You walk up to a random person at the local shopping mall and ask them if they’d like a voucher for a free meal at the grand opening of Pizazz, the new upscale restaurant you’re opening across the street. In response, the person asks, “What’s the catch?” You say, “No catch, we’re just trying to introduce you, and 99 others, to our new establishment to earn your future business. It’s your lucky day, I guess.” The person says, “Yes, please, I’ll take the voucher. Thank you!” So, you hand them the voucher and look for the next 99 people to give one to.
I know this is a fictitious event and that you don’t really own a restaurant called Pizazz, but I hope you are able to imagine the interaction. What I’m asking you to consider here is both the ease of the transaction and the fundamental attitude of the person to whom you gave the voucher. Is it fair to say their only hesitation was based on whether there was some sort of “payment” implied, as in time or money? Indeed. However, in this case, it seemed all up-side, so the person politely accepted your offer for a free meal.
You walk outside for some fresh air and as you round the corner of the mall, you notice a homeless person in the alley rummaging through the garbage, in an undignified way, who looks like they haven’t eaten for a week. You approach them, offer them the voucher and, without hesitation, they say, “Please, yes! Thank you, I haven’t eaten in so long. Praise be to God for your kindness.” So, you hand them the voucher knowing that this is truly a person in need of sustenance, appearing as if they might even die soon, and they know it.
I ask that you consider this second scene, comparing it with the first. What was the fundamental difference between the “Yes, please” response from the first person and the “Please, yes” response from the second? Simply put, the first person didn’t need the food, whereas the second one did. The first person didn’t see the food as a life-or-death situation, the second person did.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
– Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisee did not hunger for the Savior as his belly was already “full” of righteousness. Meanwhile, the tax collector hungered for mercy because he was “starving” for righteousness. Likewise, if you were to ask the Pharisee in this parable if they’d like salvation, they’d politely say, “Yes, please, I’ll take it;” whereas, the tax collector would say, “Please, yes!”
Only a person who recognizes their need for righteousness and hungers for it will be saved.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
– John 6:35
Jesus had no problem rebuking the Pharisees who did not perceive a need for righteousness outside of themselves and, therefore, did not hunger for God-given righteousness through the Savior. These are the same type of people throughout human history who do not realize how very sick they are!
And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
– Mark 2:16-17
A person who doesn’t understand their own sickness will never take their medicine. A person who doesn’t understand they are starving to death will never eat. A person who doesn’t realize their desperate need for righteousness before the holy, sovereign God of the Universe will never seek it – at best they may say, “Yes, please” when offered the “free gift” of salvation. After all, who wouldn’t say “yes” to a trip to Heaven (versus Hell)???
A person who’d rather quench their own thirst will remain thirsty forever (read Luke 16:19-31 after reading this blog).
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
– Matthew 5:6
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
– Psalm 63:1
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
– Isaiah 55:1-3
It’s one thing to say “Yes, please,” to a gift when you don’t realize you need it. It’s an entirely different thing to say, “Please, yes,” to a gift that you know will save your life!
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
– Mark 8:34-35
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins