Walk & Talk
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsFaith is not something that is meant to be simply talked about, it is meant to be lived. It is important that while we talk about our faith, we also walk while we talk!
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Focus Statement
Focus Statement
Faith is not something that is meant to be simply talked about,
it is meant to be lived.
It is important that while we talk about our faith,
we also walk while we talk!
Point of Relation
Point of Relation
Theological School, also known as Seminary, was an amazing experience.
Sure, it was a harrowing experience at times...
having your faith deconstructed and…hopefully...
reconstructed.
Being lost in endless books and miles of research.
Being up all night reading and writing...
and, of course, trying to balance the rest of life on top of all that.
But, truthfully, Theological School was AMAZING.
My eyes were opened to so many things…how Social Justice cannot be abandoned as the cost for Social Holiness...
That Christ calls us to both…not either/or…but BOTH/AND.
With that said, I also learned that there was a difference between people with the prophetic voice...
and people who confused that with shouting loudly at those who one perceives as “the other”.
For instance, I heard many sermons in seminary about peace, love, social justice, compassion, empathy, and inclusion.
Most of them were powerful and, some were even transformational for me...
Still, there there were some sermons that would enclose itself in “love” and “inclusion” language...
But the preacher totally “assumed” everyone was of the same partisan position that s/he held…
and would proceed to make jokes about the current president/administration at the time.
#NOTCOOL and #NOTCHRISTIAN from the pulpit.
It’s one thing to use the prophetic voice to speak out on issues of justice and morality...
It’s okay to be politically engaged as preachers and as Christians...
But bashing and slandering another child of God is definitely over the line.
But let me give you yet another example...
one that affected me much more than rogue partisan comments...
In January of 2010, I had the amazing opportunity to go to India for a Cross-Cultural Trip requirement for seminary.
What an amazing opportunity we had...
We visited ashrams, temples, seminaries, churches, and villages.
We even got to see the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle as well as the spot he was traditionally martyred in.
Beyond that, we got to see New Delhi, the B’hai Temple shaped like a lotus flower and of course, we traveled to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal!
This was a bucket list kind of trip…one I had never dreamed of even going on.
Finally, at the end of the trip, we found ourselves stranded at the Indira Gandhi International Airport...
because our flight to Munich, which then connected to LaGuardia, got cancelled.
Why, you might ask? Because some crazed American got his jollies by running into the Munich airport with a back back, screaming he had a bomb...
Well…as you can probably guess, if you don’t remember that international incident…
He didn’t have a bomb.
But that didn’t matter because we didn’t have flight...
And we had not guidance as to what to do.
Some in our group went to speak with folks at the counter and…15 minutes to a half hour later...
They came back to say they found flights and wished us luck.
That was it. Here were these progressive folks...
Folks who were big on PREACHING love and inclusion...
And turning away folks who seemed to exclusive...
Which is...IRONICALLY…exclusive...
And they were leaving on a jet plane…without the REST OF US.
Some of us were even people of color...
But not of the folks who secured their flight were.
Thankfully, one of the folks left behind was Gaius...
A fellow student at the theological school who was also on this trip.
Now Gaius happened to be someone with connections...
As it turned out…Gaius was an actor who had been on a successful football show called Friday Night Lights as High School running back star Brian “Smash” Williams...
among other things...
And he was able to work it out that they switched our flight to London, where they put us up, and flew us too Newark Liberty International...
ALL, of course, at the expense of the airline.
I am sure the latter part would have happened anyway…as that is typical customer service for canceled flights and whatnot…
However, the very action of getting it done…INCLUSIVELY...that Gaius took...
The compassion and empathy he had on the group as a whole...
made me realize the importance of actions over words.
Things to Consider
Things to Consider
Now, I am not saying those other people were bad people...
In fact, they were really nice, decent people...
But when faced with the stressful situation we were in...
They didn’t put the group ahead of themselves...
EVEN THOUGH their actions went against their own beliefs or words.
We’ve all been there...
Where we were either affected by
the weightless, meaningless words of others...
or where we didn’t back our own words up with actions.
We’ve all been on both sides of that coin.
So we ought to know how important it is to back words up with actions.
What Scripture Says
What Scripture Says
In his letter, James the Just, half-brother of Christ Jesus of Nazareth,
tells us the following:
New Living Translation Chapter 1
17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
In other words, all of the blessing of our lives…
from the very air we breathe
to the food we eat,
to the homes we live in,
to our families,
to our very own lives…
are a GIFT FROM GOD!
Now, before we move on from here, I want us to pause...
And think back to the first Scripture reading, which was from Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Where the author, most likely writing about his lover, prophetically conveys to us God’s love for us.
The beauty of this prose is that it can be seen in both ways...
And through it we can see how God intended the divine/human relationship (metaphorically speaking).
In this ancient love song, the person awaits his/her lover…and, as he approaches, he/she can hear their lover say:
Song of Solomon 2:10–13 (NLT)
10 My lover said to me, “Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one! 11 Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. 12 The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. 13 The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!”
This passage shows us that GOD LOVES US!
That God not only loves us…but has called us to come away with God.
To receive hope, healing, and wholeness…and to Spring into action with God.
This passage also shows us that God is on the move and, while God might be inviting us to join for the ride, God is ON THE MOVE...
God is calling us to come along…to join in God’s mission in the world…and to take our place in God’s Kingdom.
Finally, this passage shows us what our response to God ought to be.
The first-person character in this poem is awaiting his/her lover with uncontrollable eagerness.
Song of Solomon 2:8–9 “8 Ah, I hear my lover coming! He is leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9 My lover is like a swift gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he is behind the wall, looking through the window, peering into the room.”
Okay, so this approaching lover is clearly a creepy peeping Tom, but…you can feel the excitement,
the sheer joy that this person has at the approach of this guy.
This is how our response should be at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ...
We should not only be eagerly awaiting...
but ready to go at a moments notice.
In James’ letter, we are basically getting the same message...
However, this time it has more personal urgency put into it...
LIKE hey guys…you can either be Christians or fools…not both!
Hey you…don’t you know that real Christians ACT like Christ...
That is the basic message of our passage in James…and in the letter of James as a whole...
but it is founded in the fact that God loves us and, as Christians in LOVE with God,
We cannot help but come away with God for the ride...
And join in him in the work of the Kingdom.
But, James also goes into what does NOT constitute a person of TRUE FAITH:
Anyone who merely reads the Bible or listens to the meaning of the Bible through sermons,
but does not LIVE WHAT THEY HEAR OUT,
then they are fooling themselves.
Seriously…how can God have a one-sided relationship with us.
We’re either in it…or we’re not.
What’s more, the person of faith will begin to look more and more like whom they put their faith into.
So, if you are a person who cannot control your tongue...
meaning, you are rude, disrespectful, a gossip, or otherwise a disrupter of the peace...
Your religion is meaningless.
That, at least, is James’ example...
But we all know it doesn’t just end with our tongue.
Rather, according to James,
“pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”
In other words, don’t just talk…but walk out your faith.
Don’t be disingenuous like the world…
don’t be selfish like the world…
don’t be foolish like the world...
KEEP IT REAL!
KEEP IT REAL!
You know what I’m sayin’?!?!
What this means for you
What this means for you
In what ways have you put God second, third, fourth, or so far off the map you can’t even find God? [pause]
What things have kept you away from genuine faith? [Pause]
It is important that you take the time to read Scripture,
engage it through devotions, Bible Study and Worship...
And that you reflect on the ways in which you are falling short.
Remember, we are all falling short, right?
That’s why we’re in Christ’s boat to begin with…we need a Savior from our sin…from our falling short.
And, Paul reminds us in Romans 3:23
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Such reflection opens you up to the kind of change that the Holy Spirit is desires to see in you and in us all.
What this means for us
What this means for us
How can we grow as a congregation?
How can we become a church that actively seeks to invite others into a life of genuine faith?
How can we be a church of ACTION as opposed to just that place where the people talk a good game...
But just NEVER SHOW UP?
WE HAVE NEVER BEEN THAT CHURCH...
And WE ARE NOT THAT CHURCH NOW.
And WE WILL NEVER BE THAT CHURCH
if we keep our eyes and our hearts on Christ our Lord...
and keep our hands and our feet serving him. Amen? Amen!