Library
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Why Faith Matters
By Rev. Dr. Harvey C. Martz
Scripture: Mark 8:34-35
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
One of the advantages of recuperating from surgery over the last five weeks is that I got to read a lot of books and a great variety of books, including the latest history by Jay Winik, whose first book April 1865 is a must for understanding mid-nineteenth century America. I read several novels, including the latest mysteries by Michael Connelly and David Baldacci. And I read several theological books, including one by Rabbi David Wolpe, rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. I borrowed the title of his book for today’s sermon and I put one of his quotes on the front of your bulletin:
I have known religious people all my life. Among them are unkind, small-minded, tyrannical, or even cowardly people. A few have used faith to appear selfless while prosecuting monstrously selfish agendas. Most, however, engage in innumerable activities of kindness, charity, and selflessness. They set up soup kitchens, create networks of volunteers to visit the sick, contribute money and skills to help the poor, and pray for others in need. Few of them do it because they fear death. Far stronger is the impulse to responsibility, to living a sacred life, a life of service.
Faith in God matters. Living in faith and living our faith makes a difference in our lives. We have research that tells us people involved actively in faith communities are happier, healthier, live longer, and are more fulfilled.
Our confirmation students are this morning making their commitment to Christ and to being active members of a faith community. We are celebrating their decision and celebrating that God accepts us right where we are and loves us too much to leave us where we are!!
What do we expect of people – ourselves and these 32 adolescents – when we make promises to follow Christ and to uphold Christ’s work with our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness?
One of the things we see when people follow Christ is a life of generosity and a life beyond selfish materialism. We see this outcome in the youth who are involved in youth groups and Bible study and youth choir. We especially see it in our kids when they participate in mission trips. St. Andrew youth come back from mission trips to other countries or to other places in our country with a deep appreciation of how lucky we are, how blessed we are and how God expects us to be a blessing for others.
High school student Andrew Amis returned from a work trip to Belize, Central America, a couple of years ago and almost immediately gave away some of the clothes in his closet saying, “I just don’t need all that.” He even left some things in Belize after seeing that others needed those items more than he did. I have Andrew’s permission to tell you that story.
Following Christ produces the result of a generous heart, a generous life. Look at what you did last Sunday to prove that! This congregation brought enough food items to fill a van top to bottom, front to back, for needy families in Arapahoe County through the Interfaith Community Services group. Some of you gave money-$500 total-so that Interfaith can purchase Thanksgiving turkeys. The staff person for IFCS said it this way after last Sunday at St Andrew: “The St Andrew congregation saved Thanksgiving for lots of people!”
Generosity is one of the ways that our faith matters. Being inclusive is another result of faith in God. Being welcoming, drawing the circle of belonging very large, is one of the ways that we follow Christ. Jesus got in trouble for doing that, for welcoming folks who were seen to be “other:” different, outcasts, strangers, “less than the rest of us”. Jesus knew that God is bigger than our ideas of God and that God’s family includes people we may think should not be included. Our youth have been good at this, and all of us can do even better at welcoming those whom we might think are different: those with disabilities, different ethnic backgrounds, different political beliefs, different sexual identities, different socioeconomic status. In the 25th chapter of Matthew, Jesus says that when the Son of Man returns, he will discern who has acted on behalf of God’s will by, among other characteristics, who has welcomed the stranger.
When we say “yes” to Christ as Lord of life, we are committing to do what he did – to welcome and include the stranger and the outsider.
Our faith will make a difference in whether we stand by principle or whether we will do anything to win or to gratify ourselves. Winning is not the only thing that matters, even though we see people in business or politics or sports who will do anything to win – even give up principles or integrity or core values.
Tony Dungy, coach of the Indianapolis Colts, was quoted in Friday’s USA Today. The writer says of Coach Dungy that he consistently places faith and family ahead of sports. He is still, of course, a Super Bowl winner, but football is not the most important thing in his life. He does not think that winning at any cost is what should guide a person’s life. Here is how he says it:
“I try to get across to our players that a lot of people will admire you for how you play. But in the long run it is more important to have them admire you for how you live.”
In Coach Dungy’s upcoming new book he says that our society tells young people to chase only material success, and as a result “we never really have the positive impact on people that would make our lives truly significant.”
Our faith tells us that material success is good and fine, but it is not the most important kind of success.
Our faith tells us not to gossip, not to repeat rumors or untrue and damaging statements. We are told in the Ten Commandments not to bear false witness. All of us have succumbed to gossiping. We know the temptation of the quote from Alice Roosevelt Longworth who said. “If you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, come on over and sit by me!!”
The book of James in the Bible, one of my favorites and one that can be read in 8 or 10 minutes, warns us of the dangers of rumor and gossip and encourages us to not be rumor mongers.
Those are just a few aspects of the faith we are affirming today – our teenagers affirming/confirming that faith publicly for the first time, and others of us reaffirming our faith in God and our commitment to follow Christ.
We give thanks today for the confirmation leaders and teachers and “ex-cons” who have helped these persons arrive at this very important place in their spiritual journey. We give thanks for their families, who have supported and nurtured them along the way. And we remember for all of us that this is not the end of our faith journey, but another step in identifying ourselves as followers and disciples of Christ who want to live his example of integrity, generosity, inclusiveness for everyone, living by unchanging principles, and speaking only the truth about others. Amen.