THE WORD
Is 26: 1–6 / Mt 7: 21.24–27
Jesus said to his disciples, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
IN OTHER WORDS
This is a powerful passage, to put it mildly. The message basically contained in this passage is the tragedy of self-deception, of thinking that all is well between you and God when in fact it is not. It is a message addressed to people who are to some degree religious people. In fact, this whole sermon is focused on the Jewish religious leaders who have the outward form of religion but without its heart. They say their prayers but they are hypocritically superficial. They fast but their fasting is so that they might look religious. They offer gifts but their gifts are nothing more than a paraded facade of piety. Their hearts do not belong to God and it is that which Jesus confronts.
The issue here is not what you say and not what you know, but how you live. So we could split it into two subjects and say Jesus is addressing empty words and empty hearts. And there are multitudes of such self-deceived people even today for whom this is one of many warnings in the Bible.
What causes people to be self-deceived? Well, there are a number of ways.
- People’s false assurance may be based on the past. The false confidence in their own salvation may have been the result of a baptism or a prayer at the conclusion of a sermon. It may have been due to a gesture, such as lifting the hand or walking down an aisle as a response to the plea of a preacher. Making a decision, saying a prayer, going through a baptism, receiving catechism or the like can give false assurance to a person because in themselves those externals do not save. Many people in and around the Christian church look to such an event as an evidence of a genuine relationship to the living God and to Christ, even if they are actually living in false self-assurance.
- Some are lulled into deception because they are unwilling to do self examination. They do not look deeply and honestly into their own hearts, content that they have an interest in the church and believe in Christ. They are so used to grace that they become comfortable with their sin and are threatened by honest self-examination.
- People are lulled into a state of deception because they become content with religious activity. They think that their regular involvement in the life of the church is good enough. Well, it might be good enough for human beings, but not necessarily for God. Thus, having false assurance based upon some past act, being so used to grace that one gets comfortable with one’s pattern of sin, and being content with one’s church involvement and beliefs - these are what may lull people into deception and complacency.
Moreover
- Many people have a mentality that says, “Well my good certainly outweighs my bad. And on the basis of that, I think I’m okay.” They tend to become over-indulgent in the name of grace. They explain their lack of repentance for their sin by saying, “We live in grace, God is gracious.” They can throw the Christian freedom issues around as a way of explaining away their lack of brokenness over their sin.
These people have no real hunger for holiness. They are not like the deer that pants for the waterbrook, as the psalmist said. These are self-deceived people who are banking on some past event, who are unwilling to do self-examination, who are content with their external activity and who take a look at their lives thinking that they are sort of good Christians because the good in them outweighs the bad. These are the people who need to hear what the gospel passage for today says. Really, it is a time for us to search our own hearts.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, help us to truly hunger for holiness and search our own hearts. Amen.
- Felix Ferrer, SVD (DWST, Tagaytay City)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
