This blog began as documentation of my journey into formal ministry. Now that I have received a call it will continue to function as a place for me to address concerns, celebrations and anything else that might catch my fancy. Please remember to "Be A Blessing To Someone Today"! God Bless, Roy
Many of the stories that the author of Hebrews (and it most likely, almost certainly, wasn't Paul) uses here are stories where action was the result of faith. In a very concise and nutshell version of the sermon, our faith requires action. Believing and not acting out upon and in that faith accomplishes very little (generally). I compare this message in Hebrews and the message found in the Letter from James. Though Hebrews wasn't written by Paul, I do believe it was composed by a follower/disciple of Paul. And as such, I contrast the general misunderstanding of James and Paul's conflict on faith and works. Though they certainly bunted heads on other issues, I really don't think there was a chasm between them on this issue. Take a listen to the video, it wasn't a long sermon even though it was perhaps a little longer than most Thursday night messages. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the message. I'm a bit behind with the blog as Gail and I took a couple of days last week and went up to Minnesota for the "Minnesota Blue Grass Festival". The Festival is out in the country near Richmond, MN and we spent two days there enjoying the music and festivities. We had planned to then spend one day at the "Minnesota Irish Festival" in St. Paul, but, that day it decided to rain... pour actually. So we decided to just bounce around and see what else we could find in that area to see or do. It was a great trip but of course, we are happy to be home and back into our regular routine. With that I need to run, please have a very blessed week and remember to... Be a blessing to someone today! In His Love & Grace, Roy
Hebrews 11:29-12:2 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,[a] because she had received the spies in peace. 32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two,[b] they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. The Example of Jesus 12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,[c] and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of[d] the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Footnotes: a) Hebrews 11:31 Or unbelieving b) Hebrews 11:37 Other ancient authorities add they were tempted c) Hebrews 12:1 Other ancient authorities read sin that easily distracts d) Hebrews 12:2 Or who instead of James 2:14-26 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Faith without Works Is Dead 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,[a] if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. Footnotes: a) James 2:14 Gk brothers
Below please find the video of this past Sunday's (February 25th) sermon over the verses found in Romans 4:13-25. It is a sermon about faith and in the promise that God has made to us. Our faith in God isn't about everything being all 'peachy' and 'keen' here on Earth but rather that Christ has defeated death and that through Him all of us will be reunited with our Creator once our earthly bodies give out for one reason or another. Have faith in our God, His promise is true... Be a blessing to someone today! In His Grace & Glory, Roy
Romans 4:13-25 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) God’s Promise Realized through Faith 13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already[a] as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith[b] “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. Footnotes: a) Romans 4:19 Other ancient authorities lack already b) Romans 4:22 Gk Therefore it 2 Psalm 119:30 = I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. Matthew 5:18 = For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Ephesians 3: 14-17 = For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Mark 11:24 = Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Hebrews 11:1 = Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2nd Corinthians 5:7 = For we live by faith, not by sight. Romans 15:13 = May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. James 1:6 = But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Hebrews 11:6 = And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 1st Peter 1:8-9 = Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. John 11:40 = Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” James 1:2-4 = My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. John 11:25-26 = Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 1st Timothy 6:11 = But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 1st John 5:4 = For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Mark 9:23 = “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” John 6:35 = Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Mark 10:52 = “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Romans 10:10 = For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Hebrews 11:11 = And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. John 3:16 = For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Galatians 3:26-27 = So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Romans 1:17 = For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” 1st Corinthians 13:2 = If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. The Ten Commandments: 1. You shall have no other gods before Me. 2. You shall not make idols. 3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother. 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Photo by Christian Begeman
Prairie Sanctuaries
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On Sunday, August 7th, the sermon was over 'Faith'; in that sermon, I chose to hit especially upon the concept of 'obedience' and 'living out' your faith. As the book of James relays, faith without works is dead. I read that as stating that a true faith in God precludes the ability to be inactive in His creation. An 'obedient' faith does not allow one to sit idly by. This past week, I decided to disconnect with the Lectionary verses and instead to pursue the concept of faith a bit further and in a different direction. The sermon this past Sunday was focused upon 'Patience'. Faith often necessitates us being patient while God prepares the way for us. The scripture verses which I have chosen for today are Colossians 1:1-14. Colossians 1:1-14New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 In our prayers for you, we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant.[b] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf, 8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s[d] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled[e] you[f] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.[g] Footnotes: a) Colossians 1:2 Gk brothers b) Colossians 1:7 Gk slave c) Colossians 1:7 Other ancient authorities read our d) Colossians 1:9 Gk his e) Colossians 1:12 Other ancient authorities read called f) Colossians 1:12 Other ancient authorities read us g) Colossians 1:14 Other ancient authorities add through his blood Let's highlight verses 11 & 12: 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everythingwith patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled[e] you[f] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. "Endure everything with patience", it's not like God is giving us an easy task to pursue here. My personal experience in life has never been that 'patience' was ever the long suite of human beings, or at least of most human beings. There are those few out there who are certainly counted among the Saints, who seem unrattled by the world and can keep going right along while waiting, waiting and waiting. Before we go any further, let's determine just what the word 'Patience' means in the English language. If we look up the word 'Patience' we read the following: pa·tience noun 1. the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. "you can find bargains if you have the patience to sift through the dross" synonyms:forbearance, tolerance, restraint, self-restraint, stoicism; calmness, composure, equanimity, imperturbability, understanding, indulgence "she tried everyone's patience" perseverance, persistence, endurance, tenacity, assiduity, application, staying power, doggedness, determination, resolve, resolution, resoluteness "a task requiring patience"
There are actually several Greek words which are translated into English as 'Patience'. The two most generally used are: Makrothumia which is clarified as patience in respect to persons, while Hupomone (endurance) is putting up with things or circumstances. The Greek word that we find here in Colossians is the word 'makrothumia'. Strongs Greek Concordance lists makrothumia as a noun and relays that it is the feminine form. The definition is stated as; patience, forbearance, longsuffering. Strong's goes on to state the following: Makrothumia embraces steadfastness and staying power. If in English we had an adjective 'long-tempered' as a counterpart to 'short-tempered,' then makrothymia could be called the quality of being 'long-tempered'. . . . which is a quality of God. The Greek Lexicon relays; Makrothymia (mak-roth-oo-mee’-ah) n. Longanimity – Calmness in the face of suffering and adversity, that is, (objectively) forbearance or (subjectively) fortitude: longsuffering, patience; good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence. Makrothumia is especially related to love, hupomone is especially related to hope. We endure circumstances because we always retain hope. The distinction between hupomone and makrothumia can best be seen in their opposites. The opposite of Makrothumia is wrath or revenge, and the opposite of Hupomone is cowardice or despondency. The one thing we should not about both makrothumia and hupomone is that neither in their definitions says anything about being idle. Patience isn't about sitting still and doing nothing, patience is about persevering and working continually even though we should by all rights become discouraged and stop entirely.
Let's look at the famous missionary Adoniram Judson. Judson was one of the first Christian missionaries to go to Burma and the only one to remain more than a short period of time. At the time of his arrival, there was not one known Christian convert in Burma. It took six years before one person was baptized as a Christian. After twelve years of hard work, he saw eighteen converts. By the time of his death at 62 years of age, and after 38 years in Burma, he had established 100 churches with 8,000 Burmese converts. How many of us could honestly say that we would continue working when after a year we had seen no results... how about three years... what about six years? I can certainly attest that it would be exceedingly difficult to keep up the faith for six long years with no results to show for one's efforts. Of course during these six years Judson wasn't just sitting still and doing nothing, rather he was busy learning Burmese, translating scripture into Burmese, and creating a Burmese dictionary. All of the while that Judson was preaching to apparently no effect, he was working to set the stage for his later success. Patience means following the direction that God has placed us upon whether we feel discouraged or not. Be patient, God can and will work through you in good time, just don't sit idle... keep doing the work that He has set you to. Be a blessing to someone today! In His Grace, Roy
2 Peter 3:8-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
This past Sunday, I did something I had not yet done here at Woodlawn Christian, I introduced my sermon with a song. Precisely the song "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions circa 1965.
People get ready
There' a train a-coming
You don't need no baggage
You just get on board
All you need is faith
To hear the diesels humming
Don't need no ticket
You just thank the Lord
People get ready
For the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers
From coast to coast
Faith is the key
Open the doors and board them
There's room for all
Among the loved the most
There ain't no room
For the hopeless sinner
Who would hurt all mankind just
To save his own
Have pity on those
Whose chances are thinner
Cause there's no hiding place
From the Kingdom's Throne
So people get ready
For the train a-coming
You don't need no baggage
You just get on board!
All you need is faith
To hear the diesels humming
You don't need no ticket
You just thank, you just thank the Lord
Yeah Ooh
Yeah Ooh
I'm getting ready
I'm getting ready
This time I'm ready
This time I'm ready
Faith, it's rather a small word... but, it's such a tremendous and difficult concept. We know we are called to have faith over and over again in scripture, especially so in the New Testament. The exact number of times the word "faith" is used in English Translations would depend upon which translation you are using, some render more words into our word faith than do others. In the New Revised Standard Version (which is what we use for Pew Bibles here at Woodlawn Christian) we find 'faith' used 18 times in the Old Testament and 246 times in the New Testament, for a total of 264 recitations; that's a whole lot of usage, especially in the New Testament. The word "faith" appears 247 times in the King James Version, 250 times in the New American Standard Version, and 270 times in the New International Version (so perhaps if you really want to have 'faith' you should read the NIV...). And then you also have the words 'faithful' and 'faithfulness' which add roughly another 100 or more usages again depending upon the translation that you're using.
It seems this 'faith' stuff is of some significance especially to us as Christians, seeing as to how very often it is used in the New Testament. But just what is faith? From christianbiblereference.org we learn the following:
Wherever we see the words "faith" or "believe" in the New Testament, they are usually a translation from the original Greek root word pistis. The noun form of the word, pistis, is usually translated as "faith" and the verb form, pisteuo, is translated as "believe."
The ordinary definitions of "faith" and "believe" imply intellectual agreement with an idea or accepting something as truth, but pistis means more than that. As used in the Bible, it also implies trust in and reliance on God or Christ, surrender of our wills to God or Christ, and conduct consistent with that surrender. All those elements are present in any mention of "faith" or "believe" in the New Testament, but from the context we can often see that some of the elements are emphasized.
Unfortunately, there are no words in the English language that capture the full meaning of the original pistis and pisteuo, so we are stuck with the often inadequate words "faith" and "believe."
In the New Testament, the words "faith" and "believe" often imply confidence, trust, reliance and humility with respect to God or Christ.
Of course, this brings to our attention once again how very difficult translating from one language to another truly is; especially, translating from Greek which is a much more nuanced language than English. There is often a varying degree of depth or 'flavor' if you will that gets lost to us when reading the Bible in English.
Today's scripture verses come to us from the book of 'Hebrews'. Not too long ago we finished a study of the book of Hebrews during our Sunday Evening Group. As all that attended those gatherings knows, I am of the belief that the book of Hebrews was written after the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 ad. The Early Christians, who were still at that time Jewish followers of Christ were obviously at a true crisis of faith. How do we worship God without the Temple, a very genuine problem... of course the Hebrew people had been in this quandary before, but still not during the lifetimes of any of these individuals. So, in no small way the entirety of the book of Hebrews is about the faith and the belief that we can worship and have a relationship with God without the Temple. For we now have the faith and the belief in the New Temple, and that is, of course, Jesus who is the Christ.
Let's take a look at our Scripture verses for today:
Hebrews 11:1-16 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.” 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
Let's take a closer look at those first three verses:
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
There is perhaps a bit of Greek Philosophy slipping in here with the idea of things being made from what is unseen. Of course, neither the Greeks nor the writer of these verses could have had any idea about how accurate their words actually are. The world is indeed made up of what is unseen, the entirety of this Creation around us is made up of atoms. Atoms are of course invisible, and an atom consists of virtually nothing at all, if a hydrogen atom were the size of the earth, the proton at its center would be about 600 feet across. An atom is almost entirely empty space, the only thing that keeps my left hand from passing through my right hand is the negative charges of the electrons involved. Which also means you never really 'touch' anything, as the charges repel one another before they actually collide. I will mention that atoms are actually made up of even smaller particles, but we won't go that deep into the physics of it all; for our use today atoms are small enough.
So all of Creation is created out of what we cannot see, should we be any more surprised that the remainder of our lives is made up of what we cannot see? The future is out there and we're all moving through it, hopefully with faith in our Lord. Faith, like an individual atom, is not something we can see, but those who have experienced the effect of faith and belief can attest that it is very, very real.
In Curtis Mayfield's song that we listened to at the beginning of this sermon we heard him referencing 'faith' as the ticket that gets us onto the train headed to Jordan... headed to the promised land. Just as in Mayfield's song faith is the ticket for Abraham's movement in our Scripture reading, to the promised land. One of the interesting things about both illustrations are the reference to movement. In the song we have a train, really the train of life that is carrying us from birth until death when we arrive at the pearly gates of Heaven. In the Scripture Abraham is moving, though he isn't sure where to and he and his family are living in tents, they are nomads. Moving is their way of life, moving in faith that that which is promised lies ahead... ahead somewhere as of yet unseen. Just as the passengers on the train have not yet seen their final stop, neither has Abraham. Faith, genuine faith it seems implies that there is movement, we can't truly profess 'faith' while cowering in a corner and hiding from life and the world around us. Faith means stepping out, living the life that God directs you to live and living it faithfully. Movement, action, engagement are all a part of genuine and obedient faith. We are all 'moving' through our lives here in this world, we are all just as Abraham, nomads. Nomads in this realm of existence, just visitors here to this place waiting to move forward into the very presence of our God. All of us are as I said moving through our lives, each growing older day by day, each drawing nearer to the judgment day. We as Abraham live here in these tents that we call bodies, temporary shelters in this world. Each of us is here for a reason, whether or not we live up to that reason is entirely up to us and our relationship with, and our obedience to God. It's not up to us to know the exact path we are to follow in this life, we are to be as Abraham. "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going."Let us move forward, involved in God's Creation, obedient to His direction... filled with faith in His provisions.
Movement, involvement, obedience... these sound a bit like works.
James 2:14-26 New Revised Standard Version
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
Not long ago I was visiting with a young man about his faith and his spiritual relationship with God. He told me that he believed in God and that he wanted to be a good role model to others and that was why he was so involved in his community. He also told me that he didn't believe he needed to attend Church to be religious or a Christian, and thus he did not do so. I pointed out to him that this was all very well and very good, but that if he truly had faith in God and he truly wanted to be a servant of God, he would want those people that are looking up to him as a role model to understand that he was also a believer and follower of Christ. I used the example of my Grandfather Fletcher, I've talked about Grandpa before... Grandpa was known throughout the County back home as a very good man, a man that would do anything to help out anyone, but above all else, he was known to be a firm and devote believer in Christ. Everyone knew he was not just simply a good person... he was a good Christian, a man who strove to live his life modeled after his Saviour.
A good way to let people know that you are a follower of Christ is to be known as someone who regularly attends Church. If I hide my faith, my light, my belief in my Lord under a basket and do not let the world see it as a testimony and witness to God... then what good is my faith? Now, I'm not saying to parade around and throw your religion in everyone's face because that can certainly backfire, but do not be ashamed to let people know that if you've done any good in this world that you do so under the authority and direction of God the Father.
As Curtis Mayfield says in his song "Faith is the key... you don't need a ticket... just get on board" You certainly do not need a ticket to get on the train car named faith, but there is a cost. The cost is obedience, and living a life in conformity to that belief, that faith...
Remember that definition of faith from christianbiblereference.org, part of which stated:
The ordinary definitions of "faith" and "believe" imply intellectual agreement with an idea or accepting something as truth, but pistis means more than that. As used in the Bible, it also implies trust in and reliance on God or Christ, surrender of our wills to God or Christ, and conduct consistent with that surrender.
Let us each surrender our wills to God, to trust and rely on God, and live a life of conduct consistent with that surrender and reliance. The last thing I will leave you with today is the reminder that faith or belief is never a straight line. Each of us has times when our faith is stronger, and then times when our faith or belief is weakened. It is precisely because of this that we need each other as a community of believers to reassure, to witness to each other, to support and love one another. Remember in those times of weakness, the exclamation of the father of the boy who Jesus is asked to heal in the 9th Chapter of the Gospel of Mark... "I believe, help me in my unbelief". Lord, we all believe... help us each in our unbelief.
May God bless you and keep you and may you each...
The Sermon for this past Sunday was over the verses found in the Gospel of Luke 7:1-10.
1 After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore, I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Often we hear sermons from these verses highlighting the 'faith' of the Centurion, but there's more faith involved here than just his. In the sermon, I consider the faith of the Jewish Leaders who come to Jesus on the Centurion's behalf. I also discuss Jesus' own faith... Jesus' faith you say... yes Jesus'. Here Jesus models for us (as he always does) what our own relationship and agency to the Father should be like. If you've got 15 minutes or so take a listen to the sermon. Remember... To be a blessing to someone today! In God's constant care & love, Roy
