I am involved in a community called The Great Banquet. Last fall I gave a talk titled "Life of Christian Action". I want to share it here. Its lengthy but I hope it inspires someone today.
In Luke 8:4-15 Jesus tells us the parable of the seeds.
"The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed,
some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot,
and the birds of the sky devoured it.
and the birds of the sky devoured it.
other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away,
because it had no moisture.
because it had no moisture.
Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.
Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit one hundred times."
My name is Betsey and my talk is entitled The Life of Christian Action – which is God’s call to give Him our lives to bring the world to Christ.
There is a world of difference between motion and action. Motion is a proposal for action – action brings about change. Motion is talking about changing reality while action is doing what it takes to change reality. Christian action becomes a way of life for a disciple of Jesus as we realize how much He loves us. One of the purposes of these three days is to experience an even deeper realization of this fact. It is only natural for us to want to share God’s grace with everyone else but sometimes we have to learn how to do it. The miracle of sharing our faith not only blesses another person but grows the living reality of Jesus within us.
In 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul tells us that love is the greatest of all the fruits of the Spirit. Love is the motivating power behind all true Christian action.
My mom always says I was born with a smile on my face. I have led what some would call a charmed life and making friends has always come easy to me.
I never really fit into a particular group at school but rather had friends at all ends of the spectrum, from cheerleaders to metal heads to geeks. I was raised here in Memphis and attended a Catholic church where I learned the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Beatitudes, and most importantly to me, the Golden Rule. I’ve always felt God with me and have always talked to Him.
Mother Teresa said “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
At my first job as a telephone operator, the woman training me emphasized how important it was for me to smile because even if the person on the other line couldn’t see me, they could hear the smile in my voice. I must have been good at it because what followed was a long industrious career as a receptionist. Promotions would come along and my boss would call me into his office and offer them to me all the while letting me know he was quite happy with me at the front desk if that was where I wanted to stay. I was a master at diffusing tempers and killing people with kindness.
Even in my relationship with my ex husband I follow the Golden Rule. I’ve been told more than once that people can see the footprints on my back as I let him walk all over me but I don’t see it that way. I simply believe that is the kind of person Jesus calls me to be. Let me clarify this by saying that even though I try to show my ex the sort of love God intends us to show one another, this does not mean that I let him control, manipulate, or abuse me anymore. Those three words are about as far from love as you can get. Those three words have no place in a healthy relationship and no one deserves to live with that sort of pain. I should know… I did live with it for 15 years. We share a child so I still have to have a relationship with him but it is now a relationship with minimal contact and proper boundaries.
At the heart of all of God’s commandments is the command to love others and to love God. (Matthew 7:12) Jesus taught that this summed up all of the law. If everyone followed this rule and treated other people in the way they'd want to be treated themselves, the world would be a very different--and a much better—place.
Luke 6:31 states the Golden Rule - 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you. But do you now what it says next?
32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.” We are called to love all people as Jesus did– no exceptions.
When asked to summarize God's law, Jesus boiled it all down to love: love for God and love for our neighbor. We ought to love others more than we love ourselves.
It’s hard to “love your neighbor as yourself” when you’ve mentally excluded certain people—people who might look, think, or behave differently than you—from the circle of those you consider “your neighbor.” When we can’t empathize with somebody as sharing our own basic humanity, it’s alarmingly easy to tell ourselves that Christ’s command simply doesn’t apply. Are there people you treat with less than perfect grace—perhaps nearly unconsciously—because on some level, you don’t consider them your “neighbor”?
Everyone in this world has taken some wrong turns. Everyone is in need of forgiveness and redemption and healing. Everyone needs to know the love that only Jesus Christ can provide.
Jesus’ expectation of his followers is that we share this truth with others. Jesus wants us to be passionate about sharing his love and his grace with everyone we meet. We need to walk through every moment of our lives plugged into the Holy Spirit.
John 15:11 (The Message)
11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
1 John 4:11 (The Message)
11-12My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
1 Peter 1:22 (New Century Version)
22 Now that your obedience to the truth has purified your souls, you can have true love for your Christian brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply with all your heart.
In 2007 things were rolling right along for us. I had a great marriage and two beautiful little girls
who brought me great joy. I had a gaggle of girlfriends and we were members of a wonderful church. June 22nd it all turned upside down starting with a very long night in the cardiac unit of Methodist North Hospital. I was the patient. I had been having trouble breathing for a couple of days and chalked it up to the summer heat. After three days though I began to worry and consulted a friend who was a nurse. She told me to take my BP at Target and let her know what it was. My BP was fine but my heart rate was 140. Since it was a Friday night and I wasn’t really comfortable waiting until Monday, we went to the ER. There I was, 35, hooked up to a heart monitor and scared out of my mind. Thankfully it wasn’t my heart at all – it was my thyroid. I was sent home at 3am with tons of pills and orders to see my regular doc on Monday. I saw several different doctors and read everything I could get my hands on to help me understand this disease that would be with me for the rest of my life. My usual happy go lucky attitude was squelched by physical and mental anxiety. Fast forward a couple of weeks to when my husband was offered a promotion. The catch?
It was in St Louis. They didn’t give him much time to decide and we didn’t take much time to pray. He took the job and moved in the middle of September leaving me here to raise our daughters who were 2 and 9 at the time, deal with my disease, and get a house ready to sell. At this time gas prices were $4.00 gallon so Don was only able to come home every other weekend for less than 24 hours at a time.
The potential move caused horrible friction between me and my mom who has always been my best friend. I was taking her granddaughters away to a new city and it was just too much for either one of us to handle emotionally. We could barely speak without it turning into a major battle.
The church we loved was in the middle of its own battle and most of our friends had left for other places of worship. My health continued to deteriorate as I faced shingles and horrible dizzy spells that were eventually diagnosed as migraine vertigo as well as ongoing fatigue, anxiety and depression. My friends were fabulous in those first few months even deep cleaning my house for me because I simply couldn’t physically do it.
Eventually though the phone calls slowed down and the visits stopped. Part of this was my fault as I felt like a burden and did not accept offers for help willingly. I also was not feeling social due to my illness and I was disconnecting because I thought it would make the eventual move to St. Louis easier in the long run. But I also think no one expected my troubles to go on as long as they did and it just got old after a while. I felt abandoned and alone.
My time in the Valley lasted a very painful two years. I was so mad at everyone and if I hadn’t been forced to continue being a mother, I would have become a hermit. I would read Job and wonder why God was letting me suffer through this darkness without a single person I could reach out to (for the record that was my perception, not necessarily the truth). All of my life I’ve been a good Christian. I’ve been a good friend, a good daughter, a good mom and a good wife. I knew very well how to love others. I didn’t understand why others weren’t loving me. Wasn’t I worth being loved and cared for, especially during this troublesome time? Slowly I began to understand what God was trying to teach me. He moved everyone else out of the way so that I could see my very best friend of all who had been there all along.
His name is Jesus. I had a LOT going on and I couldn’t do it all alone. Nor did I have to. All I had to do was reach out and ask for His help and give Him the control. This was not an instant realization – as I said it was a two year journey. I truly believe God let me live in that pit, in the darkness so that I could see that even then, He was there.
God was saying to me My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you saw only one set of footprints in the sand… it was then that I carried you.
Even when I was feeling self absorbed, jealous, irritable and spiteful, He loved me unconditionally. He loved little old me. He wanted to show me that I was worthy of being His child. He had plans for my life but first I needed to understand just how deep His love was for me.
Through every fear
And every doubt
And every tear I shed
Down every road
I’m not alone
No matter where I am
And every doubt
And every tear I shed
Down every road
I’m not alone
No matter where I am
He is
He was
He always will be
He lives
He loves
He’s always with me
True followers of Christ give themselves to people. They point people to faith in Christ. The highest and best use of a human life is to serve as a signpost that points people toward God. You put your heart out there. You offer grace
and acceptance and love to people far from God. You make phone calls and extend the hand of friendship in hopes that the little seed you are planting may one day sprout and rise up from the dirt. There is unparalleled joy in
knowing that God is using you to shape and mold another person’s life.
In his book “Just Walk Across the Room”, Bill Hybels explains his three step plan to bringing others to Christ. He calls it living in 3D and it is a plan you and I can follow very easily. The longer you walk with God, the more open your arms become. As your arms grow wider in worship, they correspondingly grow wider in acceptance.
First Develop friendships – engage in the lives of people around you – family, friends, co-workers. Be an active listener. Care with a compassionate heart. Seek to understand others. – God doesn’t want us to just find a church we’re comfortable in and hang out with other Christians all the time. We are to reach out to all around us and He doesn’t say it will be easy.
In Luke 10:3 he calls us to “Go now, but listen! I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.” Spotless and uncluttered has no place in the task of embracing a dying broken weary world with radical forgiveness and actionable love. As you interact with people in everyday conversations, try to be focused on breaking down stereotypes and building bridges instead. Actively seek ways to let God stretch you and interact with people of different generations, ethnicity and cultures. Remember that the Holy Spirit is in all of your conversations and listen for that prompting. Step out in faith, start a conversation, explore whether there is an open door and leave the rest up to God.
Mark 10:27 (The Message)
27Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it."
The old can become new. The fallen can be restored. The prideful can become humbled. The wanderers can come home. The weak can become strong. Derelicts can become disciples.
Next Discover stories – before you share your own story and God’s story of redemption, find out where others are in their journeys. Learn what life has been like for them – what they dream about. What is going well in their estimation and what needs work. Everyone’s story is important.
Matthew 10:29-31 (New Century Version)
29 Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die without your Father's knowing it.3031 So don't be afraid. You are worth much more than many sparrows. God even knows how many hairs are on your head.
What matters more than where they came from is the direction in which they are headed. You have to start with people right where they are. As Christ’s followers, we’re accountable for regularly surrounding ourselves with people who are far from God, uncovering their stories with compassion and grace, and then naturally and consistently making ourselves available when God opens a door of opportunity.
You just might be the single light in someone’s darkness who reminds them there is a God who created them, who loves them, and who yearns to have a personal relationship with them, starting from right where they are.
Lastly, Discern next steps – follow the Holy Spirit’s direction.
It doesn’t take a genius to discern appropriate next steps in a relationship. All it takes is being in tune to the Holy Spirit’s promptings as well as to the needs of the person you are talking to. Remember to speak to God about your friends before you speak to your friends about God. In other words- PRAY.
Philippians 4:6 (New International Version)
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Psalm 17:6 (New Living Translation)
6 I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.
Bend down and listen as I pray.
Bend down and listen as I pray.
Maybe it’s a thoughtfully chosen book you want to share or a CD with encouraging worship songs (I do this a lot). A willing spirit, a heartfelt laugh, a safe ear - seemingly insignificant things that can become divine, life altering tools in the hands of compassionate Christ followers. You’ll never know their impact until you offer them up as resources to meet the needs around you. Remember that the Holy Spirit is your strength. His power is always available. When you feel that nudge, take the risk to show up. Difficulties may arise, but God is at work even in our failures.
Romans 8:28 (The Message)
26-28Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
I won’t tell you everything magically got better for me but I will tell you it got easier once I gave the control back to God and started listening to what He had to say. My husband transferred back to Memphis after 16 months (but got to keep his promotion). Our finances were a mess but at least we were back together in one home as a family again. We found a new church in April of last year that we deeply love. I sing in the praise band and my husband is teaching Sunday school. I am still mending some relationships and the work is slow and tedious. My health is thankfully much better now and with the help of a good doctor and a short time on anti anxiety meds, I’m feeling much more like myself nowadays.
I have also completed training to be a Stephen Minister. In short, a Stephen Minister is a lay person who is paired with someone who is going through a time in the Valley and just needs that listening ear, that hand to hold, that prayer partner, that unconditional love of Jesus Christ. We are not counselors. We are care givers who spend about an hour a week with our care receivers and just stand with them as they navigate through whatever stormy waters have come their way. It is a ministry I wish I had known about when I was in the darkness. I know that God used that time in my life to prepare me for this calling.
I now understand just how much God loves me and how much He loves every one of you.
Yes, YOU, right here, right now, are worthy of God’s unconditional love. The same God who created the heavens and the earth created you and has a purpose for your life.
Jeremiah 29:11 (GOD’S WORD Translation)
11I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.
One of my favorite translations of the Bible is called The Message. In it, one of my favorite verses - Matthew 11:28 reads almost like an infomercial.
28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?? Yes! I want to order that! Give me that 1-800 number right now!! BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!!!
You no longer have to carry all of your burdens alone. You can lay down your sadness, your worry, your regret and your frustration because Jesus promises us that one day we will be a new creation. And until that day He promises to walk by our side every single day carrying our burdens for us, offering direction toward a full and significant life and giving substance to our days. And the very best part is that God’s grace is free. There isn’t even any shipping and handling. That is the Good News my friends. Don’t’ you want to share that 1-800 number with everyone you meet? Aren’t we all looking for something that will last forever.
God intends everything we do – every relationship, every activity, every opportunity be woven into a single seamless life of Christian Action. Christian Action is EVERY action a Christian lives. The girl who babysits our daughters is agnostic. We have had many conversations about God and who He is and we even sponsored her for the Awakening which is the teen version of the Great Banquet.
