Pentecost 9C, 2025

9th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you remember last week’s Gospel (which came right before this one), you might recall that we talked about greed and anxiety, and what’s in the heart. Today’s Gospel picks right up in that part about anxiety. But what Jesus is ultimately talking about is the opposite of anxiety… and really the opposite of even fear. We see it in both the first lesson and the second lesson: FAITH.

Jesus brings this up specifically in verse 28: “O you of little faith!” - if you’re worried about all these things: food, clothing, shelter, etc… then it appears that you don’t have faith that God will provide for you. As with the earlier part of chapter 12, it’s not the “things” but rather how we think and feel about those things. It’s what’s in our hearts with respect to those things, vs. what’s in our hearts with respect to God.

The gift given to us by the lectionary this week is the reading from Hebrews chapter 11 - arguably the best definition of faith offered to us in the Bible.

Hebrews and James The Great Cloud of Witnesses (Hebrews 11:1–12:2)

Hebrews speaks of “faith” more than any other book in the New Testament. In

Faith - the word “faith” - gets tossed around a lot, and from what I’ve seen, I think different people use it to mean different things. So let’s stop right here and make sure we’re all using the same word. You just heard that scholarly difference between how Paul uses it and how it’s used in Hebrews. That’s an important distinction. Over the last couple of years, I hope you remember us talking about how faith is not something we come up with on our own; that can only be given to us by the Holy Spirit. And that is what Paul is talking about.

So if we go with this scholarly commentary on Hebrews and use the word “faithfulness” in this passage from chapter 11, then you begin to see that it’s not passive at all, but active. You might even say, this is what we do with the faith God gave us. But if you start with verse 1, you get a pretty good idea of what that passive faith is.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith tells us that there is more to this world than we can see. Faith “...enables believers to live by a vision of the reality of God and God’s purposes for the earth, a vision that is not yet present or visible to the eye. It empowers believers to move into the future with trust and confidence, knowing that the future belongs to God. … it empowers risky and vigorous living in this world. It empowers us to step into the unknown with courage, to invest ourselves at those points where God’s future may be struggling toward realization now, confident that God’s redemptive purpose in the world will not fail to be achieved despite all appearances to the contrary.” [Frances Taylor Gench, Hebrews and James, ed. Patrick D. Miller and David L. Bartlett, Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 63–64.]

The letter then begins to show us a list of saints who lived by faith as the Bible shares them with us: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. Of these, we know that Abraham is the most frequent example of a man who trusts God. His faith is the example to follow (after Christ, of course). God gave Abraham faith, and Abraham followed. Or as verse 8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called...”

This season after Pentecost is all about growing in the faith that God gave us. It’s about how we live that life of faith. It’s about obeying when we are called to something. What that call is will be unique to each one of us… but all of us are called to SOMETHING. And while each one of us is called… so is the church. Our church family, as well as the larger church.

I spent the last week hearing a variety of presentations from our bishop and various leaders and theologians of our church (and some others) who touched on this very topic. And the bishop and his staff are keenly interested in helping each congregation to grow in our faith. They are laser-focused on helping us to become better disciples and to make more disciples. That is, after all, ultimately what all Christians are called to. (And, by the way, it’s our first Vision Point) - this is the heart of the Great Commission in Matthew 28.

I was particularly captivated by the resources they offered to us, in which they talk about Renewing, Equipping, and Transforming congregations. This picks up where we left off with our Fresh Eyes for Mission summit with Pr. David Wendel. Here’s a quick taste of what they talked about:

Those things we do as a congregation of Christian disciples which we see as a ministry, and should part of a ministry plan. In that ministry plan — what we’re currently doing, or what we sense God is leading us in - will fit into one of four categories. And if it doesn’t fit into these categories, then we must seriously consider why we we’re doing it and whether we should adjust accordingly. Here are the categories:

Invite - How do we create a welcoming environment where people feel at home, making it a place where church members want to invite others, and how does this relate to outreach? The service opportunities listed under INVITE are all “first come, first served” opportunities. People from outside our community can join quickly. You can have many ideas for making your church an inviting place to worship.

Retain - Provide ways for members to connect, meet their needs, and make the church a place we want to be. Word and Sacrament are key, and the quality of what we offer is essential. Worship, family ministry, and growth opportunities are vital. The service opportunities listed under RETAIN allow people to connect, creating deeper, long-lasting bonds. People connect through serving together, an easy first step. Think mission trips, serving others, building, painting, cleaning, etc.

Disciple - Educate people in their faith and develop their ability to share that faith with others. Equip people to lead in the congregation and the world. Think mentors and protégés. What is our intentional means of growing one-on-one and as a group? There must be a discipleship pathway for developing people. How can we fulfill the Great Commission and develop disciples who can support and build other disciples? Put another way, “discipling people is loving folks and moving them into a deeper walk with Christ.”

Send - We are going out into the community and inviting people to join us. We are bringing our love for the Lord outside of the church campus. We are all part of SEND. We are being equipped as we grow here. This might mean our connection to MISSIONS and potentially church planting. Bottom line: we are sent to go and make disciples.

I’ll talk more about this with our council tomorrow, but this is a good reminder of what the Christian church is about. It’s about making disciples. A couple of years ago, I came back from a clergy conference and I preached the longest sermon you’ve heard from me in my 7 years here. It was over 40 minutes. In that message, I asked you: what does it mean to be a member of Miller’s? What does it mean to be a Lutheran? What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a Disciple?

I asked those questions to get you to think a little bit. It’s been more than 5 years. Have your answers to those questions changed at all? Can you answer all of them? With today’s lessons, I hope you have at least got a solid answer to the last one: a disciple is a Christian who acts on their faith, who steps out when called by God and does something with the faith that God gave them.

Please don’t get the impression that I don’t see anyone in our congregation doing that. I certainly do. We have a good number of individuals in our church who are definitely acting on their faith and doing something with it.

My concern is that when the bishop started talking about a ministry plan, I got shivers down my spine. We don’t plan for ministry. We react. We react well, but we are reacting, not planning ahead. And our church family is TOO faithful for us to be lukewarm in our faith. I don’t want anyone saying that about us.

One more metric I’d like us to consider: when is the last time we brought a non-believer to faith in Christ Jesus? I can’t name one. Perhaps some of you are doing that. I hope you are! But every new member we’ve had in my time as pastor has been either a Christian who transferred from another church, or a baby who was born into a Christian family. We are not doing as well as we could at sharing the Gospel outside of the Body of Christ.

If this sounds intimidating, don’t let it intimidate you. We are certainly not the only congregation who measures up like this. This is our opportunity for growth. Growth for us as we grow more deeply in our faith. And as we work on our Vision Points, sharing the Gospel with those who don’t know Jesus, there will be growth in the body of Christ as well. Maybe that means more members here, maybe not. I’m not chasing attendance numbers. I want more people to know that Jesus loves them so much that he died for them, and what that really means. And I want all of us to be better equipped to share that message. That’s what churches do. And if we’re not pursuing that, then we have some questions to ask, and some work to do.

Repeat after me: “Jesus died for me.” What does that mean to you? He suffered for you. That’s personal. Luther says those 2 little words are extremely important: “for you”. Remember that. Don’t take it for granted. Consider what that has achieved: your eternity is secure. ALL of your sins paid for. Your debt is wiped clean. Jesus did that for you, because he loves you. Because the Father loves you. And you are still accompanied and sustained by the Holy Spirit, who also loves you.

The Son of God, in his love for you, has said: Matthew 28:19–20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That’s what he asks. After what he’s done for you, he asks that you tell others about it, too.

We have some opportunities in front of us. And they definitely are going to ask us to step out in faith. We have taken a few steps already. The farther we go, the more we’re going to see what God can do with us and through us. And that’s exciting!

The theme of our Convocation was also from Hebrews, but it came from chapter 12: Hebrews 12:1–2 “...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith...” This faithfulness thing we’re talking about here, obeying the call, stepping out in faith, it does take endurance. But the key is looking to Jesus. Are we keeping our eyes set on him? If we do, we’ll make it. If we do, we’ll reach our goals.

I’ll close with the words Bishop Dan opened the week with, which set the tone of the whole convocation: “Whatever it takes, for as long as we have, with our eyes fixed on Jesus.” Brothers and sisters, let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and the rest will fall perfectly into place.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.