“The Five Practices - Working Together”

Scripture: John 15:1-16; Matthew 7:15-23

For five weeks, we have been considering the directions and attitudes that are necessary if a church is to truly respond to the call that Jesus places upon us – and it has raised several questions for us. First - what does it take to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Second – what is “Christian fruitfulness” all about? And third – how do the Bishop’s five practices work together to produce good and glorious fruit for God?

From Bishop Schnase’s book “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations” – “To fulfill the ministry of Christ, congregations must change and grow and adapt in ways that are purposeful, thoughtful, and faithful. Change is not easy. People do not fear change as much as they fear loss, the letting go of comfortable and familiar patterns, behaviors, and attitudes. Change for the sake of change, or to preserve the institution, is not sufficient.”

And isn’t it interesting that our God, the one who is, Himself, unchanging, who is always the same, and whose word is forever true, is the same one who brings change to the lives of all who will trust in him and his word. The ways that we have lived before we came to the Lord must change into ways that reflect him. And that requires a guiding spirit and a hand that reveals all that we can become.

Read John 15:1-8

The passage reminds us of what every vintner already knows – that if a vine is to as productive as possible, it needs to be cared for in very specific ways. Dead and unproductive branches need to be cut out and removed from the vine, and even the good branches need to be trimmed back to allow new and guided growth to occur. That is where the best fruit will come from.
And in verse 4 we are offered another obvious truth - that no branch can ever bear fruit unless it is connected to the Vine. And we know, of course, that a branch that is cut off from the vine or tree will certainly die, and in many cases, is already dead. But it is also true that a branch can be grafted onto another vine. But when it is, it will lose its identity if, indeed, it lives, for it is no longer connected to the original source of its nourishment.

But the lesson that Jesus is offering isn’t one of vineyard husbandry - it is one of spiritual truth. Jesus is the “Vine” that supports us, and nourishes us, and trains us, and helps us to grow, and makes us fruitful. But our lives need to be trimmed and pruned if we are to produce God’s fruit. The ways of earth’s sin must be removed, and the ways that are unable to bring about Godly blessings must be pruned from our lives.

If the Church of Jesus Christ wishes to bring glory to God, and if we have any desire whatsoever to receive his glory, an everyday faith, a routine faith, will never suffice. If we are to present the face and love of Jesus to the people of this world, we have to become Passionate, Intentional, Extravagant, Radical, and willing to take a Risk for God as we walk in his call.

Read John 15: 9-16

It would seem that our relationship with Christ is closely tied to two attributes – the first is our love of both the Lord and each other, and the second is obedience in all he has taught us. And it isn’t that these are two independent issues – they are mutually dependent on our acceptance of both. The interpretation and implementation of this command is what has brought the United Methodist Church to St. Louis for the Special General Conference this week.
Some have taken the position that loving others shows that they love the Lord, and that this is the greatest commandment of all. (Mark 12:28-31) Other commandments, for them, seem to stand in conflict against love of others, and so, they must be irrelevant.
Others see adherence to the Lord’s teaching, which are his commandments, as the surest way to show love to both God and the people. Unfortunately, the way they live their life, and the way they demand that others walk in that same way, is anything but loving.

So what are we to do? Which is the Godly way?

In reflection of this passage, the first step is to enter and remain in the love of Jesus Christ – love of his way, love of his presence, love of his many gifts and blessings. That must be where we all begin. When the love of God has firmly established itself in our lives, it is then, and only then, that we can begin to love others in a Christ-like way; it is then, and only then, that we can begin to obey his commands in the way that Jesus presented and lived them, not in how we think they should be; and it is then, and only then, that we can begin to live the word of God in a way that brings honor to Jesus Christ. It is then that we can eagerly begin to be fruitful in an Intentional, Radical, Extravagant, Risky, and Passionate way.

Read Matthew 7:15-23

False prophets, in Jesus’ words, are nothing more than “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. But how do you tell the cloaked wolves from the real sheep? The Lord says that we will know their hearts by the fruit that they bear. And what does Godly fruit look like? Galatians 5:22-25 helps us out on this point. The Fruit of the Spirit – 9 in all – are these. Love – we are to love the Lord first, and through that, we come to love others. Joy – not just happiness, not just pleasure, but the thrill and overwhelming sense that our life brings honor and glory to the Lord. Peace – the absence of self-centeredness, of arrogant thought, of a condemning heart. Patience – trusting that the Lord’s timing is perfect, and a willingness to wait expectantly, for that time to arrive. Kindness – putting the needs of others first, and caring for them in a Christ-centered way. Goodness – Jesus told us that only God is good (Mark 10:17-18), so any goodness that we might know must come from him. Faithfulness – believing that God’s way, the way of Jesus Christ, the way that the Holy Spirit inspires in us, is the best and only way. Gentleness – Titus 3:2 reminds us that we are to treat others as we would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12). Self-Control – our “free will” can no longer run rampant in our lives – the wisdom that comes to us by the Holy Spirit, by the will of God, through the teaching of Jesus, is the only “control” that we should ever allow to work within our “self”.

Unless our fruitfulness looks like this, we aren’t there yet. And we can’t assume that one or two of the above is enough! We must be working on every single one of these. And note the Lord’s words on “good” and “bad” fruit – the good tree, or good “vine”, is the only possible source of “good fruit”. And the bad? It is all destined to be destroyed.

And when we begin to grow in Godly fruitfulness, when we begin to understand what the Lord’s “business” is all about and begin to live it, we become a friend of God. And those who believe that their ways are far better than the Lord’s, those who will not acknowledge the authority, and goodness, and fruitfulness of his way, no matter how good and loving a life they may lead, no matter how Christ-like they may appear to be, the sentence at the Judgment will be “I never knew you.”

The United Methodist church of the 21st century is in a quandary. We are a denomination that is being pulled in two radically different directions, and until we all allow the Holy Spirit into the middle of our controversy, until the teachings of Jesus begin to be our foundation of faith, until the Love of God begins to be our guiding Light, we can never survive.

In 1786, John Wesley, in his pamphlet “Thoughts on Methodism”, wrote these words - “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist. But I am afraid they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this will be the case unless they hold fast both to the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”
https://www.family-times.net/illustration/Prophecy/201956/

We are on the brink of seeing Wesley’s prophecy come to fruition, and Passionate, Radical, Intentional, Extravagant, and even Risky prayer is our only hope! I encourage – I beg – I implore you to pray every day for the church – that spiritual healing will occur, that unity in Christ will return, that revival inside the church will become a reality, that the 5 vital practices that Bishop Schnase calls the church to embrace, will become our renewed fruitfulness.

“Give Until It Blesses”

Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16; 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

In Bishop Robert Schnase’s “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations”, he writes that regardless of who you are or when you have lived, a “life in Christ, and fruitfulness in that life, are inextricably bound tougher.” He wants us to know that true faith will always bring a desire to serve the Lord and his people in new and exciting ways. Spiritual fruitfulness is described in Galatians 5:22-25 as “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. And how does Godly fruitfulness come into our lives? By living a life in faithfulness, which consists of many attributes – all of which are reflected in the life that Christ lived.

But what does that mean? Does it mean that we have to do all of those incredible things that Jesus did – like healing people, driving out demons, being able to know what other people are thinking, sacrificing ourselves to the world’s evil hatred, and on and on? Of course not, although by the power that faith and the Spirit can bring to our life, we might actually be able to do some of these things.
But the truth is, it isn’t about doing anything – it’s about the attitude we have as we live out our life in faith, and it’s our love of the Lord that leads us to do those things of faith. Jesus trusted the plan that the Father had created for him, and he knew that the plan had to be carried out in a Godly way. He couldn’t become arrogant when he came up against the perverse thoughts that others threw up in his face, he couldn’t strike back when others hurt him, and he couldn’t take credit for the lives that did come to the truth he lifted up. He lived humbly, faithfully, lovingly, truthfully, and exceptionally in all that he did.

Today, we consider the ideals that the Bishop presents in chapter five of his book – “The Practice of Extravagant Generosity”.

Read Matthew 20:1-7

Jesus begins his teaching with the thought that this parable tells us about the kingdom of heaven, and I have no doubt that we all would like to gain a better understanding of God’s kingdom! The problem is that the ways and ideals of heaven have, unfortunately, no basis in those ways that we currently live with. This story is about the difference between what earth understands fairness as, versus what true fairness is all about.

Jesus tells about a landowner who hires five groups of day workers to care for his vineyard. They begin their labors at different times of the day, from the earliest time in the morning, until the last hour or two of daylight. But each group is hired under different conditions.
The first are hired for the entire day, and are told that they will be paid a denarius for their labor. The offer was accepted, as this would have been the normal pay for a day’s work.
The second, third and fourth groups, hired three hours apart, at mid-morning, noon, and mid-afternoon, and are told to go directly to the vineyard and get to work, and that at the end of the day, they will be paid “whatever is right”. Their assumption is that it will be something less than the standard day’s wage, but there is no objection to the offer, and they go to work.
The fifth group, hired with only an hour or so left in the work day, is approached with the question “Why aren’t you working?”, and they all respond that no one has hired them. The master then simply orders them to go and work in his vineyard, with no promise of any payment whatsoever for the short time they will be there. But they go, just the same.

The first group of workers is offered employment for a standard wage, but the next 3 groups are hired with a rather nebulous payment offer of “whatever is right”, whatever that may mean. Did it mean whatever was right in the minds of the workers, or would it all depend on whether the one who was doing the hiring was honest or not?
The last group is challenged as to why they are still hanging around at the hiring stand while everyone else is out being productive. The master promptly orders them to get to work, without any offer of even minimal compensation.

The only workers who received a “fair” offer was the first, and the rest went to their labor, trusting that they would receive something for their efforts, but understanding that it was all dependent on the heart and mind of the landowner. Fairness was up for grabs!

Read Matthew 20:8-16

The workers in each of the groups were about to discover what “fairness” in the kingdom of heaven was all about. It wasn’t the “fairness” of earth, which can change in different ways with every offer that is made. It wasn’t even the “fairness” that the workers had hoped to be treated to. The problem with the ways of earth is that compensation and reward is based on a graduated schedule – the more you give, the more you receive. The harder you work, or the more you know, or the more you are able to contribute to the “bottom line” of a company, the more you should get.

But apparently, “fairness” in the kingdom of God is based on a totally different standard – everyone will be receiving the same consideration, the same glory, the same salvation, the same forgiveness, the same joyful reception, regardless of when they come to faith in Jesus Christ. Of course, the call to “work in the Lord’s harvest field” is still there – no one is excused from service in the name of Jesus. But in the end, God plays no favorites – judgment is based on the same criteria for all.

The owner of the vineyard, and the King of heaven, intend to be generous in the extreme on that day when the work that the King calls everyone to participate in is complete. And the question that will be answered by all is this: “Did you respond faithfully, in my way, to all that I asked of you?” I expect that we all will begin to choke just a little when we realize that we haven’t been as faithful, in the Lord’s way, as we should have been. But there is hope – the Lord already has the answer to each and every question!

In Zechariah 3, we read of the way that the Judgment will proceed. We will be standing before the Judgment Seat as the accused, along with Satan who is prepared to present every sin that we have ever committed, every moment when we failed to glorify the King, every moment that we stumbled and fell on our spiritual face, every time when we let the Lord our Savior down by refusing to follow his call. But the Judge, who knows all things, will prevent the Accuser from even speaking a single word of accusation.
The Judge knows our hearts, our challenges, our desires, our efforts, and our love of Him, and that will be the “answer” to our question. As the passage continues, we read that the accused was dressed in filthy clothes, symbolizing his sin, but the Judge proclaims him worthy of cleansing, and orders that the filthy rags be stripped away, and then proclaims “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.” And as we read about the clothing, we discover that they are royal in nature.

Our sin deserves condemnation, just as Satan hopes, but God’s plan has the authority of eternity behind it, and not only is his decision is the only one that matters - his way will win! Our Lord’s gifts are exceptional, they are extraordinary, and they are extravagant!

Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

Paul is telling the church in Corinth that they had better mend their ways, and be more like the church in Macedonia. Their “giving” can never be by the standard set forth by the world’s order – they need to be “extravagant”, they need to go beyond what they think is adequate, beyond what they think is their limitation! He writes that the Macedonians not only were joyful in the extreme, but their poverty was also extreme. They had very little to give to help the beleaguered churches in Jerusalem and elsewhere, and they would have been forgiven if they had decided that they just couldn’t contribute much to the relief effort, but their joy in Christ overcame the limitations of their physical humanity. Their generosity would know no bounds – not out of obligation, but out of the joy that filled their hearts.

And Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians is that even though they have a lot going for them – there is human knowledge gained through education and experience, there is the ability to speak clearly and convincingly in business as well as in the church, they have respect and love for the apostle and his followers and have helped them in many ways, and that there is even faith in their lives and hearts. But the one thing they apparently are lacking is their joyful demonstration of how much the Lord’s presence in their lives truly means.

Excel in the grace of giving.
I would offer two quotations from John Wesley:
1. “Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”

And 2. “Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God’s money will I keep for myself?”
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/151350.John_Wesley

We can never out give God, but shouldn’t we at least give our lives the opportunity to try?

“Whatever It Takes”

Scripture: Luke 10:1-12; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

I’m sure that all of us have, at some time or another, asked the eternal and pressing question - what does God really expect of his church? In James 2:14-26 we read a discussion of what true faith must involve. The question is asked, that if someone has faith but does nothing with and through it, how can that kind of faith ever lead them to salvation? In essence, James is telling us that a sedate and inactive faith is nothing more than a superficial faith, a self-absorbed faith, that unless it is reaching out to others in some way, it’s not a faith that honors Christ. Of course, our faith expression changes over the years as our life situations change, and as the call of the Lord is renewed within us, but the Lord’s call to mission and outreach will always be upon us.

That may seem like a rather extreme position to take, but then, how extreme was Jesus during his ministry? He traveled throughout both Israel and Gentile territories, never letting societal norms deter him, never letting the opinions of religious authorities change his mission, and always using every encounter to teach and heal and reveal Godly ways to all who met him - not to mention the change that his ministry brought to the hearts and minds of his followers. And in every instance, his disciples were amazed - as well as confused - while the people he touched were blessed and strengthened and even emboldened to become a witness to others as to who this Jesus had become for them.

Today is the fourth in our series from Bishop Robert Schnase’s book “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations”. In the fourth chapter, titled The Practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service, he writes “Mission initiatives change the lives of those who receive the help” AND “Hands-on mission projects change the lives of volunteers. Nobody returns from such service and looks at his or her own life in the same way.” Jesus is that kind of “change-agent” – changing the lives of both those who are touched by his grace, as well as the faithful who are called into his service.

Read Luke 10:1-7

There are several lessons for us in these verses.
First, he sent the people out “ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.” The point here is that when Jesus calls us to go someplace, or to go to someone, we go to prepare others to be blessed by God. The problem is that when the world comes crashing down on our human lives - whether it is due to family issues, job problems, loss of hope and loved ones, damage to our health, uncertainty of the future – whatever it may be, these things always seem to change the focus in our lives – that our loving and purposeful God can so easily become no more than an absentee manifestation.
The truth is that the Spirit of our Living Lord is always with us – it’s just that in times of adversity, people usually need a flesh-and-blood assurance of God’s presence in their lives, and that must be the people of Christ’s Church.

The second lesson is this - we are being sent out “like lambs among wolves”. If it wasn’t for this issue, mission would never include risk. But the truth is that the darkness of Satan hates the Light of Christ, and he will go to great extremes to prevent its illumination in the world. And since he has no authority over Jesus, his opposition will always be directed toward the Lord’s missionaries. He uses doubt and fear to make us hesitate and question. He uses problems in our transportation systems to make our mission so difficult that we want to back out. He uses failure in the lives of our leaders to make us refuse to follow them. He even uses ill health and injury when all else fails.
But when Jesus asks us to serve him, he will also ensure the mission! He grants assurance to overcome our doubt and fear; he provides all the resources that we will need to go wherever the mission may be; he offers confidence in forgiveness, that the penalty of every sin in every believer will be overturned by our confession and his forgiveness; he grants healing and renewal and correction for everything that may come against us. There is nothing that can come against the will of God, for his victory is assured, if we will simply respond to his call.

And the third lesson is that the Lord, through his power and through his Church, will provide every need that the mission will require, and even more! Sometimes the resources will be provided before the team leaves home, and other times, it will all be waiting for us when the day of mission begins. Supplies, meals, housing, guides, God’s way, God’s gifts, God’s preparation – we have to remember that the mission isn’t ours – it is simply a matter of our participation in the effort that was the Lord’s right from the beginning.

Read Luke 10:8-12

Lesson number four – go everywhere that that the Lord would go, offer all that the Lord would give, and receive all that the Lord would accept. Notice that we aren’t told to be selective of where, and to whom, we go, we aren’t to decide ahead of time who will be open to the gospel and who won’t, and we definitely aren’t to choose the people and places where the going will be easy. We are to go where the Lord leads us.

Lesson number five – don’t hold anything back. Whatever the need may be – whether it is healing, or vision, or sustenance, or clothing, or visitation, or anything else (Matthew 25:34-46), bless them in their need, and let them know that God is with them – it will encourage them, it will sustain them, and it will strengthen them in faith. After all, mission is far more than just caring for human needs – spiritual needs are even more important, and quite honestly, caring for the needs of this life should be, above all else, the doorway to offering the salvation that comes by faith in Jesus Christ! The needs of this life are temporary, but the needs of faith are eternal!

But if the people reject the gifts that you bring, if they are only open to receiving the human and worldly gifts that they want, keep trying as long as the Spirit allows. Just remember, we don’t get to decide how long that time may be. We don’t get to run as soon as we receive our first “No thanks” or our first “Go away!” We pray about it, we ask the Spirit for a different approach, we seek divine guidance for the right words so that hearts and minds will be opened to the hope of Christ.
When that time has come, though, and if the answer is still “No”, it’s time to leave. But Luke offers one caution – take nothing of that person, that house, or that town with you. Leave their ways, their ideals, their negativity right where it is, and offer them the same reminder that you left with the faithful – that God is still there, ready to hear their plea for help, and whether they come to the Lord or not, he is still God and one day, they will come to that realization (Philippians 2:5-11)!

Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Paul has taken a huge step in faith. Once, he was a Pharisee – focused and committed to one way and one thought, and that was on the Law of Moses. He was a disciple of the law; he was a devotee of the law; for him, nothing worthwhile existed outside of the Law. But here he is, saying that nothing matters to him anymore, except to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone, in any way, at any time, in every place. Instead of demanding that everyone else should live like he does, now he empathizes with those who he seeks to save.
One note, though. When many folks read this, they miss the words “like”. Paul says that he will be “like” the Jews in order to reach the Jews, “like” those under the law to reach those who are legalistic, “like” those who acknowledge no law to reach them. He does not say that he becomes one with them, but is willing to be like them, that he will go to anyone, regardless of who they are or what they believe, just so no one will miss out on the opportunity to be saved.

That no one will be lost! Jesus told three parables that call us to minister to the lost, and each one tells us to use whatever means we have at our disposal to bring them to glory, and that we must be intentional for them.
The first is “The Lost Sheep” in Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:1-7. In this story, one sheep, out of the entire flock, has wandered off, and the shepherd searches for it relentlessly. And if he finds it, and brings it safely back to the flock, the joy that he feels will be overwhelming, and the passage concludes with these words – “… your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”
The second story is “The Lost Coin” in Luke 15:8-10. A woman has lost a silver coin, the personal value of which far exceeds its monetary worth. She did everything possible to find it – she lit the lamps in the house, she swept every inch of the floor, and she searched every inch of the room until she found it. She never gave up until it had been found and returned to its rightful place in the home, and her joy was overwhelming.
The third parable is “The Lost Son”, which we know as the Prodigal (Luke 15:11-32). Without going into a lot of the story’s detail, the son of a landowner left home to make his own way in the world, a way that was astray from his father’s way. But things didn’t work out all that well for him, and he finally decided that life would be far preferable as a servant assigned to work in his father’s fields, than to continue with what he currently had, which was nothing. But little did he know that his father had been hoping and praying for his return since the day he left, and when that day came, the father ran to him, not to chastise him, but to welcome him back as a son in full measure.

Search until the “lost” is found, do everything you possibly can to find the “lost”, and pray without ceasing until the “lost” is found. Whatever it takes, whatever the perceived risk may be, wherever God’s call takes us, rejoice that the Lord has chosen us to be his servant messengers, because “Risk Taking Mission and Service” is the only way for the Church of Jesus Christ.

“Beyond Enough – Go for Great”

Scripture: Matthew 8:5-13; Romans 4:18-21

Some folks would tell us that faith is personal, and that whatever we believe will be our truth. Cultural truth is no longer absolute – it has become relative. It’s even been said that faith in God is whatever makes sense to each of us individually, and that we must make that belief fit with our personal “cultural” norms. The faith that Jesus lived, the faith of Peter, James and John, the faith of the apostle Paul, the faith of John and Charles Wesley, for many, is no longer relevant.

In John 14:1, Jesus tells us that while we believe in God, we are also to believe in him. But what does it mean to believe in Jesus? Does it simply mean that we are to confess him as Lord and Savior? To just believe in who Jesus says he is? To come to worship him in a church every once in a while? Or is there more to it?

In John 14:6, Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but by him. Does Jesus pick and choose who he will invite into that kingdom? Is it enough to simply acknowledge Jesus as God, or is there more?

The Lord was a great story teller – we know them as parables – and one of them told of a man who was going away to be crowned king. He had 10 servants who he trusted with his estate while he was gone, but 7 were unfaithful, and worked to prevent his coronation. Of the remaining three, only two were truly faithful to his ways, while the third, thinking that he was faithful to his master’s assignment, refused to fully truly follow those ways. And in the end, he was treated no better than the other 7 – all would be rejected by the King. (Luke 19:11-27)

Where does that leave us? What else do we need to know if we truly wish to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus?

Read Matthew 8:5-9

The Roman soldier who is featured in this passage is the commander of 100 men – a company in today’s terms. In that day, a Roman officer only spoke to the people of an occupied nation when he was commanding them to do something. But in this instance, he is seeking help from Jesus. He had apparently heard the stories about this celebrated Rabbi – that he spoke in bold and powerful ways, that he was unlike the other “preachers” of that day, that he seemed to hold little respect for the ways of the Jewish hierarchy, and that he was a healer extraordinaire. This Roman soldier, in reaching out to this “rebel” Jew, was taking a great risk in his career. He could be demoted, he could be tried for disobedience of direct orders, and the punishment that could be handed down would have been severe.

But his servant was suffering from some unnamed ailment, and even though his reaction was atypical of Roman officials, he cared about the man – he wanted him to get well. Normally, servants were considered to be dime-a-dozen people – if one was sick, you got rid of them; if one died, you just went out and bought another. In caring about the welfare of his servant, the centurion was an unusual man, to say the least.

He understood what authority was all about – after all, he had absolute authority over the men who had been placed under his command. Whatever order he gave, they did exactly as they had been told because their lives hung in the balance. But he saw an even greater authority in Jesus – it was different from that which he held, but it contained a weight and presence far beyond his own.

And he had, somehow, accepted the limited relationship that he could have with Jesus. A Jew was prohibited from entering the home of a gentile, and a Roman was prohibited from asking for the help or advice of any resident from this foreign country. But somehow, he recognized Jesus for who he truly was, and he knew that a power beyond anything he had ever known rested upon this unusual man – a foreigner, a subservient being, an unworthy citizen of an occupied nation, but still one who held a power that could heal his servant.

This Roman soldier, and citizen of an oppressive regime, was on the verge of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Read Matthew 8:10-13

Jesus proclaims that this Gentile, this chief of domination and cruelty, had a faith in the one, true God that dwarfed even that of the most pious and faithful men in all of Israel. The Lord continues in his prophecy that, even though Israel and her leadership believes that they, and they alone, will enter the kingdom of heaven and that all others will be left on the outside of salvation, the truth is that many others who only have a relationship with this itinerant preacher, the One who is God in the Flesh, will be welcomed into glory, and that many who thought that they were “in” with their Lord are going to find themselves out in the cold, trying to figure out what had happened!

What is there about this soldier that would qualify him for eternity? Jesus tells us that it is all about the depth of his faith. He was willing to take a risk that could very possibly endanger his position, not to mention his life! He fully believed that Jesus could do all that he had heard about him, and he trusted those who had brought this renewed sense of truth to his life. He knew that he was unworthy to even approach the Lord, and yet, his need was great enough to take this great risky step in faith.

And he believed that Jesus had the Godly authority to do whatever was asked of him in faith. He knew that the healing power of Jesus always worked – that no matter where he was, and no matter how far away the need was, he could be trusted to do all that was essential for the servant’s life. It was, and he did.

It wasn’t that the centurion knew about Jesus – he knew and trusted and believed in who and why Jesus is. Bishop Robert Schnase wrote about this level of faith in his book “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations” – the book that we have been considering these past three weeks. In chapter three, page 62, the Bishop writes this - “Churches that practice Intentional Faith Development offer high quality learning experiences that help people understand Scripture, faith, and life in the supportive nurture of caring relationships.” See how much deeper the word “Intentional” can take us? The centurion had someone who was mentoring him – or at least sharing all that they knew and experienced in Jesus. It may have been overheard in the city’s square, or he may have actually heard Jesus in his teaching, or it could even have been his servant who had shared Jesus with him.
For us, it means participating in Bible and personal study, it means sharing our experiences in faith with each other, it means that we put our whole life into understanding what Jesus would have us know and do. The third commandment in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) is to “…teach them to obey everything I have commanded”. That’s what someone did for the Roman. Who are we teaching spiritual understanding and obedience to?

Read Romans 4:18-21

Paul reminds the people that Abraham lived his life in faith – faith that led him from Haran to Canaan; faith that gave him a certainty to believe that even in his and his wife’s advanced ages, that they would, in God’s way, one day, have a son; faith that led him to offer his son as a sacrifice to the same God who had promised that he would be the father of many nations; faith that gave him a hope in spite of the impossibilities and limitations that worldly ways held for him.

For Abraham, God’s promise was all the assurance that he needed. He believed that his Lord had the power, the authority, the vision, the desire, the glory to do what his disciple needed in his life of faith.
Are we, as a church, instilling that level of faith in the lives of those who the Lord brings into our hearts and presence? Are we intentional and determined in our efforts to claim and develop that degree of trust, that intensity of faith, within our own lives? A simple and solitary faith will never be sufficient for the Christian life – good enough is never good enough! We must strive for an exceptional faith, an expressed faith, a shared faith, a growing faith – a Godly Faith!

The bottom line, then, is this - can we honestly claim that we are an intentional, committed, and growing congregation when it comes to the life we live in faith?

If not, why not? How will others ever come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ unless we do? Are we willing to leave them, and possibly even ourselves, “out in the cold” when the day of Judgment comes?