because of a
series of decisions dating back to at least the 1980’s, the state of Illinois’
financial situation is a mess that is headed toward catastrophe if something
isn’t done. The state currently owes 15
billion dollars in unpaid bills. It has
an unfunded pension liability of $251 billion dollars. It is flirting with a junk credit
rating.
Now none of these things happened overnight. They were produced by a whole series of
decisions that always avoided facing reality and doing the difficult
thing. You can’t choose to spend far more
than you take in. If you have made
commitments to pay into a pension, you can’t just choose not to do so on a
regular basis.
This saying is an allusion to the
verses that occur immediately before our text in which Jesus says: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the
gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter
by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life,
and those who find it are few.” These verses introduce our text which is part
of the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, and they help us to understand
what Jesus is talking about.
In the
ancient world the gate was the goal – it was the end of the journey as you
entered into a city or building. Here
the narrow gate is the permanent entrance into salvation – into enjoying the
benefits of the reign of God. Jesus says this way is difficult – it’s not easy
for a number of reasons. The word used here probably calls to mind
persecution. We’ll see in a moment that
there are other challenges as well. On
the other hand the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the way is
easy. The way of the world is sinful and
it does not know Christ, but it’s not hard. Just go with the flow and do what
everyone else does.
There are
other challenges that make the way to the narrow gate difficult. Jesus says in our text, “Beware of false
prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Our Lord warns about false prophets. We need
to be warned because most of the time false prophets – false teachers – don’t
show up wearing a shirt that says, “False prophet.” Instead, Jesus says that by all appearances
they seem just fine. In fact they seem
better than just fine. I guarantee you
that the two Mormon missionaries who arrive at your door on bikes, wearing
their white shirts and black ties will be some of the nicest guys you will ever
meet.
Jesus says,
“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes,
or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the
diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a
diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
Twice
Christ says that you will know them by their fruits. Now since he says they look like sheep – they
appear to be good – it’s unlikely that Jesus is talking about their
behavior. Instead, he speaks of what
prophets do. They deliver God’s Word.
They teach – that’s their fruit.
You recognize the false prophet not by what he does, but by what he
teaches.
This runs counter
to the way our culture, and even much of Christianity today, thinks. We know that our world is not into right and
wrong; truth and error. It just doesn’t
believe in such objective standards. But actually much of Christianity is also not
all that interested in whether teaching is true or false either. Some very
committed Christians have a great deal to say about how we live as Christians,
but little to say about the actual content of the faith that Christians
believe.
Now Jesus
certainly cares greatly about how we live. This is, after all, the Sermon on
the Mount in which he shares remarkable teaching describing the life of the
person who has received God’s saving reign in Christ. In fact Jesus has just brought the central portion
of the sermon to a close by saying, “So whatever you wish that others would do
to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” He told us not to look lustfully at a woman.
He told us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He told us
to put God before money and possessions, and not to worry about material
things.
But when it
comes to identifying the false prophets who can make our way difficult – who
can prevent us from arriving and entering through the narrow gate, Jesus points
us instead to what they teach. Do they
teach about Jesus as we meet him this Gospel, and Scripture as a whole – the
incarnate Son of God, true God and true man, who died on the cross for our sins
and rose from the dead? Do they teach about God as we learn about him in the
Scriptures – that the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit – the Holy
Trinity? Do they teach the truth about
the means by which Jesus delivers the forgiveness that he won - Holy Baptism
and the Sacrament of the Altar?
Jesus says in
our text that it’s even possible that the false prophets – the false teachers –
will do great signs and wonders in his name.
He says in our text, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your
name?'
And
then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of
lawlessness.’”
People can act in pious and
impressive ways. They can do amazing miracles.
But if they are not doing the will of the Father they will not enter the
kingdom of heaven. They will not enter into the salvation that Jesus Christ has
won by his death and resurrection.
And what is the will of the
Father? In Matthew’s Gospel it is to be
a true believer in Jesus Christ. It is
to repent of our sin and believe in the crucified and risen Lord. It means confessing how we have sinned in
thought, word and deed. It means having
faith in Jesus Christ who has fulfilled all righteousness – who has brought
God’s saving reign into our world and freed us from sin and death by dying on
the cross and then rising on the third day.
And it also means what John the
Baptist expressed when earlier in the Gospel when he told people: “Bear
fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Repentance and faith bring about change.
Faith in Christ is the gift of the Holy Spirit who leads us to share
Christ’s love with others in word and deed.
It is the gift that prompts us to resist sin and turn away from it,
rather than just embracing it as “the way we are.”
This is important and must be a
focus in our life. Yet it can never be
the only focus. It can’t even be the
main focus. Remember, we learn in our
text that a false prophet can come dressed in sheep’s clothing. A false prophet can act in pious and
impressive ways - ways that that to us are indistinguishable from the life of
faith. The life of a Christian is a fruit of faith, but it means nothing in
God’s eyes if it is not produced by faith.
The defining feature of a Christian
is this faith in the crucified and risen Lord.
It is this faith that allows us to look at death and see it for the
pretender it is. It is overrated. It’s
like the college football team that has a top ten ranking, is undefeated and
has blown out all of its opponents by forty points - but it’s not for
real. It hasn’t played anybody. It is waiting to get exposed when it plays a
real opponent.
Jesus Christ has already exposed
death. He didn’t just give his life as a
ransom for many in order to take away our sin.
He passed through death itself so that on Easter he could rise from the
dead and kill death. Death is dead! That’s what faith knows.
That’s what faith declares in the
face of death. On Wednesday last week
after I went to visit Pat Crow where she was doing rehab after being in the
hospital during the previous week with breathing difficulties. I did not know
it was the last time I would see her alive.
A phone call that night brought me to the ER where the staff made me
stay in the waiting room as they worked on her.
When they finally let me in to see her, Pat was dead.
I walked into the ER room and there
was her lifeless body. It looked like
the end. But faith says that death is nothing. That’s why Paul can taunt: “O
death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” That’s why the New Testament describes death
as falling asleep in Jesus. People fall
asleep. But we don’t think it’s a big
deal. Why? Because they wake up! That’s what happens. And that is what is going to happen to Pat’s
body. That is what is going to happen to the bodies of your friends and loved
ones who have died. That is what is going to happen to your body if you die
before Christ’s return. It will happen
because Jesus rose from the dead.
What we do cannot provide any kind
of answer to death. It cannot provide any kind of answer to sin. Only the Gospel – the good news of Jesus
Christ’s death and resurrection for your – can do this. It is only by this that you can enter through
the narrow gate. And so we must always
listen to those who teach the truth. We must test what they say – and that
includes what I say – against the Scriptures to see if it is true. We must listen to those who proclaim the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the means by which the Gospel and the
forgiveness of sins is delivered to us.
For it is this teaching that will bring us through the narrow gate into
resurrection, the new creation and eternal fellowship with God.
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