WHO QUALIFIES FOR GOD'S GRACE?

by Pastor Paul Naumann

"At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 'Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.'" 

— Matthew 11:25-30

In the Name of our Gentle Savior, Who bids us come to Him for rest, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Have you ever wanted desperately to do something in your life, and found you couldn't because there were qualifications that you couldn't meet? I read an interesting newspaper article about a man who was trying to qualify for his state's highway patrol academy. He was in excellent physical shape, had a degree in criminology, and a black belt in karate. There was only one problem - he was one inch shorter than the minimum height requirement for entrance into the academy. So he took growth hormones. He did stretching exercises. For hours each day he'd hang upside-down from a bar with weights in his hands, trying to eke out that extra inch he needed to qualify. But in the end, he never did make it. Tragically, he was excluded.

I'll tell you what's even more tragic than that - people who exclude THEMSELVES from the grace of God. They see the qualifications in God's Law - for righteousness, for holiness, for obedience - and they despair. They hear the beautiful carols and hymns of this season, but they think: that 'peace on earth, good will toward men' business is for other people, not for me. I don't qualify. But God never meant to exclude anyone from His kingdom of grace. If you look carefully at our text for this morning, you'll see that there are qualifications for entrance into Christ's kingdom...but they are qualifications that you and I can easily and gladly meet. In our text, Jesus answers the question once and for all:

"WHO QUALIFIES FOR GOD'S GRACE?" 

I. Those who have the wisdom of a baby. II. Those who seek the Father through the Son. III. Those who have a burden they'd like to lay down.

The words of our text are one of the most beautiful and comforting invitations found in all of Scripture. What's interesting is that they come right after one of the most scathing condemnations in all of Scripture! As our text begins, Jesus has just gotten done condemning to hell the people in the town of Capernaum. They were very proud of themselves. They considered themselves very wise, and very religious. And what had their great wisdom led them to do? -To despise Jesus' teaching and reject Him as their Savior. Jesus said they were worse than Sodom and Gomorrah: "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." — Mat 11:23-24.

Tragically, these people had disqualified themselves from God's grace. Jesus' verdict on them is frightening. Naturally, it makes us ask ourselves, "Then who does qualify for God's grace? If the people of Capernaum, whose wisdom was 'exalted to heaven' couldn't qualify, who can?" Jesus answers in our text. "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight." Who qualifies for God's grace? In the first place... those who have the wisdom of a baby!

How smart do you have to be to be a Christian? I'll give you a hint. Last Sunday a four-month-old infant became a Christian right here at our baptismal font. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, that tiny child entered God's kingdom of grace by the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Have you got the wisdom of a little child? -Because that's all the wisdom it takes to qualify for God's grace. You don't have to be a Doctor of Philosophy to be saved; actually, there aren't many Ph.D.'s who are Christians. Paul says, "You see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise." — 1 Cor 1:26-27. The world considers little children foolish. But a little child is wise enough to trust his father, and to love him, and to accept without question what his father tells him. Do you remember Palm Sunday outside Jerusalem? The little children there were a lot wiser than the grown-up Pharisees! While the Pharisees grumbled and complained, the little children were welcoming Jesus with songs and praises: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" — Mat 21:9.

In our text Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and praises the Father for this wonderful arrangement - where anyone with the wisdom of a baby can qualify for God's grace! Do you have that wisdom? Can you meet that requirement? Yes, you qualify! All you need is a wisdom that accepts, with a simple childlike faith, everything that your loving Father tells you in His Word.

That brings us to the second qualification. I read an old proverb the other day: "A foolish servant, when told to open the door, sets his shoulder to it and pushes with all his might; but the door stirs not, and he cannot enter, use what strength he may. Another comes with a key and unlocks the door and enters right readily." You can push with all your might against the door of God's kingdom, but it won't do you any good if you don't have the key. The key is Jesus Christ. Again the question - who qualifies for God's grace? Those who seek the Father through the Son.

Jesus has a special relationship with the Father - one which is closer than any sinful human can have. He says, "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father." From this privileged position, Jesus grants a knowledge of the Father to others: "Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." But who is that? Who qualifies for this grace? It almost sounds like Jesus doesn't want very many people to find out about the true God. The truth is just the opposite, of course. "God would have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Rather, the words of our text are meant to show just how much our Savior loves us. Imagine it - that the Lord of heaven and earth should stoop down to our level and take the time to give us sinful mortals this heavenly knowledge full of salvation! Do you qualify for this grace? Yes, you do! Paul says to us, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." — Luke 12:32. And as our text proves, He gives it to us in only one way - through His Son.

In Bible class we've talked about how empty your Christmas season would be if it didn't have Christ in it. But the problem goes further than that. A person's whole life will be empty if Jesus Christ doesn't lie at the very center of it! The Bible says, "No man comes to the Father except through the Son." That means that, without faith in Christ, the Father cannot be reached; sin forms an impenetrable barrier between you and God. But Christ is the Key that opens the door to the Father, and knocks down the barrier of sin. When Jesus Christ was stripped and whipped and wounded, when He was nailed to the cross and put to death on Calvary, your sins died with Him. Every last evil deed that stood between you and your heavenly Father was removed that day. When Christ said, "It is finished!" the work of redemption was complete, and the doors of heaven swung open for all those who will call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.

Who qualifies for God's grace? -Everyone who seeks the Father through the Son...including YOU! The moment you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, all the blessings of the Father's grace become yours: the knowledge that you are God's own beloved child; the forgiveness of sins, and a quiet conscience; the right to address your heavenly Father in prayer, and the promise that He will hear you; total security for your life in this world, and the promise of everlasting life in the next. And you can keep on going - fill in the blank with the blessings you've already experienced! Paul says simply that, in Christ, "...all things are yours!" — 1 Cor 3:21.

Are you convinced yet? Maybe not. Perhaps there are still some reservations down deep in your mind. If you have even the tiniest twinge of doubt about whether or not you qualify for absolute forgiveness, salvation and heaven...then I want you to pay careful attention to the last part of our text. It's an invitation by our Savior - one that's so broad and universally inviting that, if you can't find yourself included here, then you're just not looking! In his tenderest, most loving voice, Jesus says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Who qualifies for this grace of God? That's simple. ALL! -All those who have a burden they'd like to lay down!

If you're like me, then you've got more than one burden - burdens that are heavy to carry, and that you'd be awfully glad to lay down. Have you been burdened with an illness recently? Perhaps you're carrying a burden of sorrow over the loss of a loved one, or over some special disappointment in your life. Maybe you're financially burdened at the moment, or weighed down by a stressful job or by family obligations. Jesus invites you to bring all your burdens to Him, and lay them at His feet. He doesn't want you to wear yourself out struggling under all that weight all alone. That's why the Bible says, "Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." Bring your burdens to the Lord Jesus. Only He has the wisdom to sort them all out, and make them all work out for your good.

This invitation, though, is directed mainly to those who are burdened by their sins. Those people who have tried and tried to work out their own salvation by keeping God's Law, and have failed miserably. See yourself here? I do! We promise to be good, and are not...we try to live righteously, and find that we fall short time after time. The Law is a weight we cannot pull, a yoke around our necks that's so heavy it crushes us to the ground! So our Lord Jesus offers us an exchange. He lifts the heavy yoke of our sin off our shoulders and carries it Himself. In its place, we carry His "yoke" - the yoke of forgiveness and salvation and heavenly wisdom. It's a burden so light that, properly speaking, it actually carries us, rather than the other way around! It's the burden of forgiveness and grace. And you qualify for it. This is one burden that you can carry gladly, and with ease!

"And you will find rest for your souls." Ever done any backpacking? I recall carrying a 50-lb. pack on a five mile trip back into a remote fishing spot once. Now 50 pounds isn't a lot for somebody who's used to it, but for me it was a real struggle. By the time to the lake, I was exhausted. But the moment I dropped that pack to the ground, a funny thing happened. Suddenly, I felt like I was weightless. It seemed like I could have jumped ten feet into the air if I wanted to! My friends, Jesus wants to take off from you the burden of your sins, and give you joyous freedom and rest in its place. What do you need to qualify for this grace? All you need is a childlike faith in Jesus as your Savior, and a burden that you'd like to lay down. I know you've got those things. So come. Receive God's grace. You qualify! AMEN.