Fellow-Redeemed
in Christ Jesus,
Have you ever heard the expression “trophy
wife?” Generally, it is a description of a young beautiful woman with an older
man. The implication is not always positive. It suggests, of course, that the
woman is like a trophy that sits on the shelf; looks good but does not actually
do anything.
Our Savior continues his Sermon on the Mount right
after the Beatitudes with further description of his disciples. The Christ
makes it clear that his disciples do not just sit and gather dust on the shelf.
We are by no means just to look “holy” outwardly yet not actual do anything.
Jesus’ disciples exhibit a righteousness
unlike that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law whom Jesus in another
place compared to sepulchers; whitewashed on the outside but with dead bones and
unclean on the inside. Their righteousness was merely pretense.
Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that True Righteousness Surpasses Pretense.
It is the righteousness Christ demanded. It is the righteousness Christ
fulfilled. It is the righteousness Christ shares through us.
You would look long and hard to find the
gospel here. There is none. This is the Third Use of the Law. Remember from
catechism? In the life of the Christian, God’s law serves as a guide or rule
for our sanctification. As I mentioned last Sunday, Jesus is speaking here to
those whom he already had called to discipleship through the gospel.
Our Savior is not urging his disciples to a
more strenuous moralism in order to surpass the Pharisees and teachers of the
law. Jesus describes a righteous that flows from the living spring of faith in
him. He describes a true righteousness that spells out in the disciple’s life
the implication of my new existence in Christ.
We are not in any sense trophy wives of
Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom, looking good on the outside but not doing
anything. We are not plastic saints, perfectly formed on the outside but hollow
of heart, soul and mind inside. We recognize the Ten Commandments as more than
advice or suggestion about one way to go from among many to choose. True
righteousness surpasses pretense because it flows from Christ whom we hold in
the hand of faith. It is righteousness God’s law guides not human will and opinion.
Christ demanded this righteousness that flows
from faith not merely a pretense. The Holy Spirit creates that true
righteousness in the Christian’s life through the gospel of Christ. Those who
exhibit pretentious righteousness are not in the kingdom of God. True
righteousness, the fruit of faith, manifests the disciples’ place in the
kingdom.
Jesus stated clearly that he did not come to
abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them. Jesus fulfilled
everything the Old Testament said about the coming Messiah. As the perfect
God-Man he particularly fulfilled the commands so the Father could credit his
righteousness under the law to all humanity.
Jesus did not keep the commandments, fulfill
them, so we could ignore them, change them, or get rid of them. He does not
want us to break any of the commandments or teach others to do that as if they
no longer mattered. The disciple does not think that because Jesus kept it I am
free to break the law. Instead, we think that because Jesus kept the law I
desire to keep it in willing compliance in view of God’s mercy to me in Christ.
Jesus had no plan whatsoever to set aside
God’s laws or replace them, or add human regulations to them. He was determined
only to fulfill them so that his righteousness would be ours. My desire and
ability to keep the commands is his desire and ability my New Man possesses.
My New Man leads me in a righteousness that
surpasses pretense. It is true righteousness because it is not my reason for
thinking I will go to heaven. It is my reason for thankfulness and obedience to
God because through Jesus I know I am going to heaven.
I must manifest true righteousness that
surpasses pretense as a disciple. I literally cannot help myself. I am salt and
light. True righteousness surpasses pretense because it is the righteousness
Christ shares through us.
The Christ did not ask his disciples, “Would
you be willing to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world? Would
you like to be salt and light?” He did not say to them, “I want you all to try
your hardest to be salt and light.”
Jesus simply says you are the salt of the
earth and the light of the world, a lamp set on a stand not under a bowl. You
are a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. “Salt has an effect on what it
touches. It gives things a savor, a taste, a tang on the tongue. Salt preserves
things from rot and decay.
A light shines out and gives direction and
visibility. Light dispels the darkness. I remember flying back from Los Angeles
after a pastors’ conference over the dark desert wasteland and seeing the lights
of Phoenix suddenly appear in the darkness.
God has given us the saltiness of the living
word to give the savor of new life, and to prevent the rot and decay of false
doctrine. God has not put us up on a
pedestal simply to look good to the outside world. He has set us up as lamps on
a stand to radiate his glorious love in Christ.
Disciples are salt and light that influence the
world. If we lose our saltiness, for example no longer calling something a sin
that is a sin, or allow for other ways to heaven other than through Christ
alone, then we are of no value to the world. If we spend a portion of our
ministry budget to buy baskets to hide our light under, then no one can see our
good deeds of true righteousness and give glory to our Father in heaven.
True righteousness surpasses pretense. Christ
demands it. He has fulfilled it. He shares it with the world through us, his
disciples. Amen. <SDG>