Heroic and Pleased with Us

I have two items for my write-up about church this morning:

1.  The pastor in his sermon was presenting the scenario of people making a movie about Jesus.  The viewers are wanting a hero, but they are disappointed that Jesus is a servant.

I think that there is something to what the pastor was saying, for Jesus did serve.  But, on some level, Jesus is also impressive and heroic in the Gospels.  He stood up to the religious establishment and could refute its arguments.  He healed people.  He had authority over demons.

2.  God said that he was well-pleased with Jesus at Jesus’ baptism, and the pastor asked how we can be well-pleasing to God.  Essentially, he said it was by doing good.  There are evangelicals who may cringe at this, for do we not become well-pleasing to God by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior?  I’m sure that my pastor believes that we are saved by grace through faith, but he would probably also say that there are things that we do that make God happy, and things that we do that make God sad, maybe even mad.  God loves us, and each of us is God’s special creation.  On some level, I’d say that God delights in us, period.  But I also believe that God is happy when we do the right thing: when we trust in God and are considerate of others.