Accomplishing the Work

 

 

“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4).

 

Gethsemane lies just ahead, with its plea, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.”  Beyond Gethsemane is the mockery and torture of Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod. Beyond them looms Golgotha. Yet, Jesus speaks to the Father of “having accomplished the work.”

 

Already Jesus is seeing beyond the Cross, already He is seeing His joy and prize, already He is beholding the Face of the Father as He anticipates declaring, “It is finished.”

 

We are reminded that on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus discussed with Moses and Elijah “His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). We know that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2).

 

Let us recall that Jesus said, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27).

 

Paul displays his Master Jesus when he writes, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:6 – 8).

 

Paul sees himself as an offering, just as Jesus saw Himself. Paul knew that his hour had come, just as Jesus knew. Paul had a sense of having accomplished his calling, of doing the works which Christ gave him to do, of finishing the course, even though trial and execution awaited him, just as it awaited Jesus. Paul saw beyond imprisonment and execution, to the crown of righteousness, just as Jesus saw beyond the Cross to the joy that lay ahead.

 

Prior to his letter to Timothy, Paul writes to the Philippians while in prison, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

 

Just as Jesus glorified the Father by completing the work which the Father had given Him to do, and just as Paul glorified Christ Jesus by completing the work to which he was called, so are you and I to glorify the Father and the Son by accomplishing the work to which we have been called. Let us never forget that Jesus says, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21; see also 17:18).

 

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

 

We all have a destiny in Christ, a calling in Christ, a purpose in Christ.

 

There are at least four ways we can think about the “good works” which God has prepared for us, all of them constitute a holistic calling. The first one is what I’ll term “general good works,” that is, “good works as our Way of Life in Christ.”

 

We see this in Matthew 5:43 – 48, in which Jesus teaches that we are to love our enemies and pray for them, and to “greet” or bless all people, the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous, so that we may be the sons of our Father in heaven. Jesus tells us that we are to let our light shine before men, “That they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 5:16).

 

Similarly, Paul writes, “Let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10; see also John 15:8, Titus 2:14; 3:8).

 

Then we have the good work of witnessing for Jesus. For sure this work is twofold, consisting of both word and deed, they must not be separated, each is vital. We are called to make disciples of all peoples, teaching them to obey what Jesus has taught (Mt. 28:18 – 20). That witness is inherent is discipleship is seen in Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

 

Paul asks, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:14).

 

The third element of our calling to good works is our placement in the Body of Christ (Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4:14 – 16; 1 Peter 10 – 11). We all have a part to play in the Body of Christ, we are members of one another, we truly need one another to be complete. We need each other to function in the Body so that we may all grow up into Christ and be a faithful witness to the world. Each one of us has a facet of our Father to display to the others. Each one of us has a unique deposit of the grace of Jesus within us that the rest of us need in order to be whole, and in order to fulfill our own callings.

 

This is not so much about what we “do,” as about who we are. Our worth is not in what we do, it is in who we are. Who we are will be expressed in what we do, but we must abide in the Vine if we are to “do” anything of lasting value (John 15:5).

 

This is an ever – growing experience, this discovery of the works of God, the calling of God, including within the Body of Christ. Our roles may change, the way we play those roles may change, our understanding will hopefully grow and mature, we will learn from others, we will learn from our mistakes, we will learn and be encouraged when things go well. We ought to never be stagnant, but ought to be in God’s process of being transformed from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:17 – 18; Rom. 12:1 – 2).

 

And this leads to the fourth element of working the works of God, and that is that these works which God has laid out for us lead us into the image of the Firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29). That is, we are called to do the works that Jesus did, and does, and…in some sense which is still a mystery to me…we are called to do “greater works” (John 14:12). This encompasses the work of the Cross, again a mystery, but we see this in “death working in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:12), and in “I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24).

 

I imagine there are other facets embedded in the idea of us being “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Can you think of other elements to this?

 

What about those of us who have gone our own way for much of life? What about those of us who have done nothing but sit in a pew year after year, who have never shared Jesus with others, who have not really lived in the Word of God, not really prayed and interceded for others? What about those of us who have frankly lived as if our lives belonged to ourselves rather than to Jesus? What about those of us who have missed opportunity after opportunity to walk in the works which our Father has purposed for us?

 

I find great encouragement in Matthew 20:1 – 16 in the sense that our Father is merciful and gracious and generous. Now I’ll say that were I an eleventh-hour laborer, I’d be happy with an hour’s pay; actually, I’d be happy and thankful to just be allowed to serve for one hour whether I was rewarded or not, the opportunity to serve would be reward enough.

 

I have missed many opportunities over the years, I have missed years of opportunity. I am afraid that I have been like the second son in Matthew 21:28 – 31. Yet, I have also been given the merciful opportunity to learn to be as the first son, and I hope that I am that son in some measure. Life can be complicated…yes?

 

Let me please share something with you, Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, and we can trust Him. Christ can redeem our missed opportunities, He can redeem our disgusting selfishness, He can bring us out of the depths to which we have plummeted, He can restore the wasted years of our lives (Joel 2:25). But let us make no mistake, we must acknowledge our sin and disobedience and turn to Him, following Him according to His call to discipleship (Mark 8:34 – 38). This is not a religious game, this all has eternal consequences, both for ourselves and for those around us – our faithfulness to Jesus Christ matters to others.

 

Am I glorifying the Father by accomplishing the work which He has given me to do?

 

Are you?

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (16)

 

 

“The body of Christ takes up physical space here on earth” (page 207).

 

“A truth, a doctrine, or a religion needs no space of its own. Such entities are bodyless. They do not go beyond being heard, learned, and understood” (page 207).

 

“The body of the exalted Lord is…a visible body, taking the form of the church – community” (page 208).

 

The Body of Christ is more than a group of people who believe the same thing, it is the actual, physical, Body of Jesus Christ – visible on earth, taking up space on earth; to touch a member of the Body is to touch the Person of Jesus Christ. The Incarnation continues in the Body of Christ.

 

Bonhoeffer writes that the Body is made visible through preaching the word (Acts 2:42), we are to “continue in the apostles teaching.” Since the foundation of the church consists in the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), all teaching and preaching must be based on this foundation – we must continue to teach what the apostles and prophets taught, which is founded upon Jesus Christ, always Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). (See pages 208 – 209).

 

Then he writes, “The Word of God seeks out community in order to accept it. It exists mainly within the community. It moves on its own into the community. It has an inherent impulse toward community” (page 209).

 

“The Word moves along this path of its own accord. The preacher should and can do nothing more than be a servant of this movement inherent in the Word itself, and refrain from placing obstacles in its path” (page 209).

 

What is the “Word” of which Bonhoeffer writes?

 

It is what we read of in John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

 

It is, as Bonhoeffer notes on pages 209 and 210, that which John wrote about, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life” (1 John 1:1).

 

This can be a challenge for us, for it may be that when we think of the “Word” that we think of only the Bible, that is, it may be that we do not “see” the Word as the Word, that we do not “see” the Bible as…mysterious as it may be…the Living Word of John 1:1 and 1 John 1:1…it may be that we see only paper and ink. It may be that we see only one dimensionally, rather than in the Holy Spirit.

 

Perhaps the personification of Wisdom in Proverbs Chapter 8 (and elsewhere) can help us with this, a passage long understood as revealing Christ. I do not understand this mystery, anymore than I understand baptism or the Lord’s Table or the Incarnation or the Trinity; but just because we may not understand something, does not mean that we cannot “see” it and experience it.

 

To be sure, it usually takes time for our vision to mature, for us to develop an eye to see these things, but isn’t this often the case with growth and appreciation?

When Bonhoeffer writes, “The Word of God seeks out community in order to accept it,” he points us to Christ the Word, coming to earth and to us to bring us to Himself and the Father, thus creating community within Himself, inhabiting His Body, His Church, His Temple.

 

The “movement inherent in the Word itself,” is the Divine Life of Christ, and preachers are to be servants of this movement, we are to submit to Christ the Word, not seek to manipulate, dominate, or dictate, but rather to submit and serve and cooperate. We ought not to put obstacles in the path of the movement of the Word, nor to restrict the movement and expression of the Word.

 

Now this can be a bit frightening, for it means that we give up control; we do not abdicate responsibility to obey and teach, but we do give up control to Christ and the Holy Spirit. This is, by its nature, uncomfortable for most of us, for who knows how God will surprise us? We like control, not surprise.

 

It also means that we are not called to apply the Word of God, it means that we are called to obey the Word of God. If I can apply something then I can control it, as a teacher I am tasked with proclaiming the Word and making disciples; in Christ I call us to obey the Word, to obey Jesus Christ.

 

I realize some may not see the distinction, but it is important to me in our pragmatic culture to attempt to make the point. I want to inculcate obedience to Christ and the Cross, not pragmatic application. I want to stress our servanthood, we no longer belong to ourselves but to our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

 

Bonhoeffer tells us that the Word “can no longer exist in isolation from the humanity it has assumed…Jesus Christ himself has come to be present in our midst in the power of his body” (page 210).

 

This is a high view of the Incarnation which we are unaccustomed to. While there may be traditions which are more comfortable and familiar with this vision than others, even in those few groups the average person doesn’t really live in this awareness. We simply don’t live in the spiritual realm, we don’t experience the supernatural, the numinous, the Other. While our forefathers may have lived naturally supernatural lives, experiencing the communion of the saints, we have become so earthbound that these things can be difficult for us. What was once natural, is now unnatural.

 

(I am reminded of the series on Geerhardus Vos’s Heavenly – Mindedness from a few years ago. Vos took us on a naturally supernatural experience of Hebrews 11:9- 10. I kept thinking as I was reading and writing, “We don’t talk like this now, we don’t think like this now, we don’t experience this now. In fact, we often discourage it.”)

 

To encounter the Word is to encounter Christ, and to encounter Christ is to encounter the Word. When we encounter the Word, when the Word comes to us and we are drawn to the Word, we must submit and obey (by the grace of God). The Word does indeed create community – see John Chapter 17. If we submit to Him we will be drawn deeper and deeper into the koinonia of the Trinity.

 

My own sense is that this is why we often find deep fellowship outside of our own movements and traditions, for when we gather with those outside our home boundaries and wineskins, we are usually gathering with those who are hungry for Jesus and seeking to serve Him and others. Again, this is just my sense; it has often been my experience.

 

There is always a risk, in the natural sense, in submitting to the Word of God, for we just don’t know where our Shepherd will lead us. O yes, we can trust Him, and He will always care for us; but He will also always draw us to His Cross…for reconciliation with God and with one another, for our source of Life in Him, and as our Way of Life as we lay our lives down for others.

 

As I have written before, Bonhoeffer is dense and there is no substitute for actually reading what he writes in its full context, we are only touching some highlights, only trying to keep the signposts in focus.

 

This is quite challenging to me, and I hope to you.