A Thought For The Week Of September 28, 2015

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'" (Matthew 25:34) How do we balance what I call the ethical imperative of the Christian faith with the message that the gospel (and salvation) are about grace and not works - that the favour of God is not earned, but is given freely in other words? In many ways that's a tough balancing act. This verse and its wider context points out the conundrum. For example, who is it who are declared here to be blessed by God and on what basis does that divine blessing come? In the wider parable Jesus seems to be linking our ethics - how we live and how we treat people (what we DO in other words) - with our eternal destiny, on the basis that what we're doing for those in need we're really doing for Jesus. I understand the point. These things that Jesus is asking us to do are the sign of our faith, so in some way they have to be present. But in this parable these acts seem to be more than just a result of our faith - they're the centrepiece of why we're saved. Jesus went on immediately in the following verses to make that point. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat ..." etc. etc. "For" is a huge word here. It seems to establish a cause and effect relationship . The Kingdom has been prepared for us because we do these things. They can't be separated from faith. I understand that. They're an integral part of faith - but I do find it curious and instructive that in this parable at least it's the "doing" rather than the "believing" that seems to be the key to our eternal destinies. I still believe in grace, and I still believe that we can't earn our salvation. But as time goes by I do become more and more convinced that it's wrong to make a profession faith the only thing asked for by God, or even the key to what God desires. God expects us to put faith into action in the service of others. The works we do are not an addendum to our faith; they are an integral part of our faith.