SERMON: Thoughts on Faith In Action

Spoken Live: August 1, 2021

at Kaleo Phoenix in downtown Phoenix, AZ

Today I will talk about and around the thought that our faith must lead us to action. 

Jesus’ half brother James who was highly regarded by others when he was alive 

 States that Faith without works is dead.

And says in James 1:7, “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. 

If you have been around church I am sure you have heard this said or preached before. And I hope that it shook you to your core. 

This evening I want us to begin in time of contemplation. Contemplation of this question that I propose to you: Where do you see the spirit moving in your life lately? 

Allow me to pray and then we will discuss. I am reading a biography on the life of Theologian Howard Thurman by Paul Harvey. Howard Thurman was a Philosopher and Theologian who greatly influenced those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

Paul Harvey states this about Howard Thurman as he was developing his voice as a teacher: 

That he was less concerned with imparting knowledge and more consumed with leading students through deep exploration of both the course material and their dreams and visions for their lives.  

And this will be my practice for today. Today I will make few claims and I do not have an overarching thesis, or strong proposition, but will share my thoughts, heart, and what I believe the Spirit has been bringing to my attention.

And it is my hope that you will be able to make sense of what’s said and apply it to your own story, life, perspective. Or at the very least inspire you to think critically.  So, buckle up.. 

Around this time last year John Lewis passed and his famous saying Good Trouble became more popular than ever before. 

What made his quote even more popular was a summer filled with protest and riots that challenged the way our society had structured and ordered our Police System. 

The outcries of injustice bled into the order of American society itself and its systems from the public, nonprofit, and private sector being called out as unjust and racist.

Just like after Cain killed his brother Abel, and Abel’s blood cried out to God for justice. Many continue to cry out for justice after the death of black and brown people. Public Outcries from African Americans and other minorities group deemed our current social order as oppressive and unjust. 

As this occurred others see little wrong with our current social order and view our systems and structures as a means to keep everyone safe. 

To prevent chaos and allow for progression of life and social status for everyone. Those who threaten the current social order and society are viewed as the villains even demonic.

Viewed as people trying to bring in instability and chaos. So, who is the hero and who is the villain? The current social order and those who uphold it who are viewed by some as unjust and racist? Or those who attempt to tear down the current social order that others believe keep us safe?

I don’t know about you all but that has been on my mind still even a year after heightened protest. In our story together who is the hero and who is the villain? And what part do you plan in it?

This is the questions that haunts me as I navigate life. And I ask you to examine your own life. 

Are you the hero or the villain? Are you making things better or worse?

Allowing oppressive and harmful structures to exist without accountability, or attempting to destroy and critique an order that keeps people safe and brings happiness you may have an idea in your head where you sit, but what about the actions you do? 

Where does your money go?

What have you allowed to be said around you?

What values do you uphold at home?

What values do you hold accountable in the workplace?

Examine your life for a moment:

Are you the hero or the villain?

That is the question that has permeated our minds in society and culture throughout the past year. And also throughout centuries.  Driven by good vs evil. 

What is good and what is evil?

I believe God’s word proposes a different question.

A Better question for the Believer being: Who stopped listening to God? 

Who has stopped listening and believing the Spirit?

 Members in Scriptures Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11, are tainted with error and failure. Yet they are counted as great believers because of their belief & faith that led them to action.

Jacob had fought for blessings he and his mother believed belonged to him.Which led to deception and a strained relationship for a time between his older brother and him.  

 But it still says this about Him in Hebrews 11:

It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. (NLT)

The words "as he leaned on his staff" have meaning. 

After Jacob wrestled with God, for the rest of his life, he walked with a limp, and he gave over control of his life to God. As an old man and now a great hero of faith, Jacob "leaned on his staff," demonstrating his hard-learned trust and dependence on the Lord.Realizing that what is heroic for a believer is dependence and belief in God.

Samson had mistrusted a girl that He believed was a blessing that God put in his path. He was wrong but ended his life believing. God saw him in his pain and because of Samson’s dependence on the God who sees, Samson’s strength returned to him giving him his greatest victory. 

Faith and belief are a key element in your walk with God, self, and others. Belief in God’s goodness.

 Belief that there is a God who is there in time of crisis, and He wants good in your 

life and for your life.

Do you truly believe that God wants to Bless you?

Belief that God has done the great miracles that we read about and that He still 

does miracles today.

Belief that God is your friend, that He listens, He speaks, He sees, He cares, He’s with you, 

Belief that He will keep you safe. 

And isn’t that what we all desire?

A space we can feel safe in. 

And God promises that when He says He will be with us. 

Meaning He is above you, He is below you, He is behind you, He is in front of you. 

God is all around you. 

He’s involved in the world, He’s smiling at you, He’s cheering for you, that He

loves you.  

That’s the faith from the Apostle Paul who says in Romans 8:38  

“38 … I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We must break free from the notion that God is not involved in His creation and that He sits idly by. Break free from the notion that God has no interest in keeping you safe or advocating for you.

What is your view of authority?

Just because you had authority figures that never advocated for you or made you feel safe does not mean God is that way. 

God is with you. Believe on him. Lean on Him. 

Faith and belief are also a key element in your walk with others. 

Belief that others have dignity and are made in God’s image. 

Belief in the beauty of our differences from our experiences to our skin tones.

Belief that peoples of color are being honest when they tell you their experience of being black or brown in America, 

Belief that everyone else is just as equally important as you. 

Belief that people can change to be and do better for those they love.  

Do you believe that people can heal from the trauma and wounds they have experienced?

Break free from the notion that others immaturity means you are better than them. 

Break free from the notion that God can speak through others even if they are not Christian. 

What would it look like if Kaleo was a community that believed in one another?

Instead of being skeptical of one another’s dreams and aspirations we look at each other and say: No Cap. 

Faith and belief are a key element in your own life. 

Belief in yourself.

Belief in your gifts and passions. 

Belief in your creativity and the thoughts that come to your mind. 

Belief in your convictions. To not second guess yourself so much and doubt yourself and abilities. 

 To believe that what you say matters and what you think matters and what you feel matters. 

Do you truly believe that you are enough. And where you’re at in life is enough. 

And that your life has meaning?

Belief that you are valuable. And that you can choose to care for yourself 

Like Simone Biles chose to care for herself by stepping down from the Olympic Competition. 

Belief that you are So valuable in fact that God’s Spirit is in you.

It says in Acts 2 as Jesus is leaving that He deposited His Spirit in us.

Just like when you’re getting ready to buy a house you bring a deposit to show the rest is coming. 

God deposited His spirit in us so we can be the promise to the world that the Lord is coming. 

When you truly believe in yourself and what the Spirit in you is saying you will be given the motivation to act. 

To get your hands your dirty. 

I have a friend at Neighborhood Ministries who said that during a time of affirmations for an intern team he gave a gift to a seminary student who said she believes that sometimes in seminary school they talked so much theology they missed the point of being God’s hands and feet and applying the theology. 

So he gave her dirt in a jar to remind her how she got her hands dirty serving the people at Neighborhood Ministries and to remind her throughout her studies that the call of a Jesus follower is to get their hands dirty. 

We are called to not only talk bible and heaven but we must see it.

We must see the stories of Faith and scripture continue to happen in real time. 

Through your faith that leads to action.   

 Belief in self and the Spirit allows you to boldly take action with a humble confidence. To face the problems you see in the world. 

I was speaking with a high school student this week and he told me he went to camp and I was asking him what he learned from his time up there. He told me that his takeaway is that people have trouble bringing their problems to God not because they don’t believe He is listening, or believe he’s to small to meet them, but because they don’t want to face their problem. 

We are quick to want to deny that there is a problem because we do not want to face it. 

Today Pastor Jimy at Neighborhood Church shared that we must not cling on to denial but must face Reality and the problems we see. And that we must go through a time of lamenting that will cause us to act. What power it is to have the belief in yourself and the Spirit that allows you to face your problems and society’s problems head on. 

Barbara Holmes says this:

Faith reminds us that the boundaries between this life and the life beyond are  , and that our power is not seeded in what is bestowed by politicians and society, but to everyone willing and ready to recognize the moves of an active Holy Spirit. . . . By being receptive to the things that we don’t understand, we fling open the center of our being to the mysteries of the Divine. 

Are you willing and ready to recognize the moves of an active Holy Spirit?

I believe to be ready is also to trust in God’s grace, when the actions you take are the wrong actions. 

Owning up by saying “ Perhaps I heard God and His Spirit incorrectly.” Acting according to God’s Spirit is a move of faith. And Trust in His Grace In Acts 15 Paul and Silas run against the problem of Jewish Christians forcing Gentiles, non-jews, to be circumcised. And after a meeting where Jewish Christians leaders spoke about it they wrote this to non-jewish churches in Acts 15:28

28“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: 29 You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”

The part I want to focus on is the “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” That short phrase alone communicates that these great believers of the past tried their best to understand the Spirit and act on it, but have some unsureness about their decision.

 They weren't even really sure at time, but they went out and acted. 

We emphasize the grace of God on forgiving our individual sins and vices, when I believe a case can be made for the idea that God has given us grace for the mistakes and failures we make when trying to do good by Him and Others.  And trying to act on Faith and the Spirit. 

Keep trying even if you fail. Megan Mckenna states this about the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the mount that states Blessed are those hunger and thirst for justice for you shall be satisfied:

When I understand Jesus’ words in Aramaic, I translate like this:

Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for you shall be satisfied.

Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you peacemakers, for you shall be called children of God.

To me this reflects Jesus’ words and teachings much more accurately. I can hear him saying: “Get your hands dirty to build a human society for human beings; otherwise, others will torture and murder the poor, the voiceless, and the powerless.” Christianity is not passive but active, energetic, alive, going beyond despair. . ..

“Get up, go ahead, do something, move,” Jesus said to his disciples. 

All of us share a desire for a human society where everyone can feel safe and a

society where justice rolls down like a river and everyone can live in harmony.

The beautiful order and society we all seek came as a person. And that is good news my brothers and sisters. And what is also good news is that He put His spirit in you. Jesus put his spirit in us to reflect the reordering of society, to reflect His kingdom just like a deposit on a house The spirit is deposited in you as promise of restoration. 

Trust the Spirit and believe that spirit that is in you. 

But are you listening?

My good friend and mentor Chris Townley wrote this in his Holy Spirit Leadership & Practice Course for his Doctorate Program: 

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” To speak against the evils of the world requires us to discern how to identify what is evil. Throughout the Scriptures, evil, especially as the apostle Paul describes it in

Ephesians, lurks within the cracks and crevices of life, hiding in the shadows of the spiritual realm. It does not seem as if we are able to simply clasp hold of evil with our physical hands and strangle it into nonexistence. Biblically speaking, evil is much too crafty for us to confidently snatch it from our lives and deposit it in a trash dumpster in the alley. Evil, characterized as the fullest expression of the evil one, the accuser, the satan, the enemy, the devil, is subtle and way less distinguishable than God’s people would like to admit it to be.

As Ephesians 6:12 communicates to us, evil slithers its way through the unseen world among the darkness where we cannot quite get a life-saving grasp on it. In order to speak against this seemingly elusive evil, we must learn to live and operate in the unseen, in the spiritual dimensions of our lives and the world we occupy. This is why Paul exhorts us to “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion” because the Spirit offers us the language and indwelling necessary to identify and 2 overcome the evil of the unseen world. If we do not pray in the Spirit at all times and forever stay tethered to God’s presence, then we cannot speak against the evils we encounter. However, to speak against the evils is not solely about talking in the Spirit, but also learning to listen to the voice of the Spirit who “will teach you at that time what needs to be said.”

To listen requires you to be silent. Perhaps that is why God made us with two ears and one mouth as my friend Brad reminds me.   

To be silent… 

To be still.. 

To contemplate on what we hear.. 

And then move, so that Jesus may be seen.

I want you to take time now to listen, and believe in yourself and what the Spirit in you may be saying by contemplating and discerning what you may need to act on.

And I’ll ask the band to come up as well:

Let us Take 3 deep breaths on my count… 1… 2…. 3… Close your eyes and continue to breathe Imagine yourself sitting down at coffee shoppe here in Phoenix. The person you’re sitting next to you, facing you, is Jesus. He is giving you his full attention. You begin to tell him about problems you’re facing at home, at work, school. And you begin to tell him problems you see in our society that may bother you. And then you ask  him: “Jesus, what do you want me to know about all of this” Give time for Jesus to respond. Now Ask Jesus, what is it you want me to do about all of it?” Give time for Jesus to respond… 

Father we are not in a hurry …