Have faith will travel.
Awhile ago there was a TV western where the main star would be faced with a new problem each week, and each week the man would have to rely upon his gun to solve the issue, and so his gun took him from place to place encountering new people.
I believe that we have things in our Christian lives that are much the same as that cowboy’s guns. If we rely upon these things they will take us from place to place, they will move to encounter new people, and we will be used by God to reach them, and bring them to salvation.
The title of the sermon this morning is Have Faith Will Travel, and I believe that our Faith in Christ and in the salvation that he offers will move us to encounter new people and to reach them as we were once reached.
John 14:12
Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
There was a stunt man who getting ready to perform a stunt. A large crowd had gathered to watch the man ride his bicycle across a narrow wire from one building to the next, 25 stories up.
Before going to the top of the building he asked the people gathered if they believed he could perform the stunt. Many of them said that they believed he could do it. He asked them again if they really believed that he could ride his bicycle from one building to the other along a narrow wire 25 stories in the air without falling, again many of the people gathered said that they really believed that the man could do it. Finally the stunt man asked if they truly believed he could perform the stunt, and the people loudly voiced that they truly believed he could get across safely. The stunt man then turned to the bicycle and pulled off the covering, and asked, “Ok, who wants to go with me?”
It seems that today in the church we have a similar situation. Jesus is asking us to place our faith in him, and we say we do, but then when he asks us to get on the bike with him we freeze.
Sadly, I believe that many Christians do not act upon the faith that they say they have. Instead we are content to stand on the sidelines and admire from a distance.
I love watching The Tour de France, those cyclists are the most amazing athletes that I have ever seen. These guys ride with 175 other cyclists around France often covering over 100 miles in a day. But, you know what is the truly amazing thing about the Teams in the Tour? The US Postal Team’s captain is Lance Armstrong who has won the Tour 5 consecutive times, and is currently working on an unprecedented 6th win. The other 8 riders on the US Postal Team are referred to as “domestiques” in French the word means something like a warrior. What continually amazes me is that the domestiques are not in the tour to win it for themselves, their job is to work as hard and as long as they can to help Lance win the Tour. These guys turn themselves inside out day in and day out, not so they can win, but so their captain can win. Talk about faith in action, do you think for a minute that they would do that for me? They believe, and place their faith in Lance so that they can receive glory when he wins the race.
God is calling us to be His domestiques. He is calling us to place our faith in Him, and then to get on the bike. As domestiques it is not our job to win for our selves, instead we struggle so that Christ might be glorified.
Jesus said that whoever loves him will do the same works that he did while he was on Earth. Well, what did Jesus do while he was here, what works did Jesus do?
Jesus simply loved people. He loved them in many different ways;
Healing, feeding, forgiving, teaching, training, encouraging, the list goes on, but most of all he was there for them. Jesus taught his disciples how to love, and when some of them came across a beggar they didn’t give him money instead they said “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,” he then used the gift that was given to him by the Holy Spirit. This is all that Jesus is calling us to do.
We are called to love people by using our own unique gifts to minister to them in one way or another, this is how we love those along our path in life, this is how we get onto the bike with Christ.
James 2:14-20
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-- and shudder.
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Many people become uncomfortable when this text is used, because it raises questions about the work and deeds of Christians. James clearly states here that our faith cannot be divorced from our works and our deeds. Our faith is shown through our works.
For our faith to be a faith worth having we must become involved with Him, our faith should be bringing us to people. We cannot come into relationship with Him if we simply admire Him from a distance. We cannot love people as we are supposed to if all we do is look on them with pity. If all we do is admire Him and try to look like Him then we are an empty shell. We look right, and have the right shape but something is missing.
If we choose to simply do good works, and do not profess Christ as Savior then we do not glorify God. We have all the substance but no form or direction. We are scattered and uncontrollable, moving here and there with no guidance.
We must marry our faith and our works together; this is the complete package. When this happens we have the substance that God desires and the form with which he can draw people unto Himself.
Faith in Jesus produces good works. Works in and of themselves are incapable of saving us from our sin. However, they are the result of faith being acted upon. James is telling us that our faith is worthless if we do not act upon it. Not that works save us, but that they are an integral part of our faith.
Show Bike with a child-seat attached.
I doubt any of you would take me up on an offer to ride with me on my bike, but you know what? There is one here this morning that loves to ride this bike with me. All I do is put on his seat, and his helmet and he can’t wait to climb on board, we ride around and he laughs and has a good ol’ time. Jesus calls us to have a child-like faith, and just like my son has faith in my ability and puts his faith into action by getting one the bike, we too need to place our child-like faith into action by getting on the bike of ministry.
Get on the Bike.
