[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage 577, Pentecost 19, 10/7/07

[RMcGregorAlbq at aol.com]

Pentecost 19 – October 7, 2007
 

Lamentations 1:1-6
Psalm 137:1-9
II Tim 1:1?14
Luke  17:5?10
 
The Stretch Between Faith and Humility
 
Beginning with the fourteenth chapter, Luke develops a series of the  sayings 
of Jesus that counter self-righteousness in its various forms with "the  
Pharisees" as the name for the self-righteous.  Our text marks an end to  that 
series and the beginning of Jesus' movement toward Jerusalem and the  cross.  
Within these six verses is the tension that, on the one hand, gives  the life of 
faith its dynamic and, on the other, makes it unstable in the human  heart.  
 
If I had the faith, I could say to a mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and  planted 
in the sea," and it would.  If I had the faith and uprooted the  tree before 
a local TV crew, I would say, "Build me a bigger church," and  somebody would. 
 I would not say, "I am a worthless slave and only did what  I ought to have 
done."  And that is why I can't uproot trees with my  faith.  I haven't the 
inner strength to uproot trees with my faith without  becoming self-righteous.  
Now, I might have the strength to tithe and not  become self-righteous... 
might.  It would be a stretch.  This is the  way faith can increase in me, though: 
 on the one side, to become more  obedient  --  that is, act on faith; and on 
the other side, to become  less proud of my obedience -- that is, to think of 
my obedience as being for  someone else.  
 
It is like the capillary action of water in a fine glass tube.  The  surface 
tension of the water tugs on one side of the interior wall of the tube,  then 
on the other, and thus the water lifts itself up the tube from the surface  of 
water surrounding the tube.   My faith can only increase as my  humility 
increases.  They are the reciprocal tugs of the Christian  life.  My power can 
only increase as my submission to God increases.   If I could uproot trees with 
my faith, I would also need to be able know myself  as a mere slave of God.  I 
am encouraged by this scripture to let the Lord  increase my faith, but I am 
in no way ready to move trees with it.
 
Paul, the definer of faith, is pleased to know himself as prisoner for  
Christ's sake, and that is why he can say to Timothy, "But I am not ashamed, for  I 
know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to  
guard until that day what I have entrusted to him."  (2 Timothy 1:12)   In 
order to maintain such faith, first he had to know himself a slave for  Christ.  
As great as the accomplishments were that sprang from his faith in  Christ, he 
would be the fist to say that he did no more than what he was charged  to do.  
Apart from that humility, his accomplishments could not have been  what they 
were.  His faith would not have been sufficient to support  them.

Paul uprooted trees with his faith.  Actually he  did something more 
remarkable.  He bulldozed a Jewish sect into a  Greco-Roman world.  He planted the 
seeds of the Reformation and reformation  itself.  But Paul was nothing.  The 
message was everything.  We  are nothing.  The in-breaking of the kingdom of God 
is everything.  
 
Tossing a tree into the sea is a metaphor for something more difficult,  
rising up from utter defeat. How did the Jewish people rise above the loss of  
Jerusalem? How did the disciples rise above the crucifixion of Jesus? For this,  
Jeremiah, the Psalmist, Timothy, you and I need our faith increased, that we 
may  be the slaves of the reign of God on earth for the sake of Christ for the 
sake  of the world.
 
 
 
May these thoughts strengthen you. 

An Open Letter to Fellow  Pastors 
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor 
(an e-mail  service) 

[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message  coordinated with these 
lections.] 

_http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/_ 
(http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/)   

Multiple Sermon Starter Essays are available at 
_http://www.webspawner.com/users/McGregorPage/_ 
(http://www.webspawner.com/users/McGregorPage/)   

The MCGREGORPAGE is available free to your email inbox 
To  subscribe, write the word SUBSCRIBE in the Subject line and send it to 
_mcgregorpage-request at intenex.net_ (mailto:mcgregorpage-request at intenex.net) .  

To unsubscribe, write the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject line and  send it 
to _mcgregorpage-request at intenex.net_ (mailto:mcgregorpage-request at intenex.net) 
.  

You may contact the author at _RMcGregorAlbq at AOL.COM_ 
(mailto:RMcGregorAlbq at AOL.COM) .  

--Copyright 2007, Roland McGregor, all rights reserved—  
You have permission to share this material with any individual provided that  
you include the source with e-mail address. 
 
 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com