GLORY COMES ONLY BY GOD’S GRACE.
In
the name + of Jesus.
Our Lord does many things that we do not understand. Why does a tornado
destroy one house and leave the house next door without a scratch? Why
does one part of the country suffer a drought when another part assesses flood
damage? Why does God allow evil and wickedness to go on without a
crushing response to it? Occasionally, we can guess why God does what he
does. But Satan often uses our guesses against us. It often results
in charging God with wrong-doing. The Bible reminds us, “Our God
is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3), but he
doesn’t always tell us why.
I have often wondered why Jesus chose Peter, James, and John to be the three
who were privileged to witness some of the most intimate and majestic moments
of Jesus’ ministry. Peter, James, and John were privy to the raising of
Jairus’ daughter from the dead. They were the limited audience of Jesus’
transfiguration. They were the only three apostles who were summoned by
Jesus farther into the Garden of Gethsemane to keep watch and pray with him
before his betrayal. Now, I can guess why Jesus chose Peter and
John. Peter was the leader among the apostles. John ended up being
the longest surviving apostle. Peter and John both wrote books we have in
the New Testament. But James the Elder? We have no book written by
him. (The epistle of James was written by a different James.) We
have no sermon preached by him. He was the first of the Twelve to be
martyred, so his time as an apostle was relatively short. So, why was
James in the inner circle of the apostles? At best, I can guess; but I
don’t know.
Perhaps James’ privileged position is what motivated his request for
glory. James and John were nicknamed ‘Sons of Thunder’ because of their
boldness. They certainly were bold with their request for prominence.
All the apostles had debated amongst themselves which one of them was the
greatest. Instead of continuing to argue for greatness, James and John went
to Jesus to ask for it. They “said to
him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And
he said to them, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ And they said
to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your
left, in your glory’” (Mark 10:35-37). It took a great deal of
nerve to exalt themselves over the other apostles. Was this out of line,
or was this brilliant? Was their request arrogant or savvy? I guess
it depends whom you ask. The other
apostles were incensed. Each one was
convinced that he was deserving of such glory.
And there is the danger. Whenever
we convince ourselves we deserve something, we are outraged when we don’t get it,
and we are seldom grateful when we do.
There is a great difference between what
we need, what we want, and what we deserve. What we need is really very
simple. We need food and water, clothing, and shelter. These don’t
have to be lavish, either. As long as we have food and water and clothing
and shelter, that is enough. Nevertheless, we long for more. Our God is generous. He provides us
with what we need in abundance and variety. And God does not even play
favorites. Jesus reminds us that God the Father “makes his sun rise on
the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”
(Matthew 5:45). God always provides what we need. But we are discontent.
Even when we have abundance and variety, we get bored with it and crave newer
and better. Our wants are never satisfied. What makes it even worse
is that we are convinced we deserve it.
When tragedy strikes, we recognize that this is not the way life is supposed to
be. Planes are not supposed to crash. Viruses are not supposed to
invade our bodies. Rain is supposed to water the earth, not destroy
property or take lives. We pray for protection of such things when we
pray, “Deliver us from evil.” But we often become bitter when
tragedies occur because we believe we deserve better. We believe we
should be rewarded because we are good. To conclude that, we have to
disregard our sins—the fact that we are stingy to the needy despite our
abundance, or that we are jealous of others for their blessings while we are
thoughtless of our own. It is right for
us to confess our sins so that we do not forget ourselves. It is
necessary to remind ourselves each week that that we deserve God’s punishment
both now and in eternity. We need to acknowledge that we do not deserve
glory or even good. We are sinners; we deserve wrath and
punishment. For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)
James the Elder, along with his brother, felt he was worthy of higher honor
than his fellow apostles. I am sure he could cite reasons. But he
was wrong. His place as Jesus’ apostle was neither earned nor
deserved. His place in the kingdom of God was neither earned nor
deserved. If God gives all his gifts by grace, no one has a right to
expect better. Glory comes only by grace.
The
other apostles were outraged. “When the ten heard it, they began
to be indignant at James and John” (Mark 10:41). Jesus used this
selfish jockeying as an opportunity to talk about what the kingdom of God
is. He alerted James that suffering and death were in Jesus’
future. The cup he would drink was suffering. The baptism was being
engulfed in God’s fiery judgment. When James boasted that, for the sake
of glory, he could take it, Jesus forewarned that this would, indeed, be his
future. James would suffer at the hands of wicked men. He would be
refined in God’s fire. But whatever glory there would be would still be
God’s gracious act. Jesus declared, “To sit at my right
hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it
has been prepared” (Mark 10:40). Glory comes only by
grace.
As it turned out, those who were on Jesus’ right and left when he entered his
glory were criminals. For, the glory of Jesus is that “the Son of
Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus’ glory was displayed at the
cross where he suffered and died for sinners. Jesus’ innocence atones for
our guilt. For us who jockey and scheme for glory and demand it of
others, Jesus was put to shame. We want to wrap ourselves in glory.
Jesus was stripped naked and beaten to a bloody mess. We want to hear our
praises sung by others and get insulted when it is not heard enough.
Jesus suffered in silence as he was insulted and slandered by wicked men.
Jesus did not deserve death and damnation, but he endured it for us who
do. This is the ransom price to redeem you. This is the cost to pay
for your sins. The Son of God gave himself into death for you so that
death could receive its full wages. The Lord of glory lowered himself to
a cursed death to save us who have earned that curse. So now, you, dear
Christian, are set free from all charges and condemnation. Even more than
this, thanks to Jesus, you shall receive grace on top of grace. You are
declared a child of God already, and you will receive a glorious inheritance
that will never perish, spoil, or fade. Your glory comes only by God’s
grace.
St. James the Elder was told by Jesus, “To sit at my right hand or at
my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has
been prepared” (Mark 10:40). When those criminals were crucified
on Jesus’ right and his left, each had a different idea about himself.
One criminal went to his grave believing that he deserved better. He died
in prideful sin and is eternally lost. The other criminal acknowledged
that death and condemnation are what he deserved. By grace, he was saved
by Jesus. It is no different for you and me, for John and for James.
If we will not be saved by grace, there is no salvation. The ransom Jesus
paid is not because we deserve it, but because we could not be saved without
it. Glory comes only by God’s grace.
James the Elder learned that glory in the kingdom of God is not like the glory
which is sought in the world. Jesus explained, “You know that
those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and
their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be
so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark
10:42-44). In the world, glory is not only taken, it is also
flaunted. Worldly glory, once it is gained, must be forced upon others so
that people don’t forget where power lies.
Those who don’t have it seek overthrow those who have it, and those who
have it will crush the ones who seek it.
“But it shall not be so among you” (Mark 10:43). In the kingdom of God, glory is not about who
is on top. Glory is about who stoops low to serve. God created us
to love others. So, the glory of man is not that he shows others who’s
boss, but that he serves them. The glory of a man is that he acts as a
leader who protects and provides first for his wife and family and then for
society at large. The glory of a mother is that she cares for her
children and usually with little thanks for it. The glory of a firefighter
is that he risks his safety to rescue people from burning buildings before he
puts the fire out. The glory of a judge is ensuring a fair application of
the law for every person who stands before him. Whatever your vocation
is, its glory is not the praise you get for doing it; it is first of all that
you do it out of love for God and in accordance with his word, and then that
you do it for the good of others. In
this way, if your labors are unappreciated, unnoticed, or even mocked, they are
still good and God-pleasing. Glory comes by the grace you show to others.
All the apostles learned the lesson Jesus taught. They drank the cup
which was given to Jesus—suffering for the sake of the kingdom. They were
baptized with the baptism Jesus underwent. They were refined by God’s
discipline, purged of desires for personal glory. Although you are not an apostle, God calls
you to bear the same cross for the same reasons. Glory comes only by grace.
The apostles, once they were no longer
full of themselves, could be filled with God’s grace. In this way, they devoted themselves to
proclaiming the glories Jesus has won for sinners. They did not do it
because it made them rich, famous, or popular. In fact, preaching the
Gospel made their lives much harder. Almost all of them died violent
deaths at the hands of wicked men, and James the Elder was the first to suffer
martyrdom for Jesus. For their courageous and faithful preaching, these
men gained nothing. Their glory still came by grace—won by Jesus and
granted freely by him. This is the same grace which saves you. It is the grace which allows you to serve for
the glory of God, for the good of your fellow man, and not for the sake of your
ego. And it is this grace which assures you of glory that will never fade
or end.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
