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Third Sunday of Pentecost - June 1, 2008 - St.
Christopher’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. Paul R. Moore
Practical Faithfulness
In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus says that not everyone who calls Him “Lord,
Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of heaven. We know God wants everyone to find
salvation through Jesus Christ, but here He seems to be putting up barriers. He
says that people will claim to have done great works in His name but He will not
acknowledge them. Apparently great works do not indicate salvation. No, there’s
something deeper He is wanting us to understand, and it has to do with
faithfulness.
To teach us what He means He launches into that great parable about the two
houses, one built on a rock and one built on sand. By His own application, the
wise man is the one who does what Jesus teaches, and the foolish man is the one
who does not; faithfulness to Jesus’ teaching lies at the heart of a
relationship with God. Actions speak louder than words. In fact, according to
these verses, if someone did the will of the Father without claiming Jesus he
would make it into the Kingdom ahead of those of us who claim Him and do not
follow Him! God does not call us to be successful, He calls us to be faithful.
But there’s a perk: Maturity in your relationship with Christ goes hand in hand
with maturity as a person. As we learn to follow we find that the path we are on
is the path of our own greatest potential. Obedience good for God, it’s good for
us as well.
So what does faithfulness look like? First, it is consistent: There is a
sameness about a person who is faithful—past behavior predicts future behavior.
There is dependability—people can trust that you will come through for them.
There is clarity—you know who you are and what you are doing. Integrity is a
vital part of Faithfulness. The inner and outer lives match; Jesus calls it
having a clear eye. First things are first, and things are in balance; you’re
not a phony—what you say is what you do. But faithfulness is not just
predictability. Faithfulness has a focus that is clear and defined, reasonable
and realistic, and yet compelling. The teachings of Jesus gives us the focus we
need. Clarity and definition come through study of the Scriptures and the
traditions of the church. Application of Jesus’ teaching must be filtered
through our reason, it’s got to “make sense.” And at the same time it must be
compelling—the focus must be something we yearn for. Faithfulness implies a
certain resiliency. When we get off track we bounce back. We let disappointments
roll off of us without sinking in, like water off a duck's back. We are capable
of coming back to the issue over and over again without getting bored or tired.
Faithfulness has flexibility with purpose. It can bend without losing sight of
the goal, it recognizes when to bend and when not to, when to wire around an
obstacle and when to take it head on. It can continually revise its path in
light of its goal.
How do we DO this?
1) Define your focus: As a Christian your focus is rooted
in the person of Jesus Christ. Everything from Christian Education to preaching
is inspired by the story of Jesus and what it teaches us. Learn the story, learn
what Jesus teaches. Organize your study around the issues that are compelling to
you right now. If your marriage is strong His teaching on divorce probably won’t
be high priority. What are your issues now? Money, marriage, kids, free time (or
lack thereof)? Outline your priority topics. Make each description clear enough
to know what you’re saying, but short enough to remember. Two or three
well-crafted words or phrases will suffice.
2) Establish short-term, reasonable goals: You cannot learn faithfulness in
all areas overnight, so take one topic at a time. Imagine what will it look like
when you’ve mastered the topic. For example, to be faithful to Christ’s teaching
with my money I will spend in a way that reflects my faith in Jesus Christ. I
will contribute 10% to my local parish’s ministries. I will have enough to give
to other critical needs as they come up. Now you know what your goal looks like.
Now identify steps to accomplish them. 1. Analyze your spending: Decide what
values underlie your spending habits now. Do you “buy green?” or not? Do you buy
on impulse or stick to a budget? Are you chronically out of money before you’re
out of month or do you always have some left over? What percentage of your
income goes to entertainment? Gifts for other people? Savings? Then compare
these values to Jesus’ teaching about money. For Jesus money was a symbol of
what is valuable to you, a resource for enhancing the Kingdom, and a tool for
worship. Now strategize: What percentage of your income do you give to the
parish now? What can you do to bring that up to a tithe? What do you need to
stop buying so you have some “critical giving” money? Then make your plan. If
you do not plan to succeed you have already planned to fail. Decide what needs
to be done first, second and third, and then get busy.
3) Program yourself for success: Part of faithfulness is equipping yourself
with the emotional support you need to be faithful. Support structures are
essential: The sheep that walks alone is wolf-bait. One of the great benefits of
being in community is the support you can get from others. It doesn’t always
come automatically, even in the Body of Christ, but it is available to you
whereas if you were alone it would not be. (If folks don’t know your need, how
can they help you? Take the initiative to get your needs met—most people WANT to
help if asked.) Self talk is of paramount importance: What you tell yourself is
what you will do: Program yourself to think positively about faithfulness, and
watch for negativity—push it out as soon as it pops up, no matter how many times
it does. Be realistic, but be positive. Don't beat yourself up over small
failures. You failed for a reason—take a look at it and learn from your
mistakes. Jesus died to forgive us, and rose to give us life abundantly. Die,
then, to carrying around past failures. Learn from them and your life will be
richer, wiser, and more abundant—and your failure will have served you well. If
you get paralyzed it’s your doing, no one else’s. Blaming someone else is
probably a waste of everyone’s energy. Finally, schedule rewards for short-term
successes. Schedule the tasks you need to accomplish. Schedule reality checks
with Scripture—by constant study of the Word, and with friends—spiritual friends
you develop within the body of Christ.
We’re all in this faithfulness thing together. No one is entirely
faithful—only God is, but if you’ve ever house-trained a puppy you know what
faithfulness means: You pick up from your failures again and again, and you just
keep working. Before you know it you’ll be there!
Fr. Paul Moore+
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