Matthew 5:14-16
The parable of the Good Samaritan, which we heard in today’s Gospel from St. Luke, applies primarily to Jesus, and to the mercy he shows to us, who have been deeply wounded and left in the gutter by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Jesus is the Samaritan who picks us up in our utter spiritual weakness, and carries us to the inn – that is, to his church – where we will be taken care of and nurtured, and restored to health and strength.
But a secondary application of this parable is the way in which the compassion of the Good Samaritan in the story sets an example for us, in how we should treat people in need whom we encounter in this world.
This is why many medical centers and elder care facilities are named the “Good Samaritan Hospital,” or the “Good Samaritan Home.” These are places where Christians, motivated by their grateful faith, do good for suffering and afflicted people, in the name of the great Good Samaritan who has done good for them in saving them from sin and death.
Another passage of Holy Scripture, in which Jesus speaks more directly about the importance of good works like this in the lives of Christians, is Matthew chapter 5, beginning at verse 14. Here he says to his disciples, and through them to us:
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
The Bible teaches that we are saved from our sins only by the grace of God, and not by our own human effort. Our relationship with God is restored and maintained by the work of God: in his Son’s death and resurrection for us; and in the conversion and regeneration accomplished by his Spirit within us.
Our peace with God, and our right standing before him, are gifts from God, which he offers to us in his Word and Sacraments, and which we receive by faith alone. St. Paul writes, in his Epistle to the Ephesians:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
But while we are saved by faith alone, the faith that saves us is never alone. A true faith, which is attached to the living God, is also by necessity a living faith, which bears fruit in a life of good works.
The salvation does not depend on the good works. But if the salvation is real, and has really been received, the works will inevitably follow, as a testimony to the genuineness of the faith.
The Lutheran ethicist Robert Benne has written: “We do not believe in works-righteousness. But we do believe that righteousness works.”
When we have been given a right standing before God by God, and when the righteousness of Christ has been bestowed upon us in the gospel, that divine righteousness does change us. The righteousness of Christ, which we receive by faith, imprints the character and image of Christ upon us, so that with his help and guidance we will then do as Christ did, and live as Christ lived.
Indeed, as God’s people “we have the mind of Christ,” as St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians teaches. And Paul reminds us in his Epistle to the Colossians:
“You have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”
To be sure, our good works are never as good as they should be. Our imitation of Christ is never as thorough and consistent as it should be.
The old sinful nature is still in us, and works at cross-purposes to the influences of the Holy Spirit. But Christ is also in us, and in spite of our human weaknesses, he does work through us.
By the mercy of God, your standing before him, and his acceptance of you, depend on the righteousness of Christ, with which you were cloaked in your baptism, and which is credited to your faith.
In Christ, God does not evaluate you, and judge you, on the basis of your flawed and imperfect works. If he did, you would always come up short, because your “good works” – which are never perfectly good – always come up short.
But even with their flaws and limitations, the works of love that flow from the Christian do indeed impact the world for good. And the righteousness of Christ, which covers over our personal imperfections in God’s eyes, also covers over the imperfections of our works in God’s eyes.
Therefore God, with a certain feeling of Fatherly pride and joy, approves of these works, and does indeed call them good works. He notices them and is pleased by them – not because of what they are in themselves, but because they are imbued with the righteousness of his only-begotten Son – through whom we have been adopted as his children.
As an aside: In a typical human family, children seek the approval of their father. When such approval was not forthcoming – either because the father was absent, or was unable or unwilling to be the kind of father God called him to be – this can leave deep and enduring wounds.
But God’s approval of us, and of our works – his Fatherly, loving, and accepting approval – can heal those wounds. And God’s forgiveness in Christ, with the effect it has on the heart of a forgiven sinner, allows a wounded child-turned-adult – in turn – to forgive the human failings of a human father, and to be free.
Coming back to St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, we read:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Yet God is not the only one who notices the good works of the Christian. They will stand out in the world in which we live, and will be noticed by other people, too. Again, Jesus says:
“You are the light of the world. … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
As we closely study this phrase, and reflect upon it, there are three points in particular that I want to explore with you, as we unfold the Lord’s words to us.
First, our acts of kindness, and our words of encouragement, will make a positive difference in the lives of our neighbors. Our honesty and generosity will get the attention of the people around us, and have an impact on them.
But Jesus also describes the specific kind of impact that our good works are supposed to have. Ideally, when our works of love are performed in love, they will not be outwardly disfigured and corrupted by human pride – as if we were saying, “Hey, look at me; notice my noble deed.”
Rather, when a “good work” truly is a good work – as God defines it – the attitude that properly accompanies the work is a self-effacing attitude. We don’t seek personal praise and recognition, but we are focused fully on meeting the needs of the person who is being helped.
St. Paul speaks to the attitude that a Christian is to have as he helps and serves, in his Epistle to the Philippians:
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
And Jesus did not say, “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify you.” He said: “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
We are most pleased when our way of life draws the attention of people to the God whom we serve, and not to us. We don’t want people to say, “What a great person he is, for doing that.” Instead, we want them to say, “What a great God he has, who inspired him to do that.”
But even that is not the full extent of what we should be concerned about, in regard to the impact that our works have on people. We are not satisfied – and Jesus is not satisfied – merely with a recognition from others that there is a religious motive behind our actions.
There are other, non-Christian religions in the world, that also teach the existence of a God in heaven who expects his followers on earth to behave in certain noticeable ways. We’ve all heard of “Sharia Law,” haven’t we?
And so, as our second point, that’s why it’s important to pay attention to the specific and uniquely Christian term Jesus uses, in describing the God who is to be glorified in our good works.
He does not simply say, “so that they may glorify God who is in heaven.” He says, “so that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
When you live in this world in a way that pleases God, it is not an oppressive and demanding God whom you are thereby introducing to the people who notice how you live. When people see your good works, and when they sense the attitude and motivation that accompany those works, they should not get the impression that you are slavishly “following orders” from a cruel and heartless taskmaster.
They should, rather, be able to see that you are joyfully following the lead of a loving and protective God, who is not remote and distant from this world, but who sent his Son into the world, to save it from the misery of sin, and from the fear of death.
They should be able to sense that you are cheerfully following the lead of a compassionate God, who has filled you with strength and wisdom, and with an inner peace that the world cannot give.
The impression that Jesus wants people to get from your good works – and from your demeanor as you perform them – is that your relationship with God is the relationship of a beloved child to his gracious heavenly Father. And he wants people to sense that you take great pleasure in doing what pleases your Father.
In the context of what the Lord teaches us today, our works are not to draw the thoughts of others down, to spiritual discouragement and fear of divine anger. Our works are to draw the thoughts of others up, in the hope that the marvelous salvation that we so obviously enjoy, may be available to them, too!
And it is available to them, and to everyone. When we have people’s attention in this way, we can then share with them the message of Christ – so that they can know that God does indeed want to be their Father, to forgive their sins, and to include them also in the family of faith.
The good works that God has prepared for us to do, are welcomed opportunities to show our love for our neighbor – and to show God’s love for our neighbor. They are not matters of drudgery and joyless obligation, to be avoided whenever possible.
If that is the way we think about the good works that God wants us to do, and if our works are not impelled by love as they should be, people will notice that, too. And they will then not be prompted to give glory to our Father in heaven, if they see us cheerlessly “going through the motions” of outward works that we are inwardly reluctant to be doing.
And if that’s the way you think about the good works that God wants you to do, it indicates that you have a spiritual problem. It indicates that you do not actually know God as your own Father.
This leads us, then, to consider the third important point that Jesus is making. He does not speak only of the Father who is in heaven. He says that people will give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
That’s a personal and intimate kind of relationship. The relationship of a child to his own father is – or is supposed to be – a relationship of humble trust and warm confidence.
If you don’t know God in this way, as your own heavenly Father; or if you’re not sure that this is the kind of relationship you have with God, it’s not time yet for you to be thinking about the good works that Jesus wants his disciples to do for others.
You need to be thinking about the good works that Jesus did for you: the supremely good work of living a perfect life in your place; the wonderfully good work of offering his life as a perfect sacrifice for your sin; and the gloriously good work of rising from the dead, whereby he defeated Satan, and broke the chains of Satan’s power over you.
When Jesus forgives you, he fills you with his Spirit; he joins himself to you and begins to live in you; and he brings you into a mystical union with his Father, so that, in him, God the Father becomes God your Father.
As a child of God, the love of Christ abides with you, and will naturally and inevitably spill over from you, into the lives of others. God invites you to know all of this, and to receive all of this, by faith.
All of us, whether our faith is weak or strong, and whether our love toward others is weak or strong, can and should always be thinking about the good works that Jesus did for us; and that Jesus still does for us.
Jesus continues to come to us, to do the “good work” of forgiving our many failures to do the good works that we are called to do; and to reconcile us to the God from whom we have distanced ourselves through our disobedience. Jesus continues to speak to us his words of pardon for our many sins, as he says, “I forgive you all your sins.”
And he works also to renew us in our love for him – and for others – by bestowing on us the most profound pledges of his love for us: his own body and blood. On the altar of his cross, Jesus gave his body and blood into death for us. And at the altar of his church, Jesus now gives his body and blood to us, for our life and salvation.
What a spectacular “good work” this is! And when Jesus performs it for us in his Holy Supper, we do indeed give glory to his Father who is in heaven: who sent his Son into the world to be our Savior. In thanksgiving we give glory to the One who is now also our Father who is in heaven.
Whenever Jesus comforts us and teaches us; whenever Jesus fills us again with his Spirit and his peace; and whenever he renews our faith and enlivens our love – for him and for others – we are reminded of what marvelous good works our Savior has done for us, and is continuing to do in us.
And then, as we remember, we once again gratefully hear, and joyfully embrace, what Jesus says to us today:
“You are the light of the world. … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Amen.