Would You Really Value An Easy Faith?
Good Morning Friends,
Meeting the test of being a persecuted Christian is the topic of today’s text. The key is not to underestimate the value of a human life. The key is to realize that denial of worth comes from our inhumanity to each other which is a form of a denial of God. We are to meet persecution with an awareness of the backing of Christ. We are to meet problems in the church with an attitude that difficulties must be addressed and some are there because we are doing something right not something wrong. Neutrality is not an option. We must choose whose side we are on, for darkness hates the light. Take up the cross. Feed the right dog. Put Christ first and learn from the teacher. Find yourself by choosing selective pruning of those things in your life that hold you back from what God would have you do to improve. Would You Really Value An Easy Faith?
Scripture: “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14-15 (NRSV)
“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:24-39 (NRSV)
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSV)
Message: The early church, even with all its problems, might have been doing something right as well as something wrong. So, do not lose heart if you are living in a worshipping community that struggles with problems and their solutions but sometimes cannot seem to get on top of them. That could be a sign of the life of the church. So, today’s message may seem a little mixed and that is because it is about the fate of churches and how our attitude is related to the outcomes in them. You see, when we arrive at worship we may well leave our burdens at the door, but when we leave, we often pick them up again. We leave our confession, repentance, joy and happiness in places instead of them being from the inside out and that makes us ineffective in the battle for our souls and the cause of Christ in family and community. The yoke may be easy but the faith is hard work. Friends, you have heard this before but it is worth saying again, if you find being a Christian is easy work you probably are not one. Our culture seems perfectly designed to lead us into this sort of false faith. Worshipping communities need to change culture and that is hard work. Popular standards of what it means to be considered a Christian, would lead us to believe that the faith is nothing more than a collection of vague and friendly sentiments. And we know that we are apt to believe whatever the world tells us. It is dangerous to believe that a person with the Jesus fish on his/her bumper, the Bible quote in his/her social media profile, and Christmas lights on his/her house in December, must be a Christian. The world is fooled. We can be fooled. But God is not. Honestly our culture may be more hostile to authentic Christianity than we would like to believe. And our problems in our worshipping communities may be more a sign of a healthy faith than we would like to believe. Being superficially Christian in America is attractive but eventually will cost us. Instead we are to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Cheap grace is a problem. Communion without confession. Grace without discipleship, Grace without Jesus Christ and the cross is pointless. The church is called to minister to less than perfect people. Churches are going to have more and more problems because people come into a relationship of worship with problems. And maybe that is as it should be. Finding an ideal church is pointless. We must learn to live a life shaped by the cross and resurrection of Jesus. And that mean hanging out with social out casts and well as the social crowd. This is hard work.
Pray we are of good courage. Pray we take our burdens to the cross. We need not continue to carry our burdens because Jesus has paid the price for us. Pray we not worry. Pray we not doubt. Pray we not be prideful. Pray we accept the great invitation to lean on God and work together for blessings both received and given. Pray we realize that the church is called to minister to less than perfect people. Pray we try to continuously improve. Pray we realize that dealing with our problems may be a path to a stronger faith.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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