March 7 Grow in faith, Yes, but how?
Jesus, did you hear what
Pilate did to those Galileans who were on their way to the temple? His soldiers slaughtered them. Luke 13:1
When we talk about some tragedy, often in
the back of our mind we have a question: “I wonder what they did to deserve
this?”
Jesus relied: “Do you think they were
worse sinners than other people in
Jesus rejects the idea that their sin led
to their misfortune. We’d like a
conversation about unmerited suffering – answers to deep questions of
life. And Jesus turns the tables and
questions us,
“I tell you unless you repent, you
also shall be under judgment.”
People don’t want to hear that – or do
they?
A reporter interviewed the pastor of one
of those new, fast-growing churches in
“I think you’ve got a generation of young
adults that never had anyone look them in the eyes and say directly to them “You are really, really messed up.”
“They’ve been told people are basically
good, mean well, are making progress.
But they know better. They’re
looking for a church that speaks the truth.
Deep down they know they need change – what Jesus calls repentance.”
Just in case we didn’t get the point, he
gives them a second example. “What about those 18 men who died when the
In asking Do you think that they were worse sinners? Jesus
exposes a common human trait – the tendency to point out the sins of others,
rather than confronting one’s own flaws.
His reprimand clearly indicates that one’s own life should be
scrutinized before another person is condemned.
For whoever seeks to justify himself by harping on other’s sins will be
cut down like the unproductive tree.
A man had an apple tree
planted in his yard. He expected to find
apples, but there weren’t any. He said
to the gardener, “What’s going on. For
three years I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and none have I found. Chop it down!
Why waste good ground on it any longer?”
The gardener said,
“Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it
will produce next year. If it doesn’t,
then chop it down.”
In Lent we examine ourselves: How
are you doing in following in the Lord’s way in your daily life? Are you growing in the faith? Jesus warns the Lord will not tolerate
forever our lack of productivity.
Christ holds us accountable. We know what the Christian life requires of
us and yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we also know how far short we
fall. So the question that confronts us this morning is: "Yes, but
how?"
Many people make the mistake of thinking
all they need to grow spiritually is God’s word and prayer. Yes but you need something more too. We need other believers to help us grow.
As Paul says I want us to help each other
with the faith we have. Your faith will
help me and my faith will help you. Romans 1:12
That’s why you need a church family. We help each other grow in faith – persevere
in faith.
Yes, But How?
First, Encourage each other and
build each other up. 1 Thessalonians
5:11
In a world where people are often put down and verbally beat up, we can
provide a counterbalance to the negativity.
We can become the voice of God’s grace in other people’s lives – helping
with encouraging words.
The word translated “encourage” can mean simply “to come
alongside”. We’re to come alongside one
another, building each other up.
What does
encouragement do for us? It can make a
situation more tolerable when someone comes along with a word of encouragement.
It can help us see the light at the end of a tunnel. It gives us a hope, it
boosts our self confidence.
Encouragement is the antidote to discouragement. Negative people can pollute
our outlooks and negative circumstances can pollute our hope.
A word of encouragement during a failure
is worth more than an hour of praise after success. There is nothing better
than the encouragement of a good friend.
The church is people, people who need
encouraging but also a place where we as people, not an organization, can
encourage each other.
Each of us needs to look after the good of the people around us. You can lift a person’s spirit, change the
atmosphere of your office, or lighten someone’s burden. We can look for the best in each other,
and always do our best to bring it out.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 Msg
Encouraging others helps them grow -
keeps them on the right path. And it
also helps us grow because we’re acting in a Christ-like way.
Second, to grow, participate in one our
study classes. Whenever Paul wrote to a
congregation, he challenged them to teach and encourage each other with God’s
truth.
Let the words of Christ
live in your heart and make you wise. Use His word to talk, teach and counsel
each other - to help them grow.
But to do that, some words of the Bible
need to be planted in your mind. When we
study together, we talk about Bible passages – about their application – and
that gets them into your head. Then you
can use those bible thoughts in conversation to help others - and to guide your
life. So, please come to one of our Sunday School
classes to get to know the Bible better - and to grow as a disciple of Jesus.
But beyond that, there is an added
benefit: You make Christian friends –
friends with spirit. That can also
happen as you participate in fellowship events – and as we work together. You need friends with spirit in your walk
with the Lord.
I realize many of you don’t think you
need to come to a Sunday School class - You graduated
a long time ago.
In our second lesson, Paul tells of the
Old Testament people of God in the wilderness, where God provided for
them. Then, Paul concluded, God was not
pleased with them. All that happened to
them is an examples to us. If you
think you are standing strong, be careful, for you too, may fall into sin. 1
Cor. 10:12
Paraphrasing Paul: We are just as
capable of messing it up as they were.
Don’t be naïve and self-confident.
You’re not exempt. You could fall on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget self reliance – it’s useless.
We tend to be our own judges - not accountable to any higher standard
then our own conscience. The problem is
many of us are good at rationalizing our behavior. That mistake wasn’t really a big deal – and I
did it because --- always got a good excuse.
That’s one of the reasons we need other
believers in
our lives – we need to hang out with
others who are trying to walk the walk. And we need to get to know a couple of
them well enough that they become spiritual friends. Someone we can share our faith with – even
our trials and our doubts.
Some problems in our spiritual life need a team to tackle. You can battle the same temptation for a long
time - but nothing changes. The truth is
you can’t change without accountability.
We’re kidding ourselves if we want to battle temptation but won’t let
other people hold us accountable.
“Admit your faults to each other and pray for
each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16
Notice
it doesn’t say, admit them to a priest or a pastor. It doesn’t even say just admit them to God It says “Admit
your mistakes to one another….”
However
imperfect we may be, we've learned from life that it's better not to parade our
imperfections out in public. As the little girl said to her classmate who had
to sit in the corner, "To err is human, but to admit it is just plain
stupid!"
By admitting our mistakes we build
relationships and community faster than any other way. Ephesians 4:25 says “Tell each other the
truth because we all belong to each other.”
Tell the truth about yourself.
Your fears, your doubts, your hang-ups.
It does not mean confessing your deep, dark sins. It just means
admitting what’s going on in your life.
“I'm having some doubts.” You
admit it. . “I'm worried about…” such and such. “I'm having a hard time forgiving that
person.” “I just don’t know why, but I
feel discouraged today.”
You don’t have to tell everybody. But you
need to tell somebody. Healing and a
fresh start and the power to change come from being open with other people.
Today’s gospel presents a real challenge for us.
In Lent we’re reminded that Jesus not
only did some tough things and suffered tough things, he also said some tough
things – challenging words directed to his followers – to us.
Yes, Jesus loves us enough to accept us as we are. But he loves us so much that he will not
leave us as we are – loves us enough to tell us the truth about our situation. He expects us to keep changing – to continue
growing.
Yes, but how? - With a little help from your friends - your church
friends.