Matthew 7:13-23

Posted by DJL on Feb 26, 2014 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’”

Do we take our faith seriously enough? Or, perhaps more accurately, do we take it seriously…period?

This, in a nutshell, is what this portion of the Sermon on the Mount is asking. Forget for a moment the ominous elements of cutting down trees to cast in the fire – Jesus is as good with metaphor as anyone – and focus instead on the first sentences about the narrow gate and the difference between hard and easy roads. Do we not believe this about almost every aspect of our lives? I am writing shortly after the close of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, and no one doubts that if you want to excel at sports, the road is difficult and the gate narrow. Similarly with our careers: it takes long and hard work to make an impact. And few arenas are more challenging than parenting, where only by taking the long and difficult road of love, patience, and discipline can we hope to rear children that are healthy and happy, well balanced and productive.

And yet when we take the same attitude toward faith, many of us – myself included! – get nervous, worried that we are somehow betraying our Reformation roots, seeking to justify ourselves, or undermining God’s good gift of faith and salvation.

Fair enough. Faith and salvation, like life itself, are gifts from God. But does that mean that we have absolutely no responsibility for how we use these gifts – whether we treasure and share them on the one hand or, on the other, despise or, more likely, ignore them? I simply cannot believe that giving God thanks for our faith must also mean that we are indifferent to our attitude and conduct.

And I think it’s important to read these lines in the context of earlier portions of Jesus’ sermon. Earlier he criticized false piety – things done merely to gain attention – and invited us to get real, to be genuine in our life, words, and actions. Similarly, I think in these verses Jesus invites us to take the gifts of faith, salvation, and life seriously, use them to the benefit of others, and grow into them as genuine persons of faith rather than as those who repeat the words of our faith as mindless formulas.

So there you go: faith is a gift – one we’re invited to treasure and share. Why? Because it matters!

Prayer: Dear God, remind us of all the good gifts you give to us and encourage to use them to support our neighbor and care for the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.