Sermon at
First Presbyterian Church Lockhart
by James Greene
There
are times when we know we
are called to take the initiative
in our faith. It is one of those moments when we realize, we are to
endure in spite of all that is going on around us, happening to us, and running against us.
During a time when my Mom was
in a nursing home, one of the ladies I worked with was going
through the same trials with her Dad who was also in a nursing home. It was in that time of
personal pain, that I realized,
that my experience was to be
used to help her endure
her personal pain. It was a call to take the
initiative, to take my
faith, use
it, to lift someone else’s
burden, and pain. Lessons learned from dealing with institutions.
It is in the midst of our own sorrow, that we learn to
help those around us, who are grieving. It is a time when we take the
initiative. We change our direction and stand up, and live into
our faith.
The title of today’s sermon is “Taking The Initiative, In Faith”
I Know that the Righteous Live by Faith –
Habakkuk
Habakkuk is one of the minor prophets from around 598 BC when the Babylonians first invaded
Habbakkuk is writing about the evils happening to
We, like Habbakkuk, are called
to wait. We are called to be
faithful and to stand our watch, because God’s answer will come but in its own time and in the proper season.
We are assured that the time will
come; that the righteous will live by faith. We will wait upon the Lord, and live because of our faith through the destruction, the conflict, and the violence. It reminds us of the words from Kahlil Gibran –
“You pray in your
distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of
your joy and in your days of abundance.”
We are to take the
initiative and
stand our watch in our sorrows,
and in our rejoicing, trusting God, and living in Faith.
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II Act of Enduring in Faith – through our Laments
– Psalm - Habakkuk
In Psalm 119, like
Habakkuk we see how God’s Righteousness is everlasting. Like last week, the title of this section is
the letter of the Hebrew alphabet
“Tsadhe” which looks like a
backwards ‘Y’ with a bar under it.
We again see that God’s Laws are right, trustworthy, true, forever faithful, and
the psalmist’s delight. We also see the same lament and prayer for help like that of Habakkuk. It shows the unrighteousness of his enemies, and their disregard for
God’s Law. The psalmist’s enthusiasm is worn out, even
though he is oppressed, he does
not forget God’s Laws and calls out to God to help him understand God’s greater plan in The Law;
so that in his faith, in
understanding, he will endure
and live.
It is in his faith that he perseveres and through
his faith
that he lives.
In Hebrew, the term used for faith, has
several facets to its
understanding. Faith is
a firmness; it is a
stability. In the King James translation the word ‘Truth’ is used for
The Word. The terms believe and trust are
used to understand that relationship is implied. It
is a personal one in which God is the object. Faith is an
affirmation (like when we use in the term ‘A-Men’). Faith is in an act to confirm or support that affirmation.
Faith
means
to “hold God”, it is where we
get the term ‘trust worthy’ because it is something permanent or reliable as
God.
It is literally acting in faith.
III
Acts prompted by Faith- II Thessalonians
In
our Epistle letter, we see Paul giving thanks to God for the faith of the church in Thessalonica and their love towards each other, demonstrated through the persecutions they are suffering.
Paul, Silas, and Timothy act, in faith, through
their prayers that the name of Jesus will be glorified in
their act
of continuing through their persecutions and troubles. Like the lament and faithfulness seen in
Psalm 119 and Habakkuk, - Paul calls them to endure in their acts of faith.
IV
Taking the Initiative in Faith - Luke
In
Luke, we see Jesus passing through
He models what we should do: he makes a determined effort to see Jesus.
He
takes the initiative to
see Jesus. Jesus notices him, and calls to Zaccheus to come to him, and wants to eat at his
home. This is a call into relationship. Just as Jesus, when we seek him,
calls us into relationship. There
is even a play on words, when Zacchaeus stands up and talks to Jesus.
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Zacchaeus’s response is repentance. He has a change of, his
way of thinking,
(renewing of his mind) and he answers the call to
righteousness in faith. Jesus’ response and action is immediate when he says
- “Today,- Salvation has come to this
house”. Zacchaeus had become a new person, by taking the initiative in faith. He was living into the righteousness that God had laid out in The Word.
He turned and lived
into his faith.
We like Zacchaeus, want
to see Jesus, and when we do He calls us to him. In response to that call, we repent in our behaviors. It
is a time when we take the initiative, and we stand up,
like Zacchaeus, and live into
our faith.
Just
as Habakkuk and the Psalm, call us to take the initiative, and to stand our post in faith, and to remain faithful - like God – through the destruction and violence we see around us – that we believe that we must endure
and live by faith – and the time will come in God’s righteous assurance.
We must
understand and realize as, the people of God,
It is in taking the initiative, in faith,- we seek Jesus, -
Our call from Jesus,
is for us to repent, to
turn to his righteousness,
that salvation may come to us, in
and through that faithfulness.
In
the Name of … the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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