“GRANTED BY THE FATHER TO BELIEVE”
John 6:60-69 

There is a line that comedian Bill Cosby used to use in his comedy acts that eventually found its way into his television show as well. When his kids would say or do something to upset him, he would reply, “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it.”

The same can rightly be said by God concerning, not only our physical lives but, our spiritual lives as well. God is the author of all life. A child cannot be conceived without God's creative power. And, in the end, God knows the number of our days, and it is up to Him to decide when we draw our last breath.

But many people forget the fact that God is also the One who brings us into the kingdom of faith; and just as our own physical life comes into being without our help or assistance, so also our spiritual lives are wrought by God's power alone.

You see, each of us came into this world without the least bit of faith within us. Spiritually speaking, we were corpses. But in Holy Baptism, God performed a miracle upon us by resurrecting us out of those Holy waters just as Jesus' lifeless remains were resurrected from the tomb. In Baptism, God the Holy Spirit instilled faith in us by the power of the Gospel. We take no credit for it. God did it all.

And that's precisely what Jesus says in our text for today: “ no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Contrary to the popular notion, no one decides to become a Christian. No one chooses Christ as his or her Savior. We don't possess that inclination nor the power to do so. Rather, Christ says in the Gospel reading, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh,” (meaning our mind or will), “the flesh is of no avail.” And for good reason. It is because we are sinners. And just like Adam and Eve who ran away from God and tried to hide themselves, guilty sinners want nothing to do with God.

So God had to come looking for us. He sent His Son on a search and rescue mission. And the result of that successful mission is that Jesus ended up sacrificing His own life in order that we might be saved.

If you trust in that good news, then give God the glory; for, this isn't something that any of us here stumbled upon on our own. No, that trust was granted to you by the Father.

However, as was stated before, God not only brought us into the kingdom, but God could also take us out of the kingdom if He chose to do so.

In the Old Testament Scriptures, we hear the case of Pharaoh, about whom it is said, “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go,” (Exodus 10:20 ). Or, there is the statement from the New Testament book of Romans that tells us, concerning those who exchanged the truth of God's Word for lies, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done,” (Romans 1:28). In other words, God, Who grants the gift of faith can also withdraw the gift of faith, leaving a dead and hardened heart. Not that that is His desire. God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

But, because faith is a gift, it cannot be forced upon those who don't want it. Neither can God force any of us to love Him. God can make us new creations and change our will so that we love Him—as the Bible says , “We love because he first loved us,” (1 John 4:19), nevertheless, that doesn't mean that we can't still push that God-given love out of our hearts.

That's what it means when it says that God has given some up to their own desires. It's not that God took away their faith, so that they would fall. Rather, they already demonstrated their resistance, their desire to have things their own way, their opposition to continuing to have a relationship with Christ. And, finally, God let them have their own way.

We see it in today's text . “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" … And Jesus said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

Now, please listen carefully. Too many people become much too casual about their membership in God's kingdom. It is seen, specifically, in the way that they treat their church worship life. And, little do they realize that they run the risk of forfeiting the gift of faith for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive their sins.

Maybe they say, “I don't get anything out of the church services.” Or perhaps they cite a conflict of time when it comes to other priorities in their lives. It could be a case where they know that their personal lifestyle is completely out of sync with what the Bible forbids; they are playing with fire and don't realize that God could, very well, “give them up to their debased minds to do what ought not to be done.” And then there are those who allow personal conflicts with other church members justify their selective participation.

I think it's safe to say that in any of those situations it is actually a case of disregarding the truth that no one can come to Christ unless it is granted by the Father . Instead, there is the temptation to think that we can come and go at will without harm to their spiritual lives. We mistakenly think that we brought ourselves into the kingdom and that only we have the choice when it comes to leaving the kingdom on our own terms. But the thought that God actually seal our spiritual fate, would probably have us crying, “Wait, that's not how I expected things to turn out!”

Look at those disciples in our text who turned away from following the Lord. Do you think it ever occurred to them that in turning away from Christ they had actually forfeited eternal life? No, they probably continued to think of themselves as being very religious people. But listen to what Jesus said elsewhere in the Gospels: “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 7:22-23).

Too long have too many church members walked the edge when it comes to the grace of God. Too long have too many thought of themselves as people who belong to a church rather than as people who belong to God; Whose gift of His only-begotten Son is not simply another Bible story, but powerful difference between eternal life and eternal death.

The words of Joshua in the Old Testament reading have an urgency still at this time for all of us: “choose this day whom you will serve.” Joshua wasn't placing that choice before unbelievers, but before the tribes of Israel —those whom were already chosen by God to be His own. Just as Christ said to those whom He had already called to be His disciples, "Do you want to go away as well?"

And the Israelites answered, “we also will serve the L ord , for he is our God." And Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." And by the grace of God, we will answer is the same faithful way—not just because the alternative means certain death, eternal death; but because God is so good and gracious that He is willing to sustain the faith that He first instilled in our hearts even unto life everlasting.

People, it is a tremendous thing for us to know that we are so utterly dependent upon God's grace, and that He offers us that grace here in His Word and in the Sacraments. While others will follow only on their own terms, the true Christian will follow the word of Christ alone. For, He alone has the words of eternal life. Jesus Christ has lived, died, and rose again for whole world. And blessed are those whom the Father has granted the faith to believe it, and who rely on the Father alone to sustain that faith, even unto life everlasting.

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel . And they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the L ord , the God of Israel, ‘Now therefore fear the L ord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt , and serve the L ord . And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the L ord , choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the L ord ." Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the L ord to serve other gods, for it is the L ord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. And the L ord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the L ord , for he is our God."

Ephesians 5:21-31

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

John 6:60-69

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

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