It was January 1st, and I was on the edge of my seat. I was watching what was happening, and I was cheering loudly. Well, not out loud - I’m not a yelling kind of a guy, if you know me. But in my mind, I was cheering loudly, and I was on the edge of my seat. It was New Year's Day. Do you know what I’m talking about?
You probably think that I'm talking about football, watching the Badgers in the Rose Bowl. But that's not what I'm talking about. You see, on New Year's Day we went to visit my wife's grandmother in her apartment. She's over 90 years old, and based on the things she has said so far, we don't think she's a Christian. She's a life-long Catholic, but she's never read the Bible in her life, and she always talks about earning heaven by being a good person. Do you know anyone like that? We've been trying to witness to her for a long time - not in a pushy way. But every time we bring up the subject of Jesus, she changes the subject, shuts us down.
But this New Year's Day was a little different. We went there just to talk, and she brought up the subject of life and death and heaven. And that's when it got interesting. She said something to the effect of "God will bring me into heaven because I have been a good person," and that's when my wife went after her. I've never seen my wife be more aggressive: "That's not how it works, Grandma!" And I was sitting across the living room, and that's when I started cheering.
"But I've been a good person," Grandma said. "No Grandma," my wife said, "you are sinful." (Can you imagine saying that to your Grandma?) "We've all been sinful. We've all made mistakes. None of us are good enough to earn heaven. God loves you because of his mercy, Grandma. God lets you into heaven because of Jesus." It was great to watch, for me, much more exciting than a football game. The stakes couldn't be higher - either Grandma believes in Jesus and goes to heaven, or Grandma rejects Jesus and goes to hell. What will happen next?
The reason I bring this story up is because so many people think this way - if you walk up to anyone on the street, most people will say, "you gotta be a good person and if you're good enough God will let you into heaven. Do you believe that? Listen again to our Scripture lesson for this morning, the second lesson from Titus, which says that God "saved us, not because of righteous thing we had done, but because of his mercy." Isn't this exactly what the argument was about, between my wife and here grandmother on New Year's Day? Why does God save people? It's not because of righteous things we had done. No. It's because of his mercy. It's because of Jesus Christ, our Savior, as verse 6 says.
Do you know why so many people are confused about this issue? It's because so many people don't know the answer to the 2 most important questions of life. If you know the answers to these questions, then everything else in your life makes sense, and you have hope beyond this life. The 2 most important questions in life are these - 1) Who am I? 2) Who is God? Do you know the answers to these all-important questions? Let's talk about them this morning.
Let's start with the question who am I? Most of the world, including my elderly relative, believes this - I am basically good. All people are basically good. Do you believe that? All people are basically good? If a person believes that, then how do you explain why people do bad things? Why do good people do bad things? What is the explanation for all the evil that takes place in the world? All people are basically good? Let's see what the Bible says. The Bible is the only book that will be totally honest with you, not afraid to hurt your feelings. Listen to this, verse 3: "At one time, we were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kind of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another." That's brutal honesty. You are not basically good. You and I are basically sinful.
In England many years ago, a newspaper posed the question to the public - "What is wrong with the world?" People were supposed to write in with their answers, and the best answer would win. A religious writer named GK Chesterton wrote in to the newspaper, and he had the briefest answer of all the answers submitted. What is wrong with the world? GK Chesterton wrote "Dear Sirs. I am. Sincerely, GK Chesterton." We are sinful. He understood that he was not basically good, he was basically sinful.
One of the most important questions you can answer in your life is this - who am I? To use the words of our text, we are basically foolish, basically disobedient, basically deceived by all kinds of passions and pleasures.
The other more important question is this - who is God? Is God someone who demands that I try to earn his love by being a good person? Is that how it works? If you're bad, you go to hell. If you're good, you go to heaven. That's what most of the world believes - the most common picture of God. Billions of people who belong to the religion of Islam picture God as someone who demands that you do good to earn his favor. The 5 pillars of Islam - prayer, almsgiving, etc. - that's who God is.
Is that an accurate picture of God? No. The Bible says that God hates sin and punishes sin. There's nothing in the Bible about how you can make up for your sins, or cover them up, by being good. God punishes sin. But that's not the only picture of God - listen again to this… "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Who is God? He is someone who is merciful and kind and loving. He sees your sin and has mercy on you. Instead of punishing you and me for our sins, which is what we deserve, he sends Jesus, who takes away our sins by his death on the cross. He gives you heaven for free, he is so kind and loving. This is God.
Have you ever heard the story of the Muslim girl in the religion class at the WELS school. A public school and a Lutheran school traded students for a day - student councils. The student council members could go to each other schools, see how things run, and get ideas for their own schools. So the public school students attended classes at the Lutheran school, and some of them went to the religion class. One of them was a Muslim girl, sitting in the front row. And during that class the religion class teacher explained the basic way of salvation. He explained how we have all sinned, and how God sends his Son Jesus, and God punishes his Son Jesus instead of punishing us for our sins. And then, as a free gift, God lets people into heaven because of what Jesus has done. Whoever believes in Jesus is saved.
And the Muslim girl was sitting in the front row listening to all of this and she raised her hand and said, "That's just not fair." Was she right? Yes! It's not fair that God punishes Jesus instead of us. It's not fair that God allows sinful people who don't earn it to go to heaven. That's mercy. God doesn't give you what you deserve. Instead, he gives you his love. Grace is God's unearnable, not fair kind of love that he gives to you. And that's the real picture of God that the Bible gives us. A Savior God who has mercy on us.
This changes the way you look - do you realize that? Because of what Jesus did for you, this changes the way you look, to God. Remember that first question - who am I? I'm sinful, that's true. But that's not the end of the story. Because God is so merciful and kind, I'm not just sinful. I'm forgiven. I'm someone who is justified. God looks at you and sees someone who is beautiful, someone who will go to heaven: "Having been justified by grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." This helps me to answer the question "who am I?"
At this point, add sermon illustration "3 surprises when you enter heaven" and add the 4th one about God - see google.
Did Grandma put her faith in Jesus instead of her own good works on New Year's Day? Well, at one point, she did say this: "Did Jesus die on the cross to atone for my sins? Yeah, I believe that." And that made me cheer. Later she said, "How could God let me into heaven, with all the sins I've committed in my life?" Have you ever thought that? And we told her, "Grandma, Jesus took all your sins away when he died on the cross. You are forgiven, and because of Jesus, God will let you into heaven." Do you know what her response was to that? "Let's hope your right." Is that your response to this message this morning? I hope you're right? I know we're right - because of what it says right here in Titus chapter 3 - "he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Amen.
May God bless you as you ponder the 2 most important questions of life - who is God, and who am I. May God fill you with hope, as you find answers in the only place that tells you the truth, and that is his Word. Amen. Hymns 379, 82, 397, 391, 394
