Good Works
I remember when I was a young boy there was one Christmas with my dad that really is locked in my memory. We had gotten some old bike parts, frames, etc, and stripped them down, painted them, then put them back together and added the things they needed to be safe, reliable bicycles. Of course, my dad did most of the work; I was just there handing him a tool here or there, or a part, perhaps. I just remember enjoying doing this with my dad for the sole purpose of giving these bikes to some kids who could not afford a bike. Doing this with my dad was what made it a very special moment for me.
Good deeds have the power to make us feel good. They can make us feel good about ourselves or about the people we do them with. Good deeds are very much a part of the New Covenant life we have in Christ.
The point of sharing that experience I had with my dad is not so much about the good deed we did as it is about the connection I felt with my dad in the context of doing that deed. To me, it was the relationship moment that I treasure.
You see if I had done the good deed on my own, I am sure it would have felt good, but what made this particular deed so special was that my dad invited me to partner with him in doing it. It was special to me even though my contribution was very small. In this sense, I feel it is not unlike what Jesus experienced during His earthly ministry. You see, Jesus did what He saw His Father doing, and He spoke what He heard His Father speaking. Jesus partnered with His Father. So when we read something like:
John 10:32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
We begin to grasp what gave fuel to the works that Jesus did. The reason the people wanted to stone Jesus was because Jesus spoke so clearly and authoritatively about His relationship with His Father and the authority the Father had given Him to give eternal life. The people wrongfully thought Jesus was speaking blasphemy.
When the beauty and profound nature of Jesus’ relationship with the Father were revealed, the anger and religious jealousy of certain people were exposed. The relationship set Jesus apart, and the actions based on that relationship revealed what the Father was truly like. Jesus offered this counsel to His disciples,
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
The phrase “Let your light so shine” is key to understanding the actual nature of Jesus’s counsel. Notice Jesus didn’t say, “Let your light shine.” He said, “Let your light so shine.” That little two-letter word is so important to a real revelation of what Jesus was getting at.
The word “so” means there is a specific manner in which the light is to shine. Jesus is not saying here that any and all good works automatically point others to giving glory to the Father. Jesus is indicating that the why and the way we engage in good works will be what moves others to give glory to the Father.
My good works are to be such that they clearly demonstrate my relationship to God the Father, and that relationship is the source of my good works to start with.
The Father is happy to call them my good works, nonetheless, just as my dad was happy to let kids think I was a large part of them getting bicycles that Christmas. But those kids knew it was my dad who was at the core of that blessing, and they were very grateful to him.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
The bicycles we gave to kids that Christmas were my dad’s idea and mostly his work, not mine. He allowed me to be included in it because he wanted me to share in the blessing of it. What good work is your Father in heaven up to through you today? He prepared it for you a long time ago with joyful eagerness to partner with you in it. I encourage you to partner with Him from that place of relationship made possible through Jesus and be a springboard for others to give Him glory. You’ll enjoy it like nothing else.
