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A Christian Heart is Good; A Christian Liver is Better!
Pastor Dean Jurgen
September 28, 2008
Matthew 21:23-32
[Skit: “So What Is It You Say You Do Here?”]
God speaks to you and me and gently, lovingly asks us, “How about you walk with me this week?” And when we walk with him, we find out what we it is we are to do here. When we walk with him, we find out that being HIS gives us something to DO for him. When we walk with him, we find out that Christianity is not just a heart religion, but a liver religion! You see, Christianity is something we don’t just keep in our hearts, but we LIVE in our daily lives. So, let’s see if we can stomach a sermon on being whole hearted Christian livers!
Christianity involves talking, but it is not about talking. It is about walking. Christianity is about doing, living, improving, serving, growing, maturing, giving, forgiving, loving…
So, what is it that you and I say we DO here?
We do a lot of words, for sure. But our faith is not about talking the talk; it is about walking the walk. But words are important. How important it is to say, "I promise to love, honor, and cherish you until death do us part." Important words. Beautiful words. But more important than the words are the loving, cherishing, honoring actions that speak even louder!
The words we say here every Sunday are important. Words like we heard from our lesson from Philippians:
"Jesus is Lord"
"We believe in God the Father Almighty..."
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name..."
"Lord, we trust and love you."
“Sing hallelujah, praise the Lord.”
“The Lord is risen, the Lord is risen indeed!”
Important words. Eternally important words. They express what we believe; remind us who we are; they are important ways to show the world who we are and in whom we believe. But the challenge we face constantly is translating those important words into action and habits, values, practice, and reality!
Actions speak louder than words. What we DO speaks louder than what we SAY. Isn’t that what Jesus made so clear in the parable we read this morning?
This farmer and his two sons were sitting down at the breakfast table one morning. The father knew that the crops had to be harvested, so he said to his oldest son, "Son, come out and help me in the field today."
The oldest son, choking on his bagel and Philadelphia cream cheese, replied, "Nope. No can do. Don't want to. It's hot out there. The bugs bug you. Besides, I've got that big date tonight and have to wash and vacuum my car."
So the farmer then asked his younger son, "Son, come out and help me in the field today. I sure could use your help."
The younger son replied, "Why, certainly kind and dear Father. I will be most pleased to do so right after I go and clean up my room. Don't wait for me. I'll be right there in just a little bit."
So the farmer went out to the field and began to work. In a few moments he looked up, and there was not the younger son who said he would come out but the older one who said he wouldn't! The older son changed his mind after some time to think about how selfish he was and that his father was out there alone in the field. But the other son, the one who showed so much courtesy and promised to come, well, he spent the day watching MTV.
Which of these sons DID what the father wanted? The older one! He didn’t talk the right talk, but he walked the right walk.
We say, "Yes, Jesus, I love you and your church. And I promise to support it with my attendance, my prayers, my money, and my service." Good, important, loving words. But the actions that complete them speak louder.
In the language of today, Jesus is saying, "Don't talk the talk if you aren't going to" what? "walk the walk!" For God looks more at
...our WORKS than our words;
...our PRACTICE rather than our profession;
...our PERFORMANCE more than our promises.
Our ACTIONS speak louder than our words!
We're doing some and planning some new and exciting things here at Lititz Moravian! And I hear lots of words like, "Yes! We need to do these things. We've needed to for a long time. Yes! We'll go to those fields." But we need to complete those words with actions. We need ready tongues AND ready hands!
"Talk is cheap," the old saying goes. There is truth in that. Doesn't cost us much, just a little breath and the movement of the vocal cords to say, "I love you" or "Yes, Father, I'll go to help you in the field." But actions are costly. They require not just air and throat but mind, hands, arms, legs, heart, body, and soul!
Our actions speak louder than our words!
Often we have heard about how all the evil forces of the world are trying to destroy the church. But what we may not realize is that the greatest danger to the church always comes from inside. One spy inside the fort can do more damage than a hundred enemy soldiers outside the walls. I tell you this - we individual Christians do it far more harm when we say one thing but do another. For people watch us. When our words tell them we are disciples of Christ and members of a church, they expect more of us. So they listen and they watch carefully to see if our word and actions match.
Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Don't just tell me you love me. Do it. Keep my word. Live it out. Let me see you out there in the field - showing your love in your home, on your job, in your marriage, with your neighbors, in your attitudes, in your words, in your actions… and in your living it out in your commitment to church life. We can know all the right words to say, but nothing speaks louder than the Father looking up and seeing us in the field.
We’re calling today “Opportunity Sunday” because we have every opportunity to make our lives and our church everything God wants us to be. It’s all right here (in the form)… It’s all right here (in each of us). We hold the opportunity in our hands… or it’s home on in the mail, or it’s still on the way in a very slow mail system. (It was mailed twelve days ago). It is the “Opportunities for Service” form. It takes our words and puts them into action.
The “Opportunities for Service” form is a powerful tool that might change your life and turbo charge our church!
It is our opportunity to be the best of the two sons as their father asked for their help. We can, like the second son, say the right thing and say we’ll work with and for the Father. And we can, like the first son, DO the right thing and get out in the field with Him. Filling this out is good for our church. Surely you can see that. If each one of us prayerfully checked off those gifts of time and talent we are willing to offer in 2009, then what an exciting thing this would be!
Our church has needs… like people to serve in the nursery, or be ushers, or read scripture, or help in Sunday School, or drive people from the Manor to worship, or serve on a committee or board, or prepare food, or help in the office, or visit shut-ins or help in the gift shop. And the way these and a hundred other needs are met is through you and I as we hear our father ask us and we follow him out into the field.
And we each have a need for ourselves as well.
We need to use the gifts that God has given us.
We need to pass on what we have received.
We need to be about doing what God has made us to do.
And by taking the time to fill this out, you help yourself as well as our church. For you’ll indicate where you feel God giving you a holy nudge… where you are aware that you could serve. It might be “regularly attend worship” or “watch for visitors and greet them warmly” – (and I hope most of us check those boxes) or it might be “dish washing” “Senior Choir”, “Sunday School teacher”, “Elder/Trustee” or any of the 163 boxes and three open ended options for your opportunity to serve.
These forms, to be of any value, need to not only be filled out, but given to the Father in love for Him and His church. It’s time to express our commitment to Him and His church, not just in words, but in deeds… in practical, real ways that matter most.
Some of us have gotten these in time to fill them out and are ready to return them. As we sing again the beautiful hymn of commitment we just sang, if you are ready to give your form… to commit yourself to serving with and for the Father in 2009, then I invited you to come, as we sing, to put your completed form in this box, or on the corner of this table.
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Lititz Moravian Congregation | 8 Church
Square | Lititz, PA 17543 | 717 626-8515 |
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