We humans have a notorious knack for minimizing our faults. We know we should behave better than we do but rather than appealing to a higher standard we use our fellow-man as a yardstick. Acutely aware of our own faults we temper our disappointment by scrutinizing the behavior of our neighbor and concluding we aren’t so bad after all. Why do we care about the way we act and think? If we are just evolved animals then we need to banish feelings of guilt and cut our neurotransmitters a little slack. But we don’t! We seem to believe that we must appease an immaterial ghost that haunts our well-oiled biological machines. We seem to believe that the way we conduct our day-to-day activities has ramifications for our spiritual life. Why?

The Pew Research Center found that, “roughly seven-in-ten (72%) Americans say they believe in heaven — defined as a place ‘where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded.’” All religious traditions have well defined parameters of behavior which they believe qualifies them for the afterlife. Buddhism promotes walking the eight-fold path. Hindus know that they are under constant surveillance by the karma police. Even those with no specific religious affiliations believe that being a good person qualifies them for a comfortable cruise across the river Styx.

We all seem to recognize a goodness bar but set it so woefully low that very few are actually excluded. We believe that if we help an old lady cross the street then God will certainly escort us into heaven. The problem is that Brownie points, Boy Scout badges, and public service may get you the key to the city but they won’t unlock the pearly gates.

Jesus wasn’t impressed with a rule-following rich young ruler or a group of followers who cast out demons, prophesied, and did miracles in His name. While Jesus agreed with them that there was a price for Kingdom admission and admired their willingness to dig through their pockets to come up with enough change, He pointed out that it wasn’t the coins that were the problem but the overwhelming amount of accompanying prideful lint.

The disciples had a hard time understanding why works weren’t enough.

“Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:25-26)

St. Paul had an impressive array of religious medals affixed to his chest. He had every reason to have confidence in his service to the one true God.  However, his encounter with the risen Jesus on the Damascus road made him realize that all his accomplishments only made him an arrogant pedestrian in the city of man and not a loyal citizen of the city of God.

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:28-30)

Paul made it clear that a circumcised biological shell does not give an uncircumcised spirit a heavenly pass.

It is only natural for well-meaning humans to feel like they need to bring something to the salvation table. The problem is not the desire to bring a side dish to the festivities but rather a failure to realize that it is already fully catered.

For almost twenty years and I still feel the old clinging dirt of wanting to deal with God that I may contribute something, so that He will have to give me His grace in exchange for my holiness. And still I cannot get into my head that I should surrender myself completely to sheer grace. (Martin Luther)

We hope that God grades on the curve but are haunted by a syllabus that requires us to be Holy like He is Holy.

We have an impoverished view of heaven if we think we just stumble into it because we are pretty good. The Bible makes it clear that it is very difficult for man and God to be in the same room at the same time without human casualties. Even when the Jews had their annual review meeting with God in His Holy of Holies it was restricted to one person and only after careful preparation and cleansing. It is only natural to think that when we meet God we should be on our best behavior. Jesus, however, changes the terms of holy engagement and makes it clear that it is not our Sunday best that gets us into heaven but rather His Good Friday.

Paul warns us that coming before God with a laundry list of religious accomplishments is useless if we continue to fill our earthly hamper with soiled garments. It is only when we stop trying to do our own wash and instead clothe ourselves in Christ that we become spotless and are able to live in God’s presence.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8-11)

Religious and irreligious alike try to collect good works coupons but find that without the work of Jesus they cannot be redeemed.

What earthly badge did Jesus have to show for admission to heaven? A cross! God isn’t impressed by the way we replicate Jesus’ exorcisms, prophecies, or mighty works but in the way we share in His sufferings. The miracles that Jesus performed helped us understand what the coming Kingdom would be like but they were not citizenship papers. While the streets of heaven may be paved with Gold the pathway to heaven’s gate is a via dolorosa (way of suffering).

Heaven is not just a rung on a ladder but is a remote peak in the distance. It is not a simple excursion made possible by buying some equipment at REI but is rather a journey that requires a Sherpa (or should I say Shepherd). Jesus came to lead us out of the Valley of the shadow of death and not to give us a survival manual.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7: 21-23)

If outward works aren’t the will of Father then what is?

What if the will of God wasn’t defined by a Christian job description advertised in a church bulletin but rather by a personal interview with the one who formed us in secret? What if we were fearfully and wonderfully made in order to reflect Jesus in a way unavailable to any other human? Maybe if we were more attentive to the intricate stitch-work of the One who wove us together in our mother’s womb we might be a more attractive tapestry for Jesus.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:1-4, 13-16)

We can take our fruits of the spirit to the front line but until they have secretly fermented in relationship with Christ they will end up looking like grapes of wrath.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4)

 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:5-6)

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,  that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

We need to beware of performing our works for men because what we really need is an audience with God. While it feels good to get a pat on the back from our fellow man, what we need for salvation is for God to say, “well done good and faithful servant.” While our work for the Kingdom is important it doesn’t begin on the battlefield but in a quiet place of secret service.

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash