5th Sunday After Pentecost The Very Rev. Steven J. Belonick 2016

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "5th Sunday After Pentecost The Very Rev. Steven J. Belonick 2016"

Elfrieda Jacobs
5 years ago
Views:

1 5th Sunday After Pentecost 2016 The Very Rev. Steven J. Belonick 2016 I. For the past two Sundays, I have been speaking to you about what it means to have FAITH. I have shared with you that faith is not just believing things ABOUT Jesus, but believing IN Jesus. Faith means trusting Him and having the willingness to give Him control over our lives. I have shared with you that faith requires a conviction of the heart and an expression of that conviction with our lips. II. Today, I want to share with you another Gospel truth that is connected with faith. And that truth is that faith is dead if GOOD WORKS don t accompany it. These are words spoken by St James in the 1 st century. This is what he wrote: What profit is there if someone says he has faith but does not have works? That faith cannot save him. If a brother or sister is naked and 1

2 destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for them, what does it profit? Thus, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. By GOOD WORKS, St. James is not only speaking about our talents and skills, which we use for the glory of God, but also and more precisely, doing the work of Jesus - offering charity and hospitality to those who are in need, bearing one another s burdens, and blessing others rather than cursing them. St Paul s said the same thing. He wrote: If I have faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. So, faith and works are connected and fundamentally linked. One without the other makes both of them powerless. III. In today s epistle, which you can find in your bulletin, St Paul fleshes out the meaning of WORKS that are pleasing to God. You can read them now or when you go home. He encourages us 2

3 to use the gifts and talents given to each of us for the glory of God. If we hide, neglect, or ignore those gifts then it diminishes our faith. But then he adds something more perfect: cling to what is good, have affection for one another, give to those in need, show hospitality, bless those who persecute you To be a person of faith, then, means that we are not merely hearers of God s word but we put into practice the characteristics of Jesus. We try to imitate Him, trusting that our attempts to do so, even if we fail, will be counted as LIVING FAITH FAITH THAT IS ALIVE. IV. When we try to imitate Jesus with good will, and apply His characteristics, a strange thing begins to happen. His characteristics begin to grow in us without us even knowing it. How do I know this? I know this becomes Jesus promises it. This past week, my friends, I was reading from the daily Scripture readings, and I came across Jesus words which I have read 3

4 many times. But when I read them this week they struck me in a way they hadn t before. Jesus said: The kingdom of God is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. Leaven, as you know, is a substance very much like yeast that starts a fermentation process and causes meal or flour to rise. Anyone who has ever made homemade bread knows what I am talking about. Jesus must have seen His mother bake bread and must have seen the effect of leaven on the dough in His own home. After adding yeast to warm water and combining it with flour, mixing it well, and giving it some time in a warm place, the dough begins to rise and expand. Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is just like that. When we accept and trust what Jesus says and we provide the environment that is necessary for its growth when we try to live it out, then, like leaven, the Kingdom-characteristics begin to grow in us. Living according to that Kingdom eventually becomes natural to us so that we don t 4

5 have to force deeds or even think about them. We even forget the good that we do. A little leaven has the power to transform the bread. The same could be said for the transforming power that the kingdom of God has in the human person. Small beginnings make for profound results. V. So, let s consider our faith. Is it growing and deepening? Do we see a change in our motivations, in our desires, and in our values? Are we doing the things necessary for the leaven of the Kingdom to become rooted in us? Are we beginning to express the things that Jesus values in our relationships with others? If we sense that happening, thank God and ask Him to allow the growth to continue in you. If not, don t fall into despondency. Stop, take a step back, and begin to assess your relationship with Him. As He saw His mother add leaven to dough, so He wishes to implant the leaven of the Kingdom of His Father into your heart. Amen. 5

GROUP STUDY 1 THIS IS MISSION... FAITH

GROUP STUDY 1 THIS IS MISSION... FAITH For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith,