Expectations

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
05/28/06 - Sunday Morning

Expectations

One of the challenges of living in this world is that various voices are continually tempting us to lower the standard by which we live. On this point I am reminded of the billboard advertisement for Bail Bonds which had the slogan, “After all nobody is perfect”. Or, what a teacher told a friend of mine concerning the goals for her students in the coming year, “This year we just want the kids to feel like they are a reader”. Yet Jesus was very specific about what God expects of us, “For I say to you, than unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even tax-gathers do the same?” (5:47)

In the realm of Obedience

· Being a good listener is not enough. Simply showing up at some religious service and being a polite guest in the audience, or even taking notes, is still short of God’s expectation. He expects us to obey, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven: but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

· The obedience must be in the direction of what He taught, and not simply following some man or group of men (Matthew 7:21 “Does the will of My Father”).

· Obeying traditions or man-made rules is not a valid substitute or alternative for obeying Christ (Matthew 15:9).

Higher Expectations in Obedience

· Happy Obedience:

“Doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6). “With all your heart” (Nor). Of course this is the only approved way of doing God's will (Matthew 22:37). “Giving full-hearted devotion to his task” (Boles p. 329) “Clock-watchers are not the light of the world. Christians do not cut corners or punch out ahead of time. The Christian cannot do a sloppy job with a clear conscience” (Ephesians, Caldwell p. 300). Barclay reminds us that bettering conditions, heightening rewards, increasing oversight, or multiplying punishments can never accomplish what the gospel can. “The secret of good workmanship is to do it for God” (p. 181). This level of obedience is opposed to a complaining and grumbling type of obedience, the type of a child who says, “I am sitting down on the outside but standing up on the inside”. Any example of “happy obedience” would be, “Be hospitable to one another without complaint” (1 Peter 4:9). Obedience that includes grumbling, complaining and murmuring falls far short of God’s standards and will be rejected. God is not pleased (1 Corinthians 10:5) with grumblers (10:10). Children need to understand that obeying their parents, but doing so with complaint, is disobedience, not obedience.

· Obedience that honors:

That is, obedience that is honoring and respectful of those who are issuing the orders.

Ephesians 6:5 “With fear and trembling”: “With anxious care” (TCNT). “With respect for the rightful authority of the master and keen anxiety to leave no duty undone” (Erdman p. 130). “They imply careful dedication and zeal not to fall short in the discharge of duty” (Caldwell p. 298). “A slave's allegiance to Christ does not authorize him to be rude and disrespectful--just the opposite is true” (Boles p. 328). Some Christians erroneously think that since Christ is now the Lord of their life, they do not have to obey anyone else. Such is false. The Lord Himself commands us to be in subjection to many human authorities (Romans 13:1f; Ephesians 5:22; 6:1-2; Hebrews 13:17). Obedience that honors is an obedience that is honoring in our attitude and words. When our parents tell us to do something, honoring obedience does not whine or say, “But do I have to?” “That’s not fair!” Rather it says, “Yes dad, yes mom”.

· Complete Obedience:

Just like obeying God only part of the time, or keeping 75% of His commands is not genuine obedience, cleaning up only a portion of your room, putting away only half your toys, doing most of the dishes, is not obedience as well. Anything short of what has been commanded is rebellion (1 Samuel 15:22-23). We see this principle in James 2:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” We recognize the same principle concerning the laws that govern this nation. One does not have to violate every law to be a law-breaker. There are people in prison because they violated one law or just a couple of laws. Barclay notes, “The Jew was very apt to regard the law as a series of detached injunctions. To keep one of these injunctions was to gain credit; to break one was to incur debt. Therefore, a man could add up the ones he kept and subtract the ones he broke, and, as it were, emerge with a credit or a debit balance” (p. 81). “They believed that if they kept as many laws as they broke, they were righteous before the law” (Draper p. 79), and nothing really has changed. People in the world will argue, “I have never killed anyone. I am not a thief. I am not immoral” (Draper p. 80). We must remember that every law that God has given is important and we cannot pick and choose concerning which laws we want to keep. Kent notes, “His point is that God’s law is a unity, being the expressed will of one Lawgiver. Violating God’s will at any point means that the offender has disobeyed God’s intention” (p. 83). “The vital lesson taught here is that all of the law of God is pertinent to us, and that we must not feel at liberty to tamper with any portion thereof” (Woods p. 124). We cannot defend ourselves when we sin by pointing to all the laws that we are keeping, and neither can we justify one unscriptural practice by pointing out the other unscriptural practices that we have already accepted. Complete obedience equally involves thorough obedience, that is, when I am told to put something away, or clean something, there are no halfway measures.

· Hearty Obedience:

Ephesians 6:7 “With good will doing service, as unto the Lord, and not unto men”

“Do good work with good will” (Nor). “Do your duties heartily and willingly” (Gspd). “Lit., ‘serving with a good mind’, the ready good will, which does not wait to be compelled” (Boles p. 330). Instead of offering reluctant and grudging work, the Christian is to offer his services with good will. What this means is that maturity involves obeying without having to be reminded or told. Thus growing up means:

· I should no longer have to be told to pick up after myself.

· I should help mom and dad without them having to ask.

· If I see something that needs to be done, I do not say, “Well that is not my job”.

· I do not need some short of artificial incentive nor a threat before I move.

· I am not trying to get out of work; my ethic is not, “What is the least I can do”.

· Whether anyone else is busy or working does not affect my labor. I do not wait to act until everyone else has acted first.

The great value of this level of obedience is, first, it pleases God and then beyond that:

· It is a very wise use of our time (Ephesians 5:16).

· It reduces conflict in the home.

· It reduces conflict in a marriage.

· People who do not move or act until circumstances force their hand are typically people who live from one “disaster” to the next. Consider the following passage on this point: “Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-8). The ant is “proactive”, she does not procrastinate, and because of that, there is no disaster in the winter—or when the rent payment is due. Prompt obedience will ensure that the type of life we are living is not a lifestyle where it seems that we are always behind, always trying to play catch up, and always unprepared for the next stage of life.

· Obedience when no one is looking:

Ephesians 6:6 “Not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers”:

This indicates that such is a common temptation for slaves and employees. “Not only when their eyes are on you” (TCNT). “Not with mere external service” (Gspd), “That show of service which tries to win human favor” (Knox). “The idea of currying favor with men” (Phi). “A motive far higher than winning approval of inspectors or superiors marks the work of Christians” (Coffman p. 219). This equally includes obedience when one is not being praised or commended.

· Obedience that simply wants to please God:

Ephesians 6:5 “In singleness of your heart”: “With simplicity of motive” (Wey). “We therefore do our duty without hypocrisy, pretense, or simple formality. Our work is done with sincerity, not with ill-will” (Caldwell p. 298). “With integrity or wholeheartedness, without hypocrisy or ulterior motives” (Stott p. 253). What is expected of the slave is not mere "tolerance" of his position. God expects the slave to make a sincere effort to please his earthly master. Unfortunately, some professed Christians today feel that if the boss is not treating them right, they have the right to slack off on their own work performance. I as a Christian must always remember that another's sin does not give me the right to sin, remembering that God expects the Christian to make a sincere effort regardless of the type of job they have. Minimum wage jobs still require maximum effort by the Christian. In addition, trying to get out of obeying by complaining that someone is not doing their task—is not obedience, but rather, it is excuse making.

“As unto Christ”: Proper perspective is everything. The earthly master might not deserve such "sincere efforts", but the Christ who commands this of us is always deserving of the best obedience. “Exactly the same principle can be applied by contemporary Christians to their work and employment. Our great need is the clear-sightedness to see Jesus Christ and to set Him before us. It is possible for the housewife to cook a meal as if Jesus Christ were going to eat it, or to spring-clean the house as if Jesus Christ were to be the honored guest. It is possible for teachers to educate children, for doctors to treat patients and nurses to care for them, for solicitors to help clients, shop assistants to serve customers, accountants to audit books, and secretaries to type letters as if in each case they were serving Jesus Christ” (Stott p. 252). Regardless of the attitude of the boss, the conditions of the job or the amount of the pay, the Christian can always work as if he were serving Christ directly.

Ephesians 6:7 “As unto the Lord, and not unto men”: “Not just for men” (Nor). “It has rightly been said that when one freely and willingly does service, with good will, he is no longer a slave. When I understand that how I go about my job makes a difference to God, whether I please men or not becomes only a secondary consideration. My question should not be whether the master is doing me right, but am I doing right by him?” (Caldwell p. 302). “The slave’s perspective has changed. His horizons have broadened. He has been liberated from the slavery of ‘men-pleasing’ into the freedom of serving Christ. His mundane tasks have been absorbed into a higher preoccupation, namely the will of God and the good pleasure of Christ” (Stott p. 252).

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017