Hello Chapel Hill,
Today I want to share with you one more thought that came to me after the sermon yesterday. When I preach on this text in the future, I will preach it in two sermons. For now, a writing will be sufficient.
One group of people who I touched upon very briefly during the sermon was the disciples. They were there with Jesus also; weren’t these parables also intended for them? The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the disciples, including Jesus’ inner circle, James, John, and Peter, were also the intended listeners; and if they were, then we need to explore this passage a bit more because we too are Jesus’ disciples and the mission of the church itself is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
As it turns out, faith was precisely what the Twelve lost at the end of Jesus’ life on earth. Judas’ loss of faith caused him to turn Jesus in to the authorities by a kiss. Peter’s loss of faith in Jesus caused him to deny that he had ever known Jesus, and all the rest of the disciples ran away (I know I would if I were there) when the Lord’s life was in danger.
For me, to lose faith is the ultimate risk for all people of God. And although Jesus does ultimately find all of them except perhaps for Judas, which should assure us that God will find us when we are lost, we need to be on guard against this risk and be vigilant from the temptations that would compromise our faith (Had Judas repented and turned to Jesus instead of taking his own life, I believe Jesus would have saved him too).
Remember, faith is not the intellectual assent to God, to a belief, or to an idea but an experience involving the body, heart, and mind; in other words, our whole being. When one loses faith one feels weary with life, family, and work; one grows sick in body and soul. We feel lost. A person can seek comfort in work, money, fame, drugs, food, recognition, and status but all of this is nothing more than running away from God. This is truly nothing more than self-medication for an addiction which simply will not heal on its own. This lack of joy and fulfillment in our lives is simply a symptom to let us know that something very important is lacking. The recognition that “something is missing” is really the work of the Holy Spirit that John Newton called the “Amazing Grace” that will slowly lead people “home” if they allow themselves to be found.
And so, people of God, disciples of Jesus Christ, I hope that you will continue “chewing” on these two parables as time goes by for they can open our inner eyes, with the help of the Holy Spirit, little by little to recognize when our faith is at risk.
I’ll be in a North Texas Conference class this Saturday and Sunday with several others from Chapel Hill. I will miss you at church but will be with you in spirit knowing that you are in extremely good hands with Howard Stansell, the staff, the choir, and the entire loving and caring congregation of Chapel Hill.
~ Mai
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