Are we “slaving” for God?The young

Are we “slaving” for God?
The younger son traded in the place of grace and privilege that he had been born into, and chose to walk away from relationship with his father. The elder brother didn’t do that. Or did he? Actually he did.

It wasn’t just the younger son who was having an identity crisis, and who had removed himself from his position of intimacy and joy of being at home with the father. In reality, neither of them stayed in relationship with him.

The younger brother found himself “in a far country” with the pigs. Although the elder brother never left home physically, in his heart he was a long way away too. In the story, Jesus places him not with the father inside the home, enjoying fellowship as you might expect. Instead he is out in the fields with the hired servants, working hard or as he himself describes it, “slaving away”.

This was a dishonourable place for the elder son to be. Instead of taking his place at the father’s side, and enjoying the favour and blessings of being in the father’s company that were his by right, he had, in effect, taken the identity of a hired servant, the identity that the younger son was also heading towards, thinking it was the best he could get in the circumstances.

The father’s presence alone wasn’t enough for the elder son. Rather he preferred to strive for what the father could give him, and was trying to make his father bless him by seeking to do everything right externally. But internally his heart was far away.

The younger brother walked away from his identity as son, but joyfully received it back through grace because he chose to turn back to the father. The older brother — who represented the religious people — walked away from it too but did not turn back. The father’s grace was available to him just as it had been to his brother — but he didn’t experience it because he chose not to turn away from his wrong thinking and turn back to his father.

Jesus was showing the religious people that if they thought that outward behaviour was what it took to earn God’s favour, they were terribly deceived.

But what we do is still important
We want to make it clear that what we actually do in this life is very important. Paul tells us that, at the end of the age, there will be a day when what we have done... our works... will be tested. He uses the image of a building and says that Christ is the foundation and that we have a choice of how we build on that foundation:

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12–15)

So there is a foundation of Christ laid by God’s grace — and we have a choice as to how we build on it. When these works are tested, fire will come and the works that are of no value... those done in our own strength, created by our own minds, designed to make us look good... the Bible calls them “wood, hay, straw” will be burned. While works that are of value... those God wants done and are done in His strength, for His honour — “gold, silver, precious stones” — will remain.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in one day watching much of my life go up in smoke.

Now, Romans 8:1 assures us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It is clear that, even if your work is burned up, this is not a salvation issue. You are still saved but “only as through fire”, turning up before God with nothing but a pair of singed eyebrows! But the big question is, will there be any commendation? Will the things we do in this life actually be of any value for eternity? The religious people thought that their religious works were good in themselves, but Jesus told them that since they were doing things just to impress other people they had already received their reward... men’s approval. But there would be no reward from God.

So it’s crucial that we understand how to build with gold, silver and precious stones.

Do you think you can look at what someone is doing and tell whether it is pleasing to God or not? Sometimes you can, but by no means always. Jesus tells us that some will come to Him and say, “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 I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness”. (Matthew 7:22–23).

Two people can be doing exactly the same thing — feeding the poor perhaps, or spending an hour a day reading His word and praying. One will be delighting God, the other not. What’s the difference?

It’s not what, but why
When God chose David to be King of Israel, his family couldn’t believe it because he was the youngest and smallest. His oldest brother thought he was a pest. But Samuel said, “The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7b). Towards the end of the Old Testament, God makes a promise that He will write His laws not on tablets of stone but on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

What is important to God is not so much what we do but why we do it. God has never taken pleasure from people just obeying a set of rules outwardly if they are not doing it from the heart.

That’s the whole point of 1 Corinthians 13, the great “love chapter”.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1–3)

The difference is what’s happening inside. God judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. It is not to do with our behaviour per se. It’s all about our motivation. And if that motivation is not love, then what we do, no matter how good it looks, is worth precisely nothing. It’s wood, hay or straw.

In 2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV, Paul says, “For Christ’s love compels us”. God wants our motivation to be love and nothing but love. But we can easily end up motivated by other things:

Guilt — I don’t want God to be upset with me so I try my best to avoid going wrong. But I do what’s wrong anyway, and end up feeling even more guilty and in a joyless cycle of self-condemnation.

Shame — this is where I know I am a disappointment to God and to others, but feel that if I can just be a better person maybe He’ll think I’m worthy of His love.

Fear — I’m scared that God might be angry with me. I’ve heard the promises but they don’t really seem to apply to me. Maybe I’m not a Christian at all. Maybe I’ve committed the unforgivable sin.

Pride — pride is like bad breath. Everyone knows you’ve got it except you! It can go something like this... I know I don’t measure up to God’s standards but there again who does? I feel much better if I compare myself with other people. I’ve really studied doctrine and theology and made sure that mine is absolutely right. I measure what others say against it.

In future sessions we will look at each of these issues and we’ll have the opportunity to root out these false motivators, and ensure that it’s love for Christ that compels us and nothing else.

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT 2
OBJECTIVE:
TO EXPLORE THE CONCEPT THAT WHAT MATTERS TO GOD IS NOT SO MUCH WHAT WE DO BUT WHY WE DO IT AND TO UNCOVER SOME WRONG MOTIVATIONS.

QUESTIONS (ON PAGE 15 OF THE PARTICIPANT’S GUIDE):

AT THE END OF JESUS’ STORY, THE YOUNGER BROTHER HAS BEEN RECEIVED BACK AS A SON BUT THE ELDER BROTHER CONTINUES TO ACT LIKE A SLAVE. HOW MIGHT THEIR ATTITUDES DIFFER TOWARDS THE WORK THEY DO FOR THEIR FATHER?

GOD WANTS WHAT WE DO FOR HIM TO BE MOTIVATED PURELY BY LOVE. WHAT OTHER THINGS CAN MOTIVATE US INSTEAD? IF YOU ARE ABLE, SHARE HOW YOU HAVE BEEN MOTIVATED BY THESE THINGS.

IF WE REALIZE THAT WE HAVE BEEN MOTIVATED BY THINGS OTHER THAN LOVE, HOW CAN WE CHANGE?

What we do comes from who we are
Let’s understand a key concept: What we do comes from who we are. Can I invite you to pause with me and consider two pictures:

The first picture, with the younger son at the point that he collapses into his father’s arms and casts himself on his mercy. He can scarcely believe his father’s grace as he realizes that, even though he richly deserves it, he will not be punished. He knows that he is forgiven and accepted but he also knows that he is dirty, smelly and broken. He is acutely aware of his failure and deeply ashamed of what he has become. This is how many Christians see themselves: Forgiven but believing they are still essentially the same no-good, rotten people they always were.

It’s as if our understanding of the Gospel stopped with Good Friday: Jesus died for my sins and I’m going to go to Heaven when I die. But nothing much changes right now.

But the father does not leave the son there.

Here’s the second picture. The same son just a matter of minutes later is dressed in the finest robe, with the ring on his finger and the sandals on his feet, feasting on the finest food. He is still aware of his past failures, yet it is dawning on him that he has been not just forgiven but completely restored to his position as son, with free access to everything his father owns, along with great power and authority. He knows he doesn’t deserve it at a