Faith

The week of Feeding the 5000 has arrived! This is our signature outreach event for the year. It requires 200 volunteers and produces nearly 1500 boxes containing over 4000 meals. These are the kinds of ministry endeavors that I wish everyone could witness from a leader’s perspective.  So much God-inspired work goes into the process that begins with the Fellowship Hall being empty, to being filled with food, to being empty once again. From one volunteer’s perspective it may be difficult to see the whole picture, but it is truly amazing!

While this ministry is important work, there is something bigger than the work itself. What matters is the inspiration it ignites. Hope is required to begin the work in the first place. Instilling both inspiration and hope is where God comes in. Without inspiration, these human miracles would not be possible. Without the hope that this work could be accomplished, then we’d still be sitting on our hands. Without God, our faith would be dead.

For me, I wouldn’t be able to get up in the morning if I didn’t know that God is alive in the world. This is what faith is… it is not a certainty; it is a hope. Faith is believing that the way things are, are not the way things have to be. There is a better way to live together! A faith that is alive responds to people in need. A faith that is worthwhile hears the cries of the hungry and can’t help but move compassionately.

You’ve probably heard… “faith without works is dead.” This quote comes from the book of James, which Martin Luther loathed. Why? Because Luther thought it promoted the idea that you must do something in order to receive God’s gifts. Luther wanted to make it clear that, based on Scripture, there is no work required. We do not serve others so that we can receive anything in return. God’s gifts do not come with stipulations. I believe that what James means to say is that our works are a demonstration of our living faith. We can either be faithful people, or we can be unfaithful people, but God’s grace does not fall short either way. I hope we choose to be faithful people.

Must we do the Feeding the 5000? No. Do we have to be moral people? No. Do we have to profess a certain doctrine? No. Nothing is required. There are no prerequisites for God’s love or to receive salvation. The question is… do you want a dead faith, or do you want a faith that is alive? There is no such thing as rejecting God, there is only living and dying. There is only healing and harming. Even if we choose death, or if we chose harm, then the Resurrection comes for us all. When Jesus prays on the Cross, “father forgive them for they do not know what they do,” he is talking about everyone. Unfortunately, we chose death all the time. The harm we intact and allow is felt all around us.

See, our faith is insufficient. It doesn’t matter how great you think your faith is, it’s not. Our work is not impactful enough. I promise you will leave this life with work left undone. Do not fear! There is Good News… God ultimately wins. Sooner or later, love and life always win. God will inspire. God will instill hope. God will bring us to abundant life. Faith has little to do with you, and everything to do with God.

With victory,

Pastor Lucas

Photo by Luke Heibert