This week I have been attending The Festival of Homiletics.  The festival is an annual event filled with worship, preaching, and lectures.  Year after year they assemble some of the best preachers, theologians, and speakers today to challenge and inspire those who teach and preach in a variety settings across the country. Aside from being a pastor-nerd-fest, it is a pretty cool event. It's never easy preaching to a room of preachers, but these speakers are all top notch.  As good as the sermons and lectures are, if the words don't inspire action, what's the point? 

 

This past Sunday many churches, Epiphany in Suwanee being one of them, celebrated a day called Pentecost.  Pentecost originated in the Old Testament, but for many churches they focus on when the Holy Spirit transformed 12 common individuals into world changers. They were no longer disciples (followers) but had become apostles (those who are sent out).  How many of us would be called either a disciple or an apostle?  The Holy Spirit showed up, not as a really cool party trick, but something that was about action and movement.  Can the church reclaim that action?

 

I am not going "works-righteousness" here, but maybe James was onto something. That our faith should inspire us to do something.  We must be known for what we do, not to get an award, but because the world needs change.  So why aren't we doing it?  What are we afraid of?  I am yet to get an answer to these questions from the illustrious speakers I have heard so far (the event does run through Friday) but I don't think God loves a church that plays it safe.  God desires a church that takes risks, says the unpopular thing, and makes itself vulnerable, and if you think we are just talking about a building, denomination, or institution, the church is none of these.  The church is you and I.  The church is a group of people, believers, united by God.  The church is you.  

 

When was the last time you took a risk for the sake of the gospel?  When was the last time you stood up to injustice or oppression?  When was the last time your faith got the first spots on your calendar instead of what was left over? Until we reverse those trends, we will never be known for what we do because we aren't doing anything.  

Thankfully, we aren't in the last pages of this story, but we are on the verge of writing a new chapter, one that God has invited all of us to be a part of it, to do something.  It won't be easy, but that's what makes it so fun.  So step out there, take risks, and let your faith be known for what you do, not for the fish on your bumper.