“EQUIPPED WITH EVERYTHING GOOD”
Hebrews 13:20-21

Have you ever had the experience when you've been asked to step into an office—maybe it was the principal's office, or your employer's office, or even a doctor's office—and you're invited to sit down and the person behind the desk pulls out a file and opens it up in front of you? It's a very unnerving encounter because you don't really know everything that is written down in that file. And if you ever have had that happen to you before, chances are, it wasn't always good news with which you were confronted.

Well, now take that experience to another level, up to the most dramatic level of all, that of standing before the Lord God Almighty and having the book of life opened before you.

Maybe that thought doesn't bother you because, just maybe, you have your doubts concerning God's existence. If there really is no God, if there really is no life after death, then you've got absolutely nothing to worry about, right? But that's rather like playing Russian roulette, isn't it? Because, what if there was just the slightest chance that everything that the Bible says happens to be the truth after all? Then there are no second chances. And the prospect of having all of the details of your sinful life exposed before a holy and righteous Judge is more frightening than any uncomfortable confrontation we have ever known in this lifetime.

On the other hand, perhaps the reality of God opening the book of life before you doesn't bother you because… you know that Jesus Christ is Your Savior. Meaning, you believe that Jesus lived the perfect life in your place and offered the all-sufficient ransom for your life on the cross. And on that final day, in spite of all the guilt of all of your sin, you have the humble faith to be able to say, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.” And, therefore, you are not frightened about the book being opened before you because you are assured that all those who trust in Jesus will not perish, but have everlasting life.

And if that's the case, then praise God. Your deliverance is close at hand.

Now, it would be quite easy to capitalize on that other kind of fear—the fear of being unprepared for what that book might have to say—and to turn that fear into a very powerful motivation. For instance, someone might say, “Well, if you want to try to save yourself from that terrible prospect, then you had better get to work right now! Turn your life around. Start doing good things for other people. Instead of being so selfish with your material goods, start making large, charitable gifts to others… and to the church. For, who knows, you just might be able to do enough and give enough in order to be able to get yourself off the eternal hook.”

And wouldn't that make a wonderful stewardship sermon? It would probably work too. Just like a student who would plead for a second chance to change his behavior or do better at his homework rather than to be disciplined or expelled. Or like an employee who would be willing to put in extra hours or take on extra assignments rather than lose his job. Or like a patient who offers to change their exercise or eating habits if only it would mean that they could get beat that terminal disease. That's the kind of earnestness that you would most likely see from a church member who believed that his change of heart could somehow have an impact on his or her eternal outcome.

Fear is a great motivation. But, unfortunately, it's a misdirected confidence. And ultimately, second efforts will never be perfectly righteous efforts; nor will they wipe away the failures which have preceded them.

But when Christians are living under the promise of grace, there are no threats hanging over their heads... just like you. You know that God has given His Son to die for you. You know that you are forgiven of all yours sins. You know that you don't have to do this or that in order to make your salvation secure… because Jesus has done it all for you.

Unfortunately, there are some who then take that assurance and run with it in a very irresponsible manner. “I don't have to do anything to earn eternal life?! Good! Then I won't do anything.” And so we end up with Christians who don't practice faithful stewardship because they know (and rightly so) that nothing that they do or fail to do is going to alter God's precious promises.

But, consider this: There are also those experiences in our lives when we discover how much we had been missing out on. Again, using the same illustrations as before—there's the young person who says, “I didn't realize how much trouble I was headed for until someone grabbed me by the collar, shook me up a bit, and set me on the right path.” Or the employee who can eventually say, “Losing that job was the best thing that ever happened to me because it allowed me to pursue a career that I really enjoy.” Or the patient who says, “Considering how good I feel now, I should have had that surgery a long time ago.”

Well, it is certain that when we all come to that great and glorious day of our entrance into heaven, we will be able to say, “Knowing what I know now, at this moment, I should have never let those opportunities slip by when I could have spent my time more wisely, used my talents more fully, or given of my resources more freely than I did. For, looking ahead of the glory that now awaits me, I realize that I wouldn't have forfeited a thing if I had only offered more of what God had entrusted to me.”

Listen again to the words of today's text : “ Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

No, don't stand up just yet. That “Amen,” didn't signal the end of the sermon. Rather, it is the affirmation, the “so shall it be,” that is declared confidently and boldly in recognition of what God will most certainly do. In other words, paraphrasing the words of the text, there is no question that God raised the great Shepherd of the Sheep, Jesus Christ, from the dead. It is so! There is no question that through the blood of the covenant that Jesus shed, we have eternal life. It is so! So also, there is no question that God has indeed equipped you with everything good so that you may do His will. It is most certainly true. And He will, just as certainly, work in you that which is well pleasing in His sight.

Meaning, God, your God, is going to have nothing but wonderful things written about you in the book of life; not only because He is working in us to cause us to be faithful stewards of His gifts but, most importantly, because when He looks into the book of life, the everlasting Father is going to see nothing there but the life of His Son, Your Savior, Jesus Christ.

Just as the Lord Himself stated in our Gospel reading for today —“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

God's Word, THE Word, will not pass away. All the deeds that we performed under heaven, upon this earth, will not be remembered—thank God! But what will endure is the wonderful life of our Lord Jesus. What will endure will be the works of love which Jesus performed, through us, for those who required His loving service. When the sky above and the earth below pass away, the only thing that will endure is what was coupled to Jesus Christ.

That changes everything, people. It gives us a completely different perspective on what is really important in our lifetime—reaching out to others with the life-saving Gospel; using the gifts of time, talent, and treasure to serve one another out of love and thanksgiving because, there is nothing to fear.

For the book has been opened… and God is well-pleased.

Daniel 7:9-10

As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Mark 13:24-31

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