May God bless us that as we are washed in His name, marked by what He has done for us on the cross,
and called to be His own by His Spirit, may we continue to grow in that faith, in that trust, in that sure hope,
but especially to grow in that love. Amen. Howdy. All right. Well, apparently we've got some background music going on over there.
So the raindrops are not currently falling on my head. So let's just continue to hope for that because I know that that's sometimes a possibility.
With it though, as I wanted to check to make sure that I let you know that occasionally whatever you read on the Internet is not always true.
I know, I know, it'll be okay. Just, you know, sit for a moment with that.
One of the things, and this even goes beyond what we may already be thinking about the typical news outlets one way or the other.
But there is also a newspaper that is deliberately just trying to make fun of anything and everything, and it is called The Onion.
Now, if you ever see The Onion, it's going to look exactly like a regular newspaper. However, here are a few of the headlines for some of the articles that they post.
These are the nicer ones. CIA realizes it's been using black highlighters all these years.
Area man passionately defends what he imagines the Constitution to be.
Archaeological city is discovered and the dig has found an ancient race of skeleton people.
And finally, and the one that stood out to me, kitten thinks of nothing but murder all day.
And that's the thing with this, is that all these articles is like if you're just like, if you're not really catching it, and you're looking at it, you're like, oh my word.
The difficulty is that in today's world, you really don't actually know for sure if something's too ridiculous to be real anymore.
I don't even try. But I also have to tell you though, is that there is a Christian version called the Babylon V.
And it does the same thing except it spends a lot more time making fun of Christians.
So when I say Christian, I don't mean you're going to grow in your faith whatsoever.
I just mean they like to make fun of Christians because I'm pretty sure I think he's a Lutheran.
So with it though, is that we are in a world where we are constantly struggling to decide whether something is even real or not.
And even today is that oftentimes instead of spending our time focusing on the people that we directly know,
whether we do or don't trust them or let them into our lives, instead we're spending our time debating whether somebody on an Instagram roll
or a YouTube channel or apparently the TV is still a thing, I think.
Apparently we're trying to decide if they're the ones that we're supposed to trust and whether or not we truly know their heart.
Even if everything they say and do is completely offensive.
With this is that what we're realizing is that in our world we're constantly wishing to find whom we can trust.
And yet how can we find anyone that we can trust?
And that's one of the things that we end up looking at when we are seeing 1 John 4 today.
See today we're going to be confirming a few of our youth and one of the things that we do leading up to it is that we're making sure that we teach them
basics of Christian teaching and doctrine.
And while it oftentimes comes across a little bit dry, the difficulty is that without having some sort of base or foundation,
it is amazing what people may come up with about what they think about God.
So for example, one of the assumptions is about what we think God would or wouldn't say or what God would or wouldn't want from us.
Now we may say, well we can go to the Bible, but where do people oftentimes actually go for their beliefs on God?
They will go to memes, they may go to people's videos, or some random sayings that they may discover that sounds good.
And since that sounds good, then that's probably what God would say.
How many times have we heard the proverb, God helps those who help themselves.
Now just to make sure that we're clear, this is not actually in the Bible.
That actually does not show up in the Bible whatsoever.
Now if you were to trace it back, you might even go back to poor Richard's almanac being written by Ben Franklin.
Now this is not actually someone who is a, what we would necessarily consider a born again believer as much as somebody who was more of a deist.
But even more than that is that his proverb didn't even start with him. It actually could be traced back to ancient Greece with Asop's fables.
Where it actually started off with the gods help those who help themselves.
Our perspective on what we think God would want is actually based on a polytheistic pagan culture.
Or what about the ways in which we might go back and look at who Jesus actually is?
See the thing is that John's letter is being written at a time where the church he was speaking to actually had a rift.
Because people refused to see that there could be a divine God who actually was also fully human.
And yet that was exactly who Jesus had shown himself to be after the resurrection.
Eating, speaking, hanging out, had to sleep, had to walk, still had a human body.
But even more than that, even asking questions of how is it that we are truly more and more like Jesus?
Because oftentimes what will happen is we may see it as well, I've gone through whatever motions I'm supposed to go through.
So now I can call myself a Christian without pausing to say yes, but how much are you learning and growing to be like Jesus?
Or even looking at what the Holy Spirit might say.
See, what we see in 1 John is that it keeps talking about that our faith is being demonstrated by the love that abides within us.
The fact that we are being changed to love others the way that God has loved us.
Is that necessarily something that we ever call each other out on?
We can be upset with each other for some of the more overt things.
I don't like the way that this was said during church.
I think that this could be better said for us Lutherans.
Or, you know what, here's something overtly obvious that is also part of my political beliefs.
This should be something that we focus on.
But how often is it, hey, you know, yes, you had a point, but could you have been kinder in making it?
How often do we actually slow down, not only to say that to each other, but even for others to be able to say it to us?
In this is that we're not meant to be done with baptism and confirmation.
We're supposed to keep growing.
We're supposed to continue to struggle because, let's be honest,
how many people had some level of confirming of their faith back in middle school or high school or whatever it was?
And was that the last time that you had an epiphany of pausing and saying, I want to grow in my faith because I want to follow Jesus?
And if it really was the last time that we had a moment of pausing and saying, I really want to follow Jesus,
are you sure that that's really where you want to be?
I was teaching for a year at a Baptist school. Please don't hold that against me.
Sorry, little joke.
With it though, is that while I was there, is that I was struggling because of some very strong differences in what they saw as faith.
See, we went on a retreat at this one point in time and some of the high school boys took these large super soaker water guns
and they filled them with this weird vinegar mayonnaise mixture.
Yeah, it's disgusting.
And they went around shooting each other with it, but also shooting the cabins that they were staying in with it as well.
So imagine how lovely that smells by the next day.
Well, the thing is, is that it was dumb.
It was something that they needed to apologize for and go clean up.
No, no, no, no, no. It went further than that.
They were sat down and forced to question whether they truly were saved.
They were actually pushed to say, did you ever really accept Jesus as your savior if you were willing to go and do something like this?
And I'm sitting there like, I'm sorry, I don't remember this in the Ten Commandments.
Thou shalt not shoot the cabins with super soakers filled with vinegar and mayo.
But even more than that is, how many of them felt that they had to go get rebaptized?
Because well, I guess apparently I must not really believe in Jesus.
The thing is, is that we are supposed to continually be growing in our faith.
This isn't something where, oh wait, I had a difficulty and I'm struggling with what that means.
Therefore, maybe I'm not really baptized.
Maybe I'm not really truly saved.
But the whole life that we live in Christ is supposed to be continually growing throughout the rest of our lives.
We're supposed to continue to have these times of realizing what God is trying to convict us of.
For some time, and I'm going to be emphasizing this again next week as well,
is that we're trying to make sure that we tap in on what the Christian life is that we need to be emphasizing at Christ Memorial.
More than just worship service, but rather how are we growing and being discipled in caring for one another
and how to reach out to our community.
And somebody asked me this last week, why is it that white churches have to deal with categorizing everything so much, which was fair?
And to the point is because we have a temptation to pick certain things that we just want to do because we think that they're fun
or somehow they fit what we like.
But we're supposed to be growing in all of these aspects.
And the reason for pausing and pointing them out is because maybe we've been spending so much time in one area
that we're not growing in others.
Because maybe we're uncomfortable with the other parts of it.
Maybe we want to be reading our Bible.
We just don't really want to have to deal with people that are different from us.
Or we like being out in the world around us, but we don't want to actually have to deal with looking on the inside.
Or more than that, boy, we really like being busy.
But are we willing to slow down to spend time one-on-one with someone who is genuinely in need?
And that's the thing with this.
Is that all of these things are a part of our life of faith.
Now, does this mean that, oh, wait, you know what, I haven't been to my small group or my class in a little while.
Oh, man, am I really saved?
No, that's not where we're going with this.
This is not like a, okay, now everybody, you've got to prove whether or not you're saved.
Do you want to follow Jesus because you want Him to save you and all this?
Yes, great. Keep going.
But rather is to pause and to say, what is it about our lives that is reflecting who God is
and being willing to pause long enough to say, have I been in Christ the way that I need to be?
Because maybe that's the thing about this, is maybe that there are things that we need to be willing to see.
I always love when I get a chance to go over to Eagle's Trace and talking with people who are in their 70s and their 80s
and I'm like, look, y'all, I don't care if you have a walker, get out there and go tell people about Jesus.
Which apparently they think is kind of funny.
With it though, is to be able to realize that there is no pause, there is no end.
Is that this is supposed to be continual.
And the moment that we think that we're done and that we haven't figured it out, that we haven't all figured out,
that's the moment that we've snipped ourselves from the vine.
And that's what it is that I'm challenging you all with.
Is to be able to slow down and to be able to say, maybe there are some areas where our relationship with God
needs to continue to grow because something in my love for others is missing right now.
Or maybe we don't even realize what it is that's missing.
But I do have to make sure that I mention this before we close.
Is that there are going to be some growing pains.
No, not the sitcom version.
But rather, is that when we are doing things as a community, it is going to be uncomfortable.
That's the thing about having a community just like having a family.
Is that you're supposed to be pushed.
There are times whenever you don't get to say what it is that you're wanting
or to have things the way that you want.
And frankly, neither do I.
Because as a community, we're meant to be pushing one another to learn and to grow.
And that's the thing about this.
Is that we do have some adjustments that we need to make.
There are some things that we need to be pushed on a bit.
But at the same time, this is the place to do it.
This is the community for it.
Because this community is rooted where it needs to be.
This community has its branches connected to the vine of Christ Jesus.
So even as Christ Jesus was willing to give of himself for us,
are we willing to take that time to wrestle with and to say,
God, what do you need to have in me so I can be like you?
Maybe just maybe.
Even if we butt heads a little bit from time to time,
maybe we're going to be able to find our way further along that path together.
Maybe so.
With that, thanks be to God.