"This Is the Work of God"
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
August 2, 2009
John 6:22-35
Are you weary? Then be renewed in the grace and mercy of Christ. This
is the work of God.
Are you hurting? Then receive the healing balm of Christ. This is
God’s work He does for you.
Are you weak? Then be strengthened by the power of Christ. God is at
work for you.
You are in need and yet you continue to labor in vain. The work of God
is to bring about what it is you need. What you need is faith. So
believe in God. Trust in Him. Rely solely on His grace, mercy, and
power.
Take comfort in this, that it is not of you or from you. It is you
doing it because God is at work in you. What He requires of you He
accomplishes in you and for you because of and in His Son Jesus
Christ.
The people in the Gospel reading couldn’t wrap their minds around this
kind of religion. What kind of religion—what kind of God—tells you
that you don’t work to gain the favor of God? To get yourself out of
the trouble you’re in. To get what it is you need. Doesn’t God want us
to work hard rather than let Him do all the work for us?
This is why we have such a skewed view of our Christian lives. Do we
think of ourselves primarily as Christians, or merely as people like
everybody else but who happen to be Christians? God is the only source
for our lives. Do we think of ourselves as people who deserve more
from God or as people who are endlessly blessed by a God who for all
we know could have better things to do than help us out in our own
little world?
The simple truth is the God of heaven and earth loves you. The eternal
God helps you out in your day to day affairs. He heals you, is
compassionate to you, strengthens you, and is with you.
How does He do this? Jesus. What does Jesus say in our Gospel reading?
God gives us the eternal blessings we need by giving us “the true
bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world.”
Everything we need is given us in the man Jesus. Because Jesus is God
in the flesh. All we could ever ask for is answered in the work that
He accomplishes. Because all the power of God is concentrated in what
Jesus has done and does.
But we live in the real world, don’t we? We don’t think of the
spiritual realm as being as real as the physical world we live in. But
it’s very real. In a sense it’s even more real in that it will last,
whereas this world will not. But this world we live in is the one we
tend to set our sights on for what we need in this life. Not that that
doesn’t necessarily make sense. It’s just shortsighted if that’s all
we want. God wants to take us to heaven. He wants to give us those
blessings that last forever.
The people in the Gospel reading had been fed by Jesus in the miracle
of the feeding of the five thousand. Wouldn’t it be great if He kept
it up? That’s what, after all, God did for the Israelites in the
wilderness as they wandered around for forty years. But is that why
Christ came? To feed people bread?
No, He came to bring life. He came to feed people with the Bread of
Life. To give Himself to people. Yes, the manna was bread from
heaven—God was the one who gave them the bread. But Christ is truly
Bread from heaven—heaven is His dwelling place and He came down from
heaven to bring to people on this earth true life.
Have you ever thought about what a person who is dying needs? One who
perhaps is slipping into an unconscious state and cannot rationally
understand what is being said when the Gospel is proclaimed to him or
her? If that person’s salvation depended upon them doing something to
show evidence of their faith how could we be sure that they have any?
That’s where the work of God comes in. He accomplishes the faith in
that person. We speak to that person of their Baptism. What God
accomplished in that person when the refreshing waters flowed over
him. When their sinful flesh joined in Christ’s death only to be
raised up to eternal life. We speak to that person the Gospel, which
sustains them in faith.
Let this be our comfort, that there is a purpose in any adversity we
may face, whether we be weary, or hurting, or weak. Such adversity
must cause us to look even more so to the Gospel. This is the work of
God, that even in those times we are spiritually depleted, or
physically, or emotionally, that God is at work. That it is in our
weakness He is most powerful. That when our flesh and blood is not
enough we may eat and drink of His flesh and blood. That we may draw
deeply from the well of everlasting life and be refreshed in His
abundant mercy. His forgiveness and His comfort. His strength and His
power.
There’s plenty of room for us to work. We will help others. We will be
there for them, serve them, and comfort them. But we will do this
because it is the work of God at work in us. This is what Paul means
when he exhorts us in Philippians to “work out [our] own salvation
with fear and trembling.” He goes on to say: “for it is God who works
in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians
2:12-13 ESV)
Otherwise we simply labor in vain. What Christ rather wants is for us
to draw deeply from His well, to feast sumptuously on Heavenly Bread,
Christ Himself. He delights in working for us, helping us in our need.
It was joy that brought Him to suffering at the hands of sinners as we
are. Joy that drew Him to the cross to suffer on behalf of the world.
Because this is the work of God, in Christ, for us. Amen.
SDG
--
Pastor Paul L. Willweber
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS]
San Diego, California
princeofpeacesd.net
three-taverns.net
It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything
except where the marks of the Church are concerned.
[Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian]
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