Believe the Works
AM Psalm 102 • PM Psalm 107:1-32
Gen. 32:22-33:17 • 1 John 3:1-10 • John 10:31-4
It’s so comfortable to judge those who didn’t follow Jesus and accept him as the Son of God; so easy to be righteous from our vantage point. In John 10:31-42, I wonder if I would recognize the Messiah if I heard him speak or saw him do good works. Would skepticism close my heart to his message? How would I be able to discern if this person was the real deal?
Granted, 31 the Jewish opposition picked up stones in order to stone him; they had already secretly decided Jesus needed to be killed; their hearts were cold and closed to his message. They’d been following him, waiting to trip him up. I can imagine him turning to them with their stones in hand, irritated at their thinly-veiled traps — Ok, what will it be this time? Which of my good works are you going to use as the excuse to stone me to death? They reply — oh, it’s not for anything you’ve done; it’s for what you’ve said. Blasphemy!
Jesus then delivers a gift for all time. He tells each of us how to deal with our doubt, how to discern if he truly is the Messiah, the Son of God — the real deal.
37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Even if you don’t believe my words, look at my actions. Believe the good works you’ve seen! My actions speak louder than even my words. Those plotting against him were not genuinely interested in his message or growing closer to God; Jesus knew the role they were to play in his death. He spoke to those hearing him for the first time, for those in awe and wonder at his works, for the thousands now flocking toward him, yearning with hope for a new closeness with God. He speaks to us.
The truth of both Christ’s words and actions reaches our open hearts with a calming certainty, allowing us the security and promise of God’s unconditional love. We accept the Word because we see the congruence of Christ’s words and actions, all centered on the healing path toward resurrection. His servant leadership broke the status quo, shaking the hypocrisy of the system, and his ultimate sacrifice — his final “good work” — has saved us.
There is an authenticity in the energy of selfless behavior, when we see need and turn to it, behind which no amount of self-promotion can be hidden from God. This authenticity is a truth that resonates from pure God-love and flows through us when we give, we care, we tend to others. This is the truth — the Word — that Christ brought to us. Let us do good work.
Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart, through Christ our Lord.
Amen!
Written by Bernadette Reda
Enjoying the mystery, light and love of our world and each other, along with Frasier reruns and good puns.