Your Only Hope

YOUR ONLY HOPE
MATTHEW 5:17-26

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
In the name of Jesus:
I read about an instant cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn't understand why it didn't sell -- until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently people thought it was too easy. So the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix in addition to the water. The idea worked and sales jumped dramatically.
This story simply illustrates the reaction that many have to salvation by grace through faith in Christ. For some who balk at God’s grace, it sounds too easy and simple to be true, even though the Bible says, "By grace you have been saved through faith... it is the gift of God, not of works" (Eph. 2:8-9). They think that there has to be more to it, that there is something more they must do, something they must add to God's "recipe" for salvation. They think they must perform good works to gain God's favor and earn eternal life. But the Bible is clear -- we are saved, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5). God has not changed the Gospel. The Good News is that He saves by a free gift of His love through faith in Jesus Christ. Our good works are merely thank yous, flowing from grateful hearts to God.
When Jesus ushered in the Kingdom by calling sinners to repentance, He proclaimed the Law of God in its sternest terms. This is what He does today. It is the meaning of His words: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.” True righteousness, a right standing with God exists only because a right relationship with Jesus. Salvation is given by God’s grace through faith in Christ. The Scribes and Pharisees didn’t grasp this concept because of their hatred of Jesus.
In the Old Testament lesson for today, we read of God’s Ten Commandments. The Law of God was given by God to curb lawlessness, show sinners their sinfulness, and as a third use is to be used by Christians as a guide or rule for thankful living to God. For the Pharisees and Scribes, whose hatred of Jesus blinded them, the Law of God was not enough to be right with God. More was needed, much more.
Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments in two verses: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In addition to this, love your neighbor as yourself. These words sum up the Ten Commandments perfectly. But for the Pharisees, this wasn’t enough. The Pharisees had developed a system of 613 laws, 365 negative commands and 248 positive laws. They continued to invent new laws for new situations. Even though God was the judge, they believed that they could judge others and so they held people accountable to their own standard of righteousness. People had to live to please the Pharisees, not God. The Pharisee and his version of righteousness was cold and heartless, it was not produced by love for God, it was more interested in the praise of men, instead of God’s will and lives lived to His glory.
Make no mistake, the scribes and Pharisees were religious people. They were more interested in the externals; a life rooted in works, thinking that by their works God would be pleased. They rejected Jesus and His message of love and grace. But Jesus rejected their teachings and their works. I like what author Frederick Buechner wrote: “The trouble with religious people is that they try to be more spiritual than God.” How true. The trouble with the scribes and Pharisees is that they tried to be more spiritual than God. They thought that they could live lives, which would give them a right relationship with God.
Who can do this? Not the Scribes, not the Pharisees, and certainly not you or me! NO one can keep God’s Law perfectly, this is what He commands when He says Be holy as I the Lord your God am holy. God requires perfection in thought, word, and deed. His standard is the perfect keeping of HIS commandments, not man made ones. And in this you and I and every human being falls far short!
God demands perfection! God demands holiness! Nothing more and nothing less! And so Jesus says: Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you won’t enter the Kingdom of heaven. Examine your life in light of God’s law: Have you loved God above all things? Or have money, power, prestige taken the place of God? Have you played God in your life, or has God had His way with you? Have you acted in anger, spite, or envy of another? Have you honored those who serve God in the government as His agents and prayed for those over you, or have you complained or have been indifferent?
If you are honest with God, and yourself, you will note that you have fallen far short of God’s standard of perfection. You have not been perfect as God is perfect, your life has not been holy at all times, you have not allowed God to use you, rather you have tried to use God and play the part of God in your life. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Even if you were to deny your sinfulness, you can’t deny the inevitability of your death. Death is the payoff for a sinful life. You HAVE sinned, you HAVE fallen short of God’s standard of perfection, and you WILL die.
So where can you go for help? Your help, the sinners’ help is in the name of the Lord. Turn to Christ; trust in what He has done for you. Trust in Jesus, for He is your HOPE, your righteousness, and your ever-present help in times of trouble.
Jesus came to be YOUR righteousness because you can never be right in and of yourself before God. This is why Jesus says: “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Jesus came to keep the Law on your behalf. He came to keep the Ten Commandments perfectly for you in your place. Jesus fulfilled all that was written of Him in the Law and the Prophets. The writer to the Hebrews states: “15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16).
Your only hope for salvation is Jesus! For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus is your righteousness before the Father for He gave His perfect life in death as your Substitute and Savior. Jesus is the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus has accomplished all that is needed for your salvation. His righteousness, and His alone EXCEED the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. And Jesus gives you this righteousness as a free gift.
This gift was given to you in your Baptism. Note what Paul says of Baptism: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:1-4). You have died to sin in Baptism. In your Baptism the Holy Spirit has washed your filthy rags of righteousness. Just as Christ died so too in Baptism you were baptized into His death, so that you might die to sin and rise to newness of life in Christ. This new life in Christ has been given as a GIFT to you in your Baptism. So that, just as Jesus rose from the grave, so daily you are called to rise daily by the power of the Spirit to live for God.
The life you now live, you live to the glory of God. It is done in keeping the Ten Commandments, joyfully, in thanks to Jesus to the glory of God. Jesus explains what this life looks like when He says: “13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16). You are now raised with Christ to walk in newness of life and to share in His resurrection on the Last Day. And so you are to live as if you are dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ, living out your life as a shining light to others revealing the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Today Christians just shake their heads at the state of things in our world today. It seems as if everything is falling apart at the seams. Those Christian values, which we grew up with and held so dear, are now marginalized and trivialized. I ran across an interesting comment by retired Anglican pastor John Stott. Stott, who was a pastor in London England, once remarked concerning what he saw as the declining values in America by saying:
‘You know what your own country is like. I'm a visitor, and I wouldn't presume to speak about America. But I know what Great Britain is like. I know something about the growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, pornography, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion. 

Whose fault is it? Let me put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?” if meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the salt?” if society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?"
Where is the Church? Dear friend, YOU ARE THE CHURCH! You have been called in Baptism to follow Christ, showing by your words and action the God given faith you have in Jesus. The light of Christ has been given to you to shine in this dark world. Your only hope for your salvation is Jesus Christ. The only hope for this lost and fallen world is Jesus Christ! God seeks to use you to bring Light to the darkness and hope to the hopeless. Your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus. The only hope our neighborhoods and communities have is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which has changed your life so that others might be saved!
The power of the Gospel, the power of Christ is most vividly seen in the story told when George Bush was Vice President. As Vice President, George Bush (41 not 43) represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest.
There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
Jesus has had mercy on you. He died and rose for you and gives you His light and life. He has called you by name to give hope to the hopeless by living out your faith in Jesus. So let your light shine, giving glory to God, and hope to many. In Jesus’ name.
Amen