A Faith Worth Living and Dying For! A couple Sundays ago we had stopped by a coffee shop on the way to our Sunday assembly. This week we decided to dismiss services and work at a local elementary school to help them prepare for the kids, the teachers, and parents. It was a nice relaxing morning, beautiful weather, and a good time to have a treat of sweeter than normal breakfast with the boys. After we finished I walked past a man sitting outside, reading the paper, and enjoying his coffee. His dog was on the sidewalk next to him. I commented that the dog looked relaxed in the sun and he had a nice spot. You bet. There is no better place to be on a Sunday morning than here, he said. I was getting ready to open the van door for Lori when I stopped. Do I say something or just agree? I thought to myself. Maybe it is the Midwesterner in me. In Missouri many of the older Christians would turn and say that Church is the best place to be on a Sunday morning. In some way I thought that this might be a typical response in the South or Midwest. However, we are in the Northwest where we pride ourselves in being one of the most unchurched areas in the US. Most people we meet dont have a faith worth living for. Maybe I shouldnt say anything and just agree. If he doesnt go to church then he is right, this is the best place to be, I thought. But then the reality is this goes against everything I am as a Christian. As a minister these type of days make me wonder if I should be like so many others and get a replacement, sleep in, and enjoy laying around the house. Of course we could throw in a short prayer and say, God understands… or at least pray that God does.But then that is not a faith worth dying for. However, even when I was in school and not in ministry, or when I was a new Christian, we saw the nice day as a day to go together to church and even though it was inside, these Sundays were always fun and happy days. Weve taught our boys that this is a priority and that what they do when they leave home is their choice. However, since we asked God for children we have the obligation and opportunity to give our kids a faith to live and die for. For some reason what this guy said seemed like it should not go unanswered. Are those who go to church not in the best place we can be on Sunday mornings? Jesus went to the assembly every Saturday morning (Luke 4:16-19); the Hebrew writer told the followers not to be like others who were in the habit of neglecting the assembly (Heb. 10: 25); the early Christians met to eat together and take communion every Sunday (Acts 20:7);and then there is the Gospel of Mark. Mark is a book we are using on Sunday mornings at Agape. I have been in this book for two months and read how powerful its witness is. Tradition tells us that the book is Peters sermon to the Roman Christians and that Mark wrote it down and delivered it to the Christians after Peter was killed by the Roman Emperor Nero. The Roman Christians saw their own persecution on the horizon and Peter and Mark wanted to leave them a sermon. What sermon would they have? What would you say to people who are having to choose between their Lord Jesus and their Lord Caesar? If the Sunday assembly was when they arrested many of the Christians what would Mark tell them? When the church went underground and continued to grow in the face of torture and persecution what would Peters last sermon say? How do you give them a faith to live and die for? The book tells them/us not to back down, be willing to die, carry our cross, and remember that they killed Jesus, Peter, and later Mark. The book tells them/us that this is a faith worth dying for. Even more the book tells us as parents that we want to show our kids that we have a faith worth dying for. Therefore we have to live our life by faith as if we truly believe this. What our kids choose is their choice, what we choose to show them is ours? After opening the car door I walked back to the man and said, There are a lot of places we need to be on Sunday. Good point, he said as he went back to his paper. In some ways maybe I copped out by not mentioning where those places should be. Then again, I dont know if he cared. Then again maybe this conversation was for me, for us, for those who follow Jesus. If we have a faith worth living for how do we live? Is there any place better to be? Join us for our series through the book of Mark and ask as a Christian, parent, or man/woman of God--do we have a faith worth living and dying for?
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:36:01 +0000
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