John 6:28-29 Real men, real work

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6:28-29 NIV

Every day work compels me forward. Within is an internal compass, even a personal satisfaction with what I can do. Work at its core is the expression of who I am and the choices I make and who I hope to become. Work produces everything that I may spend — whether earning something I need or to trade it for that need, or it spends time building relationship, or it invests in myself. Yet, there is nothing that I can do for God, bring to him, buy for him, offer to him, that will catch his eye — except one thing: faith. In Genesis, God made a distinction between the work of Cain and Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

Genesis 4:2-5 NIV

One was accepted, one was not. One honored God in faith, the other offered from self-prescribed efforts. On the surface it may look trivial, even arbitrary, yet the distinction mattered.

So the question is a good one… “What should we do? What does God want from me?”

And the audacious response of Jesus: Believe.

And not just in something generic, but instead, in someone. Me.

You?

Yes, me.

It’s not a principle. Not a system. Not a doctrine. Not an event, miracle, or story of something supernatural. It’s not even embracing Christianity. It’s a person. A real, live, thinking, feeling, knowing, caring person. We think we can please him by studying Him more. Following Him with disciplined routines. Say the right thing, look the right part, fit in with all the others that want the same. But none of it matters compared to being attached to Jesus. Knowing him.

What an audacious proposition.

Then, among these followers it would have seemed crazy because the litmus test they had prepared for the Messiah had failed. In their eyes he was not qualified (because he would not play the part they expected). And today it could continue to seem crazy because… he’s not here. He’s not saying these things to me as a man, with a voice, and a look in his eyes, rather, I’m reading them in the Bible, or hearing them from someone else.

Today, just like then, I grapple with the idea that I must embrace something I cannot see nor fully understand. Something that may not fully appear beyond a doubt real or true. Within every person is a different standard or burden of proof for believing. Some will believe based on the experiences recounted by another, whereas others must put their finger in the hole of a nail-scarred hand. Yet that is the nature of faith—it’s accepting as true something you cannot see— it relies on an internal and intrinsic ability to believe. Is it any wonder Jesus encouraged me to be like a little child? My brain can never, ever take me the full distance to understand God, His kingdom, and the mysteries of the universe. But if I have some evidence and enough trust in the message I hear, I too may become little again.

Let’s move this conversation from the twilight zone to the practical. We already do this every day. I don’t see air, yet I trust my next breath will breathe it in. I haven’t put my finger in the power outlet, yet I trust my mother who says it doesn’t feel so good. I don’t see gravity, the full light spectrum or hear super and sub audio ranges outside my hearing range yet I believe they exist. I did not meet Abraham Lincoln yet I trust the history books that he was a real man. So in fairness I should not set a standard for believing that Jesus is God’s son that is so very high and out of reach. Yet if I’m honest, the truth appears inconvenient and the nature of man does not want it within reach — it costs me too much to believe.

As I consider these things this morning, I’m thankful for the moment I chose to believe in this man of history. Yet, that is simply the beginning. Faith grows. Step by step he leads me into his kingdom into things that seem unreal, amazing, absurd, marvelous, then preposterous. When he tells me he loves me, I have no idea what that means. So my entire life he plays in the sandbox of my faith and create castles of love. Then it begins to make sense to me… the journey of faith is in Jesus. Nothing else. No one else.

“…believe in the one he has sent.”

When he said this, his disciples could reach out and touch him. Ask him a question and expect a response. They could observe his behaviors and habits. He was flesh and blood. But today, he asks me to believe in something I cannot see. What’s the deal?

Without stealing the thunder of the coming verses in John 14, Jesus told them it was better that he was going away — because if he did, the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in us. He was “with” them, but would be “in them” after he left. Make no mistake, Jesus is just as real today as when he was walking the earth. Yet the means by which he connects with me is the thing that has changed. Then, the ears could listen, the eyes could see, but like then, today my spirit must be awake and alive to hear and understand. Then he could interface with a few, today with many. This still blows my mind. He is a real person. And he really wants to have friendship and relationship with me. But, I must believe.

Then they saw him and were close to him, but missed him because they could not believe. Then, just like we are today, they were presented with physical evidence of an invisible God. When looking at the man Jesus, if you believed in Him, you could look right through him to see the Spirit of the Living God. They were inseparable. Today I cannot see him, but I love him and trust him… and he is just as close.

In verse 27 he says, “work for the food that endures to eternal life.” Then in this verse he says that work is to, “believe in the one he has sent.” And today, that is still the core of the work I am called to do.

So, what does it mean in real terms to believe in Him? His Spirit indicates what this is, but if I were to drill down a bit and put it into words (for myself), it would mean to first, accept Jesus’s identity as the son of God. He in fact is the living, breathing, exact representation of who God is on this earth. Jesus was the person who God was fully pleased with and who trusted him, had relationship with him, and his actions lived it out. If this identity is true, then second, his words and instructions are important — I should pay close attention to them. And third, in some of the words he spoke he said he was the way the truth, the life, the door, the resurrection, the good shepherd, and so many other things. He is our health, our remedy, our supply, a river within, our future and hope. Everything good! And what is better than… a friend? My “work” is to know this friend. Trust him. Be influenced by him — as a sheep following a good shepherd.

It’s time to go to work.