Bettering Yourself Through Faith
Before I get going this morning I have a rhetorical question I want to ask….Where do you find your faith and what do you do with it? It is a personal question, and for each of us it is different. Do you see it daily? Is it once a week when you come to service? Do you see it in your own actions? Helping a neighbor? Coming to work at the food pantry or helping in the empower program. Does your faith impact others? Is it bettering the community? Does the faith of others impact you? What ripple effect do you have? Before we are republican, democrat, or however you identify yourself. We are Christians and we need to try to remember to put that first above all else. I bring this up for a reason. Many of you know that I am a social studies teacher and in my job I don’t have the luxury of taking sides. Typically speaking I often have to play devil's advocate to get students to open their minds up enough to have normal discourse and be civil to each other. Often it is a struggle. And forget about talking about being a Christian or about my faith at work, many of my coworkers dismiss me when they hear I am faithful or that I believe in God. Often I feel a little like Daniel in the colosseum and the lions are winning. Sometimes I find it hard to find my faith or share my faith with others. Then I see or hear a message that God wants me to hear kind of like an old faint F.M. signal just out of tune. (Yes, I may be dating myself but at least I didn’t say an A.M. signal) That signal may be Elizabeth reminding us of that with baptism wherever we go the holy spirit goes with us.
Or several weeks back when Gerda was sharing some of the stories in the bible and she spoke of faith, but also of salvation through action. She reminded us not to get tired of helping others and kind of threw down a challenge to continue to help others in any way we can. Similar to Gerda I grew up with all these bible stories about faith. Today’s scriptures were bible stories of my youth. I vividly remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego surviving the fiery furnace because of their faith. I remember the idea of dancing in the flames. As a child I remember the message clearly: have faith in God and he will save and protect you. I didn’t remember them being willing to die for their faith. I didn’t remember how their faith converted the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, to following God. Your faith in God isn’t just for your salvation. It can also be a beacon for the salvation of others. You don’t know what message/Signal God is using you to send. I can’t imagine giving up my teaching career of 20 years to follow my faith even with the lions winning. Again Mathew 4 a story from my childhood. What faith must Peter, Andrew, James, and John have had in God to up and leave their livelihood as fishermen following Jesus in and around Galilee then through the desert. Jesus recruited them to go become fishers of men and use their faith to help others find their own path to God. Again when I was younger I missed that the faith was not just the disciples it was Jesus’s faith and trust in his fathers plan/will. His faith was impacting others.
Having faith isn’t enough. We need to better ourselves through it. You have to hear the message God is sending and act on it. Then you can be there to help others. God gives us what we need when we need it…. We need to hear it.
Some of you have probably heard this because it has been a round for a while.
So this hurricane of biblical proportions comes and it looks like it is going to flood an entire town. Everybody is ordered to evacuate. The rain has started and it is about 12 inches deep when a Jeep notices a man stranded on his front porch. The Jeep stops to offer a ride. The man says, “No. I will be fine. I have faith. God will save me”. So the jeep drives off. The water rises several feet, the wind is blowing and now the man is looking out of the second floor window when a man in a boat comes by offering to help. The man says, “No. I’ll be fine. I have faith. God will save me”. So the boat drives off. Okay now it is dark and the man is clinging to the peak of his roof. A helicopter spotlight catches the man and they announce they will rescue him. The man is now shouting and waiving his arms, “No. I will be fine. I have faith. God will save me”. The helicopter flies off and man drowns. When he gets to heaven he is angry when he sees God. He says how come you didn’t save me! God looks back puzzled and says “I sent you a jeep, a boat, and a helicopter. What more do you want?
Having faith isn’t always enough. We have to be better at being good Christians and following his teachings. We have to recognize the messages He is sending and the examples of others. We have to pray, we have to listen and we have to act. Sometimes it comes from the most unlikely places. During this past wrestling season Mason gave me some pause and made me both proud and humble. I was having a day at work . That night during the almost hour drive to Mason and Logan’s wrestling match I was contemplating some interactions at work and was really just hoping for a snow day. We had all been praying that his hand healed after being broken. (thanks again for the prayers) He got medically cleared that morning and that night he wrestled and won. After the match I was waiting for him and holding his head gear when I noticed he had written bible verses on it. Joshua 1:9
I've commanded you to be strong and brave. Don't ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the Lord your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go.
Proverbs 27:17
Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other. He also had Psalm 23. You know… the lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
Mason's faith and scriptures he had written down put me at ease. He made me think of the joke I just told. Okay, lord I am listening. I needed that. If Marilyn were here, I would remind her of the words he got from her when he was so little and cute. He would strut around with the true faith of a child and say “anything is possible with God.” Marilyn taught him that when he was in preschool. Flash forward 12 or 13 years later and his headgear is giving me guidance when I needed it.
The ripple effect of our faith and our actions may not always be concretely measured but it isn’t supposed to be. As Gerda said, you do what you can. None of us are perfect and we always have questions. As Sarah said last week referencing Nicodemus, sometimes we ask questions looking for answers or guidance from God and we come back with more questions. Other times God is sending the signal and we need to be open to hearing it. Even Jesus struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane experiencing intense emotional and spiritual agony before His arrest. He gave us the ultimate example of following our faith in God and look at the effect it has had on the world. In a time of division and crisis we need to come together. We all need to have and better ourselves through faith…. I leave with one last question, What ripple effect will you have?
Lord, as we go through the week please help us to find and use our faith and to prepare for the sacrifice of your son and our salvation... In Christ’s name we pray. AMEN.
by Neil Lisberg