“Our churches also teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruits and that it is necessary to do the good works commanded by God. We must do so because it is God’s will and not because we rely on such works to merit justification before God, for forgiveness of sins and justification are apprehended by faith.”
Augsburg Confession Article 6
I have been teaching the parables of Jesus in confirmation recently. The purpose of the parables is to teach the values of the kingdom of God both in what God does and what we are to try to do. It is a delicate balancing act to teach that salvation is a gift received by faith and that God still is looking for us to do the right thing. First and foremost the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith must be preached. But secondly, the desire to do good works must be cultivated. Taken all together, the parables teach both, even if one or another seems to approach a “works righteousness” view of gaining God’s favor.
The main thrust of the parables is generosity. They are beautiful examples of God’s generous dealings with us while, at the same time, teaching us to be generous in the way we deal with one another.
The parables of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) and of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) encourage us to be generous with our time, talent, and treasure. In the Good Samaritan parable Jesus praises a man who went far out of his way to help another man who was beaten and robbed on the road to Jericho. The Samaritan did not just help a little; he went above and beyond what anyone would have expected. In the Lazarus parable the rich man apparently ignored the obvious needs of poor Lazarus who was right outside his own gate. The rich man paid a stiff price for his miserliness.
The world believes that “the man who dies with the most toys wins,” to quote a modern, if slightly sarcastic, aphorism. This is nothing new, however. From the fall of Adam right up to the Wall Street collapse, greed has been one of the seven deadly sins with which we all must contend. Jesus taught something generosity. He said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35).
When our confirmation class was studying the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, the example of Andrew Carnegie was used. Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men of the 19th century who gave away most of his wealth before he died. In 1889 he wrote an essay titled “Wealth” in which he said, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” The measure of any human life is not what has been accumulated but what has been given away. Jesus died not owning a single thing, having even his clothes taken by the soldiers and his body placed in a borrowed tomb. He does not expect us to live in abject poverty, but to be generous with what we have. St. Francis and Mother Theresa are inspiring but exceptional cases of extreme generosity. Most of us are called to ordinary generosity.
The parables of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35) teach us to be generous in forgiving. The prodigal son received the generous forgiveness of his father when he repented of his wayward ways and came home. The older son was implored to be generous in forgiving his younger brother and joining the celebration of his homecoming. The clear intent of the parable is to implore us to be generous in forgiving those who have wandered off and come back.
The folly of the unforgiving servant is shown in the outlandish contrast between the amount he was forgiven by his master and the amount he refused to forgive his fellow servant. St. Paul wrote, “forgive each other just as the Lord has forgiven you,” (Colossians 3:13) and we regularly pray “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus died with these words on his lips: “Father, forgiven them for they know not what they do.” And so we, who have been forgiven so very much, are called to the good work of forgiving those who have hurt us in any way.
Will generosity get us to heaven? Well, yes and no. The generosity of God in giving Jesus to be our Savior will get us there if we put our faith in Jesus Christ. The generosity we practice is simply a feeble response to the great generosity God has shown to us. But still, “such good works are commanded by God.”
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