I will never forget the experience of my first international mission trip. We visited a country that was closed to the gospel and had to take extra precaution the whole time we were there. We were coached on what to say to the customs agents as we entered the country; coached on what to reveal and what not to reveal when we were out and about in the city.
The tensest moment came when we got off our flight across the Atlantic. Worrying about our bags was the least of our concerns as we got off the plane and headed for customs to enter the country. Here we faced a man or woman seated behind a glass enclosure with armed guards all around. We presented our passports and they asked questions trying to figure out whether or not to let us into their country. We had traveled all that way, had raised all the money, and now all of our plans came to one moment where an agent would either stamp our passports and grant us a visa or deny us entry and escort us back to a plane bound for home. Thankfully, we were granted access into the country!
There were many layers behind that one moment awaiting the stamping of our passports. Think about them. My country lets me travel, but to travel I had to get the proper passport. This country that we traveled to has an agreement of some sort of trade with our country. Our team couldn't just do what we wanted to do, we had to do whatever was required of us if we wanted to get into the country.
We learned an important lesson that day. There is no such thing as absolute autonomy. In our individualistic society, we can be swept into a mode of thinking that suggest that there is such a thing as true individualism, absolute autonomy, but on our adventure into another country, the words of John Donne were proved true:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Behind and upholding whatever we may believe is this truth: God has made the world and has made us for himself, and the way that we come to know him is on his terms, not terms of our own.
So what does the Lord require of us? 2 things from Matthew 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Absolute Righteousness
Jesus came to get at the root of our problem. The root to our problem is not doing or not doing, our problem is desiring. It is not enough to do right, we have to want to do right. Do you see the difference? One is an external problem, the other is an internal condition. “Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1). God sees the heart of every man, regardless of how pretty it looks on the outside, he sees every skeleton and cobweb. Sometimes I think that we are so silly when it comes to God. We do our best to hide our true selves from the God who knows more about us than we know about ourselves. We can be tempted to approach God with our own righteousness in something so simple as tithing. This is such a simple principle but such a true principle. Such a delicate principle but one that is so exacting. When you put your money in the offering plate, why are you doing it? Are you tithing so that God will bless you, or are you tithing to be a blessing to God? When you wake up in the morning, do you desire to spend time with God in an act of true devotion to him, or are you in it for yourself? Don't get me wrong. There are tangible blessings that come from obedience, but are you the center of your desires? God sees the heart of every man, woman, boy, and girl, and God demands absolute righteousness.
Christ has come to fulfill all righteousness for us. He was righteous, we were not, he has come to give us righteousness, and the way that he does so is the heart of our faith. How has he done it? He who knew no sin was made sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) As one hymn writer put it, Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free; For God, the just, is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.
2. Utmost Effectiveness
God has given you his righteousness to make you the salt of the earth and the light of the world. This life that he has give us is meant to be lived out before others in worshipful devotion to God so that they will see our good works and give glory to God. God gives you righteousness all at once (justification) and now the rest of our lives are to be lived in conformity to this righteousness (sanctification). The rest of our lives are us not being conformed into the image of this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Sin will keep us ineffective for God. Why are we not making disciples? Why are we not witnessing? There is something in our lives that we love more than Jesus. We are not living a life of faith in the Son - trusting him, turning to him, loving him with all of our heart.
What does God require of us? Absolute righteousness, utmost effectiveness. This is achieved in only one way - faith in the Son who himself is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets; who himself is the end of our sin and the satisfaction of our souls. Look at your life. Ask God to look at your life. Are you living a life of faith in the Son?