Pie has always been one of my favourite desserts. Fresh fruit, baked in sugar, and wrapped in a delicious crust is widely acceptable any time of the year for me. Why, there’s a pie for every season. Strawberry or strawberry rhubarb in the spring, peach or blueberry in the summer, apple in the fall, and pumpkin at Christmas. When my grandma and I went to a local diner for lunch, we’d end our meal sharing a coconut cream pie. A quick Google search will show all the varieties of pie you could make for every month of the year, if you wanted. The one pie I didn’t see on the list though was humble pie. It’s not exactly a fan favourite.
There’s a story in our church’s nursery called, “Franklin Fibs.” Franklin the Turtle had boasted to his friends that he could eat “Seventy-six flies in the blink of an eye.” So, his friends played the game and bragged about all their abilities, proving their skills to each other, except Franklin. There was no way he could eat that many flies at once. After much regret, he finally admitted that he could not eat “seventy six flies in the blink of an eye”, but he could eat them. He went home, made a fly pie, and ate the whole pie of seventy-six flies in front of his friends. When they asked what else he could do, he was tempted to say he could eat two fly pies but quickly resisted the urge. Then they all went to play another game. Though the story was about the importance of telling the truth, there was another theme that ran throughout it. What really got Franklin in trouble in the first place was pride. That seventy six fly pie was really his own version of humble pie.
Our women’s ministry is wrapping up our season with Mary Wiley’s, Everyday Theology: What You Believe Matters Eight-Session Bible Study. She did an excellent job going through Gospel focused Theological topics in a loving and gracious way. In this week’s study, there are two questions I came across that challenged me. Before I give the questions, I’ll give the context. That day’s reading was on the Day of Judgement when all nations in heaven, earth, and in Hell will be brought before the Great White Throne for the final judgement. Those who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior will be condemned to Hell. Friends, I say this in total love and urgency: Hell is a real place with real consequences and I do not want you or anyone else to enter there, no matter what you’ve done on earth! There is grace and mercy, love and forgiveness for even you! Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.” I fully believe this to be true for me and for you. Now’s the time.
For those who have made that confession, repented of their sin, and are walking by faith in relationship with Father God, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – the Three-in-One God, we will also approach the Throne but our judgement will be different. We have already received the gift of eternal life with Christ and nothing can take that away from us! Ephesians 2:4-9 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
We have been saved by grace through faith and seated with Christ in the heavens. We have not been saved by good works. However, after placing our faith in Jesus, our works are measured and we will receive our rewards based on the measure of our good works. Mary referred to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 to explain this. It says,
“According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.”
Let’s focus on verses 10-11 first. Paul explains the beginning of this passage in Ephesians 2:19-22. Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone foundation of His Church. The apostles and prophets continued to build upon His foundation, and we as citizens of heaven continue to add to the building, all of us contributing to God’s “holy temple in the Lord. In Him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22) Our lives are considered as “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) in a metaphorical sense. Our good works then helps add to this investment.
1 Corinthians 3 continues this context in verses 12-15. “If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.”
Mary asked these two questions, “What do you think about the quality of your work and service you’re currently doing for the Lord? Does knowing the coming judgement will reveal the quality of your work affect how you approach it?” (She quickly went on to explain that this passage and these questions are not meant to invoke fear but to help us keep focused and accountable to the work the Lord calls us to do.)
After reading those questions, I set the book down for the day and meditated on them. Sure, one could look at my schedule and see all I’m doing “for the sake of the Gospel and of Christ.” But I had to pause and really search my heart to see if my actions and motives were aligned. Where does truth prevail and where am I letting lies creep in? Am I like Franklin boasting in my “fly pie?” Do I need to eat some humble pie? I continued digging deeper: what does daily “ministry” look like right now? Is all my focus going to programmed ministry or am I also serving the Lord and my family in everyday life kind of ministry? Am I loving and fearing my God and is the use of my time, talents, and treasures reflective of that? Am I loving and respecting my husband well? Am I giving him the time he needs from me? Let me just say I needed to visit with Jesus for some tea and pie this week. I’ll let you guess which kind of pie I ate.
Often we tend to gloss over these passages of the Bible because they make us uncomfortable. We don’t want to look at our faults and failures, or consider sometimes that even our good efforts might be done with wrong intentions of the heart. But when we can humble ourselves before the Lord and do that kind of analysis, seek His forgiveness, and get realigned with God’s desires for us, we can enjoy the delicious fruit-filled pies He offers. “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8
