Walking God s Way: Life and Love. 1 Cor. 3: 1 9; Deut. 30: Today s scriptures are about walking, so I feel like I need to walk and talk

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1 Walking God s Way: Life and Love 1 Cor. 3: 1 9; Deut. 30: Today s scriptures are about walking, so I feel like I need to walk and talk as I explore how we walk in God s way and work together as God s field and God s building. Now that s a strange turn of words by Paul. Paul doesn t say we work in God s field like the elder son in the Story of the prodigal son and he doesn t say that we are to Engage in building God s building like King Solomon Or even like our Habitat workers Paul says we are God s field, we are God s building. And that gives us a clue to how we walk in God s way. When I was a young idealistic college student I told my family For Christmas I want you to donate to a favorite charity As your Christmas gift to me this year. My dad bought me a Christmas present anyway He said Rob you are my favorite charity. In Paul s letter to the Corinthians and us he is reminding us That we are God favorite charity and God is building us up And growing faith in us even as we reach out to others.

2 We are tempted by the words of Deuteronomy to think it is a competition. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous and the Lord will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. There are 635 laws in the Torah so it sounds like whoever follows the most Of these laws wins: land, and blessings and a good life. But the truth is that all these laws were summarized by Jesus: From Deuteronomy 6: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, And with all your soul and with all your might And the second (from Leviticus 19:18) is like it Jesus says: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus is reminding us that walking in God s way is not a contest. It is a life style of loving God and loving others. It s how we live. And we are challenged every day to choose this life style of love. I think that s why Paul uses the image of being God s field. Walking in God s way is not actually something we do But rather being someone God has created us to be. We are like those disciples that Jesus encountered on the road to Emmaus. They didn t even know that he was walking with them on their journey.

3 They didn t know that he was teaching them along the way. They didn t know that he was staying with them that evening. It wasn t till he blessed and broke bread with them that they realized That Jesus was actually in their midst the whole time. And they immediately got back up and started walking again To Jerusalem to share their experience with the others. And that s why we go on mission trips even today. We go out thinking that we might be able to share the Gospel And we travel to places, we build houses or feed the hungry, And Jesus doesn t just appear when we do the work. But Jesus is with us the whole time: as we travel to a new place Or an old familiar place, as we eat and fellowship together, So even as we go thinking that we are building God s house, Or planting seeds in the Kingdom of God God is actually the one who is building us up even as God builds up The people we serve in his name and God is actually The one who is growing faith within us even as we are Sharing our faith and our story with others.

4 So when we go to places when nature has destroyed lives and property or poverty has enslaved people and families in despair, we are going as disciples of Christ who are choosing life and love over death and despair. That s what the ancient writers of Deuteronomy are saying when they pair together loving the Lord your God and walking in his ways. When we walk in God s way we are walking in love not hate, We are walking in faith not fear, we are walking in life over death, We are walking in hope over despair. Now that doesn t mean that we don t see the hate in the world, Or the fear in people s hearts, or the reality of death. I just came back from the funeral of my Uncle Jerry. He is one of the last in my parent s generation to die. And yet the funeral service was one of hope because he was one Who walked in faith his whole life. He didn t just talk about his faith he lived it in his work as a banker, He lived out God s love as a husband and father, in sickness and health, for better or worse til death do us part He didn t just talk the talk or even just walk the walk He live a life of love and faith and he passed on his faith to the next generation.

5 I was meeting with our Acts Bible study group on Monday night and one of the persons said: Sometimes in death we see a person s life and faith more clearly. I think that s true and I think that is what God is telling us in the writings Of Deuteronomy and the letter of Paul to the Corinthians. In death we can see the many times and ways that each of us Chooses to love God and love each other. When we look back over our lives we can see how God Has sown seeds of faith in us even as we were trying To sown seeds of faith out I the world. And that ultimately is the good news of the Gospel. That even as were are struggling to build up the kingdom of God By building houses for people in need or serving food to people Who are hungry or welcoming the stranger in our midst, God is building us up, God is host at the communion table, God is bringing growth not only in the seeds we sown and water But also within us we are Gods field and God s building. Thanks be to God. Amen

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