Are We Willing To Be Served?

There is a book titled “The Deadliest Monster” by J F Baldwin. This compares the stories of Frankenstein with that of Jekyll and Hyde. You might have heard about Frankenstein. Frankenstein was made good, but turned out to be bad. The book quotes Frankenstein ““I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.” Jekyll was a rich upperclass doctor with evil nature that he could’nt control, and ultimately the evil nature takes over. Jekyll said “It was the curse of mankind that these incongruous personalities—the good and the bad were thus bound together—that in the agonized womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling.” Baldwin in his book says that man chooses to be like one or the other of these two monsters. Christian worldview clearly tells us that man is inherently evil and that man needs God’s grace to do good.

When Adam fell, the whole humanity fell. Before the fall, Adam had the ability “not to sin” but after the fall, he does not have the ability not to sin. We are sinners by default. (not able not to sin). Default wiring of man is towards sin. Only by Grace can one be saved from this and get the ability not to sin. Grace is absolutely essential for salvation and for resisting the temptation to sin.

Confessions of Saint Augustine records his thoughts on this. His view about the concept of sin can be understood by looking at the way he confesses about the Pear Tree incident (Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 4) (Outler, 2007). In this he discusses an incident where he and some of his young friends went and stole some pears from the tree. He says that the pears were not particularly tasty or good. He confesses “Yet I had a desire to commit robbery, and did so, compelled to it by neither hunger nor poverty, but through a contempt for well-doing and a strong impulse to iniquity. For I pilfered something which I already had in sufficient measure, and of much better quality. I did not desire to enjoy what I stole, but only the theft and the sin itself.” This shows the extent to which he considered sin to be part of humanity.

I think I have made you uncomfortable enough this morning, but there is a purpose for my action this morning. Going back to the story of Peter resisting Jesus’ offer to wash his feet. It is finally when Jesus tells him that “If I do not wash you, you do not have a part in me”. Now after understanding the true nature of man, that man is sinful, by himself, he cannot be sinless, we understand the gravity of “you do not have a part in me” statement. In other words, Jesus is telling Peter, that I unless you are willing to receive my “service” you cannot be saved. Unless I wash you, you will not be clean, Unless you receive from me you cannot give grace. We by ourselves cannot be good, cannot do good. We need Jesus’ help to do that.

The good news is that we have hope, we have hope that if we believe in Jesus Christ we can be cured of the sin that engulfs us. Matthew 19:25-26 (NKJV) When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." And God is making it possible for us through Jesus Christ. John 1:12-13 (NKJV) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.