"Reward Or Punishment" My Choice??

March 13, 2016: Readings: Psalm 126, Philippians 3: 4-14, John 12: 1-8 

Paul and Judas have a great deal in common and this morning I would like to explore the circumstances of their lives and of their deaths.     At first glance, it looks like Paul is boasting about his achievements.  But he is actually doing the opposite, showing that human achievements, no matter how impressive, no matter how great, cannot you earn a position of favor with God.   This is usually were our human nature kicks in the most, with its human logic.  We just can’t seem to disconnect from thinking that goodness has to give me an advantage over bad people in the eyes of God.  Human logic wants me to believe that goodness makes God choose me over a bad person.  Paul’s experience with God has brought him to the understanding that you cannot buy your salvation you have to choose Gods ways over your own, It a personal choice.   With our freedom of choice, we can choose God.  God on the other hand has already chosen us, there is not need to influence God here.   This truth if you accept it, is your pathway to being truly free and to suffer affliction or reap your reward.   What is the prayer then “ Not My will Lord but thy will be done.” Do you suppose that’s where salvation begins and ends, with surrender? God gives us the will to freely choose and this act of God’s extravagant love, the gift of FREE WILL, actually exonerates God from having to judge or punish us.   Think about the implications here folks.  When we exercise the gift to choose, we can and do call down upon ourselves a clean conscience or invite chaos, reward or punishment, the choice is ours.  Therefore, the discussions we make for our lives, is free from God’s will for us.   Being found right in the eyes of God then cannot be earned, only chosen.   
Paul had impressive credential, and upbringing; he was a respected Jewish Pharisee with a mission.  The mission, to destroy the followers of Christ and persecute the church especially those who preached the message of Christ.   Paul thought that this new religious movement was heretical and blasphemous because, to him Jesus was a fraud and did not meet the expectations of what the Messiah would be like.   Paul assumed that Jesus’ claims were false and therefore wicked.  In addition, he saw this new movement, later to be coined Christianity, as a political menace because it threatened to disrupt the fragile harmony between the Jews and the Roman government.   Paul had an obsession and according to the Law and his religion, he was perfectly justified in carrying out his acts of persecution.  Paul had not met or seen Jesus personally because his reign of terror was after Jesus’ death and resurrection.   

Judas on the other hand, a thief by trade, had been taken in by Jesus and made a disciple.  Just think of it, Judas is able to be physically in presence of Jesus daily, to walk with him, to talk with him and to personally hear and gain from his wisdom teachings.  How fortunate this man could have been, you might think that this would be enough for automatic transformation, a chance for Judas to turn his life around, for the better.   But Judas’ obsession, concerning his own ego, and doing things his way keeps him from having the personal relationship with Christ that is life changing.  He never does get the message and never see Jesus as the Messiah.   To Judas, Jesus is just another man, a prophet, who can be exploited for his own personal ends, his greed and ego keeps him spiritually blind.    It appears that Judas never had second thoughts about his life until it was too late.  Then he tries to make it right but cannot forgive himself for what he has done.  Judas’ FREE WILL takes him to a terrible end as he takes his own life.  Shouldn’t these two disciple’s story cause us to seriously reflect upon the GIFT OF FREE WILL that have been given to us? 

This is a great example of how our choice exonerates God from our punishment and its aftermath.   WE choose, God doesn’t send us anywhere folks.  Even though God is blameless here, God grieves over Judas’s death and his loss, the death he chose by his own will was truly a tragedy.   God often grieves over our choices as well.   

On the other hand Paul who was certainly just as much a threat to the moment as was Judas, with his crusade against the Christians has a personal encounter with Jesus.    Unlike Judas when the opportunity comes to him he submits to Christ and the personal relationship that is essential with Jesus takes place.  Paul unlike Judas forgives himself, receiving Christs’ forgiveness and begins a new life in HIM.  Paul replaces his obsession of hate with an obsession of extravagant love.  The joy and peace that Paul finds in this new relationship with God gives him the strength to live life to the fullest, no matter what circumstances the world throws at him, and in the end dies for his love of Christ, bringing Glory of God.

Now I know that Paul’s and Judas lives are not like ours, but yet we have the same choice to make at some point.   We may be having a personal battle inside ourselves with some worldly issue, some personal struggle that need to be addressed.  The choice we make exercising our God given gift of FREE WILL, will have a great effect on how we live now and how we will die.   Here are three things for you to consider this morning.

1.  Have you accepted your own faults and frailties, can you forgiven yourself and begun to seek the will of God in your life.  

2.  Who is Jesus for you, have you recognized Him as your Messiah, the one who offers to change and save you from your destructive nature the nature of the self.  

3.  Have you used your free will to chosen the way of the Lord, or are you still going it alone?   

My hope for you today is that you will seriously consider Paul’s plea for Christ, your choices in life will determine how you live, how you die, and your life to come. 

Some after thoughts:  

What did Jesus mean when he said “you will always have the poor with you” John 12: 8

Gods Will For Us:  That you will come home, come back to him. 

Surrendering to Jesus begins our pilgrimage home.

Extravagant Love:  God has already chosen us: will we choose God?