Chapter 40. The Sympathetic College Professor. God is love, and He has no pleasure in the ruin of His creatures. Henry Scougal. Dr. Rod Weiss teaches history at Greensburg State University. Every semester he ends up having to give failing grades to a number of his students. Some university professors might enjoy failing some of their students, but not Professor Weiss. He tries his hardest to convey the information in his lectures, but somehow a large number of students perform poorly on his final exams.
Feeling sympathy for his students, one semester, a week before the final exam, he decides to do something he has never done before. He will tell his students in advance what the questions are going to be on the final exam. Not only that, he'll even tell them the answers he's looking for. For once, Dr. Weiss says to himself, "I'll have nothing but A's on the final exam." So a week before the exam, Dr. Weiss hands out a set of stapled pages to each student.
"These are the exact questions that will be on the final exam, plus the precise answers I want you to give," he explains. As you can imagine, the students all sit there with their mouths wide open. They stare at one another in disbelief. "Are you serious?" one of the students asks incredulously. "Yes, I'm quite serious," the professor responds. "For once, I want to see every one of you pass the exam. In fact, I want every one of you to get an A.
However, you won't be allowed to bring these questions and answers with you into the exam room. You will have to study them and know the answers by heart." A week later, Dr. Weiss gives the exam. When it is over, he stacks the finished tests neatly and carries them to his office, excited that for once everyone will pass. However, when he grades the first paper, he discovers that the student gave the wrong answers for most of the questions. He shakes his head in bewilderment. "What happened?
Maybe the student was sick or something," he thinks. However, when he gets to the next paper, he finds that this student also missed a lot of the questions and just barely passed. Dr. Weiss moves to the third paper. But the third student missed many questions as well. When Dr. Weiss finishes grading all of the exams, he finds that just as many students failed as on past exams. Out of his whole class, only three or four students made A's. What could have gone wrong? When the next semester starts, Dr.
Weiss is walking to his office one day when he sees Susan, one of his students from the prior semester. "Oh, hi Susan," he begins. "Listen, I'm wondering if you can clear up a mystery for me." "Well, I'll try," Susan responds with a smile. "What's the mystery?" "It's this," Dr. Weiss answers. "As you remember, last semester, a week before the finals, I gave everyone in the class a handout containing all the questions that would be on the final exam, plus all of the correct answers.
Naturally, I assumed the whole class would make A's since they had the questions and answers in advance. Yet, only you and a couple of other students made A's." "Really?" Susan replies. "I didn't realize that." "Yes, that's the sad truth," Dr. Weiss continues. "There were a number of C's and D's, and even some F's. Do you have any idea what happened?" Susan thought for a moment. "You know, I think I do know what happened.
Right after your class, a lot of us were eating lunch at the student union and talking about your exam. It was hard to believe that you really would tell us in advance the questions and answers. Luther Little had a theory. He said, 'I'm guessing that old Dr. Weiss is trying to trick us.' Think about it. Would a professor really give his students the questions and answers for the final exam? He would probably get in trouble with the university.' 'What did the other students say?' Dr. Weiss asked.
'Well, the conversation went back and forth, but eventually most of the students agreed with Luther. The theory was that you wanted us to look past the answers you gave us, to dig deeper and get down to the real answers. So most of the students met that night and tried to figure out the real answers for themselves.' 'Did you join them?' the professor asked. 'No, I didn't,' Susan replied. 'I got thinking to myself. Is that what I really think of Dr. Weiss? Is he so mean that he would try to trick us?
Can I really believe that he wants to flunk us? What kind of person would do that? So after thinking it over, I decided to believe you. I studied the questions and answers you gave us.' The Real Dr. Weiss. Like the story about Mortimer Sly, this story about Dr. Weiss also happens to be true. The names and setting have obviously been changed, but the story is real. Our teacher, Jesus Christ, has told us what the exam questions are going to be on Judgment Day. The questions will be, 'Did you feed the hungry?
Give drink to the thirsty? Clothe the naked? And visit those who were sick or imprisoned?' There's only one correct answer, 'Yes.' And Jesus will already know whether or not we have done these things before we stand in front of Him. How easy could Christ possibly make it for us? He gives us both the questions and answers in advance. And this is no mere college exam. It's our eternal destiny. Yet Christians do the exact same thing that Luther Little did in my story.
They decide that Jesus isn't going to judge us based on anything we have done. Therefore, we can safely ignore His words. Just last week, I was reading a Christian pamphlet in which the author asserted, 'Remember, one and all, that there is nothing we can do to get into heaven.' The author is correct that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. It will always be a gift to those with a living faith who produce godly fruit. However, a faith that produces no fruit is not saving faith.
A theme throughout the Gospels. Matthew 25 is so clear about Judgment Day that there's no way we could quibble with it, even if Jesus never said anything further on the subject. However, rarely does any foundational teaching of Christianity rest on just one New Testament passage. And Jesus' teaching about helping the poor is no exception. The theme of helping the poor runs throughout His ministry and the New Testament. Here are a few examples. The parable of the unjust steward, Luke 16:1-13.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31. 'Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away.' Matthew 5:42. When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will Himself reward you openly. Matthew 6:3-4. Please note that Jesus says when you do a charitable deed, not if you do one.
'Blessed are you, poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.' Luke 6:20. Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. Luke 12:33. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. Luke 14:13.
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today, salvation has come to this house.' Luke 19:8-9. The same message resonates throughout the rest of the New Testament. In Acts, the angel tells Cornelius, 'Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.' Acts 10:4.
Describing his meeting with the leaders of the Jerusalem church, Paul writes, 'When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.' Galatians 2:9-10. Helping the poor is more than just a commendable thing to do.
Jesus and His disciples tell us that it is essential to the Christian life. James writes, 'This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father to visit orphans and widows in their distress.' James 1:27. James goes on to say that refusal to help the poor is an example of dead faith. If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:15-16. Although many Christians imagine Paul teaches salvation through a once-and-done faith, he says the opposite. He shows that our faith must be enduring, and it must produce fruit. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19. Does that mean we can buy our way into heaven? Let's see.