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The ABC's of Outward Faith • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago • 0:05

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Nobody wants to be treated as a project; faith that expresses outwardly takes its best shape in authentic relationships with other people.

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Here we go; it is the last week on the ABC’s of an outward faith. We started by looking at the need for awareness. Last week we considered what it means to have a faith that is bold. And I left you with the teaser that this week I am actually giving you C, D, and E as a finish to this series. That’s because C, D, and E all go hand-in-hand together. You will see what I mean as we go along here today.

Let me remind you of the two observations we made each week in this series. First, it is assumed in the New Testament that people who have faith in Jesus will express that faith outwardly towards other people. It is not a specialized activity just for ministers, missionaries, and evangelists. Everyone who has faith in Jesus is assumed to be expressing that faith outwardly. And second, I noted that we don’t always do this very well. We are people who have struggled with how we can best express our faith outwardly towards other people in the best possible way.

In those last two weeks in which we have considered awareness and boldness, there seems to be just a little something still remaining. Namely, how do we actually do this? What does it look like in real-life examples to be a person that has an outward faith. We haven’t gotten to that part yet. I think it was necessary to build ourselves up to this point. We had to take a week and focus just on the need for awareness; we cannot express an outward faith if we are not being aware of how and where God is already at work in our life and community around us. And we had to take a week and focus just on the need for boldness; we cannot express an outward faith if we do not also address some of those past fears or failures which might be holding us back from embracing a bold faith which expresses outwardly.

But here we are; today we get to the “how-to” of it. A faith that expresses outwardly to other people does this. It connects with other people, it develops relationships with other people, and it enfolds other people. Connect, develop, enfold — look at this story in 2 Samuel 9 which highlights this for us.

2 Samuel 9:1–13 (NIV)

2 Samuel 9:1–13 NIV

1 David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “At your service,” he replied. 3 The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” 4 “Where is he?” the king asked. Ziba answered, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.” 5 So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel. 6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “At your service,” he replied. 7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” 8 Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” 9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s steward, and said to him, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master’s grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.) 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son named Mika, and all the members of Ziba’s household were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.

author draws attention to the fact that Mephibosheth cannot walk — Old Testament times would have considered a physical disability to be some kind of curse

There are a few significant details in this story to note. Twice the author draws attention to the fact that Mephibosheth cannot walk. This is in a time before there was any such thing as sidewalks and wheelchairs. There was certainly nothing like our Americans with Disabilities Act which seeks to create access to public life and society for those who live with a disability. More than that, people in Old Testament times would have considered a physical disability to be some kind of curse. You can see in the story that Mephibosheth himself believes this; it is why Mephibosheth responds to David by referring to himself as a dead dog. The society at that time would have considered his life to be worthless.

David shows kindness to someone whom everyone else in society counted as unworthy

The story buried inside of this story is the remarkable action of David to show kindness to someone who everyone else in all the society at that time would have counted as unworthy. There was no reason for David to do what he does in this story. It is especially amazing because this is the grandson of king Saul—who for years caused David to be on the run and hiding because Saul was trying to kill David. Now that David is king, it would have made much more sense for David to eradicate any remaining existence of Saul’s family. You can certainly pick up on that tension in this story. David has to tell Mephibosheth to not be afraid. Mephibosheth—like everyone else—was expecting David to use his position above Mephibosheth to take out his revenge.

highlights connection with Mephibosheth, development of a relationship with Mephibosheth, and enfolding Mephibosheth into a community from which he had been denied access

But that is not what happens. David knows that he himself has been shown the kindness of God. David has a faith in God that in this moment finds an outward expression to carry the kindness forward and extend grace into the life of another. And David does that in a way that highlights connection with Mephibosheth, development of a relationship with Mephibosheth, and enfolding Mephibosheth into a community from which he had been denied access. Mephibosheth lived a kind of life in which he believed his very existence was worthless and meaningless. And David takes the time to reach out and make a connection with Mephibosheth. I imagine it would have been so much easier for David to simply assign provision. David could have in this story given instruction for Ziba to just go take care of it. But David instead gives instruction for Mephibosheth to be personally brought before the king. David wants to personally connect with this individual.

nobody wants to be treated as a project

It shows us a very important principle that guides what it means for us to have outward faith. People are not projects. Nobody wants to be treated as a project. Being treated as a project is dehumanizing. David could have easily made Mephibosheth a project. But instead David takes the time to connect with Mephibosheth as a person. If you and I ever tend to think of outward faith as a project of evangelism, we are missing something. Having a faith that expresses outwardly is not checking the boxes on completing a project.

For those of you who may remember a program called Evangelism Explosion in the 1970 and 1980, it always left a little bit of a sour taste with me as a method of sharing the gospel. Evangelism Explosion was an evangelism training program that taught people how to go door-to-door in neighborhoods and give a quick, concise presentation of the gospel to complete strangers. It always felt to me like something had had no personal connection and treated other people like a project to be won over. Maybe for others of you the experience was different, but I always thought something huge was missing from that approach.

outward faith looks for personal connections with other people

David had to intentionally make space in his life for this kind of connection to develop into a relationship

colleagues, co-workers, classmates, partners, teammates, mentors, friends

Outward faith looks for connections with other people—not as projects, but as people. From there it develops into a relationship. David gives instruction that Mephibosheth is to be cared for at the king’s house. He is to eat every day at the king’s table. They would have seen each other every day at mealtime. There is a relationship that develops from this kind of regular and ongoing connection. David had to intentionally make space in his life for this kind of connection to develop into a relationship. I cannot say exactly what kind of relationship this ended up being. Maybe it is better for our purposes that it is left vague—it doesn’t matter. Maybe they became good friends, maybe they remained acquaintances, maybe it was more like a mentor/mentee relationship. Having a faith that expresses outward does not mean everyone with whom we connect has to become best buddies. Relationships take on all kinds of shapes; colleagues, co-workers, classmates, partners, teammates, and—yes—sometimes good friends. There can be good, honest, uplifting, and valuable connection in any one of these relationship settings. The point is that a relationship was developed as the context within which David expresses himself with Mephibosheth.

outward faith makes room to develop new relationships with other people

people who are not connected with Jesus

outward faith enfolds other people into a broader community

faith takes root and grows best in the context of community

And then we see that David does not leave it as just a personal one-on-one connection and relationship. David enfolds Mephibosheth into the larger community around him. David creates the space for Mephibosheth to be within the broader community with others. A faith that expresses outwardly looks for onramps to bring other people into community together. This is best because faith takes root and grows best in the context of community. For those of us that have a growing faith in Jesus, we already know this to be true. How has it been in your own life that faith has blossomed and grown? Most of the time, it happens in the context of relationships with other people. It wasn’t a solid and compelling argument or persuasive article or life-changing lesson; for most of us our faith formation happens because of relationships with other people who express their faith outwardly for us. It happens by being enfolded into a community of relationships.

relationships take time to develop

This takes time to happen because relationships take time to develop. There is no quick and speedy solution with instant results. Relationships take time to develop and we all know that sometimes relationships can be messy and need reconciliation. But it is often in these moments of compassion and forgiveness that the clearest expression of grace can show up in our relationships.

It’s time to think through some application of how this works itself out in your life. Let’s catch up to where we have taken this the last two weeks. When this series began I left us with the challenge to identify one person or household you know that feels disconnected and far from Jesus (that was awareness). Last week I left us with the challenge to begin thinking about what it might look like for you to make the first move in that one connection to bring your faith into that relationship. Remember, no one wants to be treated as a project. This isn’t about checking off a box; it is about developing a real, genuine, authentic relationship with someone who feels very distant and disconnected from Jesus.

Relationships that are genuine, real, and authentic convey care and acceptance. It means you have to get to know that person as they are for who they are. And you also have to allow yourself to be known by sharing a bit about yourself with them—and that can mean allowing yourself to be trusting and honest. These are all just the basic building blocks that help form healthy relationships. There is no secret rocket science here.

a person cannot be loved if they are not known — making space in the relationship for someone to share their own story allows them to be known

Look at the common theme. It has something to do with narrative. You have to invite someone else to share their own narrative of who they are in order for them to be known. A person cannot be loved if they are not known. Making space in the relationship for someone to share their own story of who they are allows them to be known. And it is in being known that a person can be loved. In the same way, by sharing our own narrative with someone else we make ourselves known. We have to allow other people access into our own lives so that we can be known in order for the relationship to build connection and trust.

your story — my story — God’s story

keep looking for the intersections of these three narratives

This is where your faith enters the picture. Because God has revealed himself by a narrative as well. God has a story just like you have a story and just like other people have a story. It is the connection of these stories that creates the bridge for your faith to express outwardly into other people’s lives. Let me give it to you in a very simple outline. Your story, my story, God’s story. If you want to take a step towards having an outward faith, keep looking for the intersections of these three narratives. Look for the common ties between another person’s story, your own story, and God’s story.

listening to someone else’s story shows that they matter

sharing my story allows me to be known

By starting with making room for another person’s story, you build into the relationship that their life matters and who they are matters. By sharing your own story with someone else you express something of who you are. And as people of faith, God’s story is woven into your own story. As a person of faith you should always be able to share your own story with crossover hints to God’s story as the narrative of God in the Bible finds its connecting points with pieces of your own life story.

connecting God’s story creates an intersection of faith into my story and your story

And here’s what happens; as you share those connecting points of how God’s story intersects with your own life story, it opens a curiosity in which the other person is invited to wonder how God’s story might be intersecting with their own story as well. Your story, my story, God’s story. The integration of these three narratives weaving together in the larger context of a developing relationship and enfolds into broader community will automatically produce and outward expression of faith in your life—it will happen automatically in ways that are personal and real and formative. It does not treat other people like projects, but invites relationships in which people can turn to Jesus.

start with one

Start with one. Look for opportunities to make the next move. And when the opportunity presents itself, be ready to center upon a connection between your story, my story, and God’s story. It works. Anybody can do it. You can be a person who shares your faith outwardly towards other people. Just imagine for a moment what this church would look like in one year if everybody here did that. Imagine the rejoicing in heaven when those who felt hopelessly disconnected from Jesus find their way into God’s story of faithfulness because you allowed your story of faith to reach into someone else’s life story and made made room in your life for that relationship to develop and enfold into this community—there would be unbelievable rejoicing in heaven for something like that.

you are here as a forgiven and redeemed person today because God made his story part of your story — that’s a story worth sharing

This is how the church in the New Testament grew. It wasn’t programs and advertising. It was people connecting in relationship and weaving together the narratives of those relationships to join your story to my story to God’s story. That’s what happened to Mephibosheth. He saw himself as nothing but a dead dog. But David went out of his way to make Mephibosheth’s story matter by connecting it to his own story. And in that story we see God’s story. It is Jesus who did not hold anything back, but came to live upon this earth and give himself on the cross for us so that dead dogs like us—broken sinners like us—could receive new life as a part of God’s story. You are here as a forgiven and redeemed person today because God made his story part of your story. That’s a story worth sharing.

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