Sermon Cloud

It’s a funny thing when you’ve been a pastor for a number of years.  When people discover that you’re a pastor, they often treat you differently.  I remember a number of years ago I was on vacation and had the opportunity to play a round of golf at Black Butte and got paired up with a father and son.  I had hit my first shot into a sand trap and had fortunately managed to get my next shot on the green about twenty feet away.  No big deal, until I stepped up to my putt and knocked the ball into the hole for a birdie.  It was at this point my playing partners launched into a few choice words that I can’t repeat here.  Then as we stood on the next tee they asked me what I did for a living and I told them I was a pastor.  Funny thing, I never heard any of those choice words after that.   Well, now in a few days, I won’t have that mantle, I’ll just be Larry, a Christ follower. I’m looking forward to that.  You see, when you’re a pastor, when you do something kind or compassionate for someone such behavior is expected from you –that’s what Pastors do.  Rarely do we get the luxury of just being a genuine Christ follower.  So I’m looking forward to what I call living a real world faith.  

In fact that’s what I want to talk about today.  What does it look like to live out the Christian faith in the real world? What kind of things must I do to show that I’m a true Christ follower?  What are the basic marks of an authentic walk with Jesus? You see I’m not interested in going through some kind of religious motions or practices that label me as a Christian.  No, I want something more than that.  I want my faith to be real and vital.  I want my life to make a difference.  And I believe you want that too. So if you’re with me on this, let me encourage you to find Colossians 3:12-17.  If you don’t have a Bible, you’re welcome to use one of the Pew Bibles where you can find Colossians 3:12-17 at the bottom of page 903.

So what does a real world faith look like?  How can you and I make a difference in everyday living? Well, my first observation from this passage is this: If you’re Living a Real World Faith you’ll start looking more and more like Jesus  Look with me now at verses 12-14 as the apostle Paul instructs us in the ways of a Christ Follower.  He writes: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Colossians 3:12-14

My wife and girls love to watch a cable TV show called, “What Not To Wear.”  If you’ve ever seen that show, they find someone who is a fashion disaster and the first thing they do is go through her wardrobe and get her to throw away all of her unfashionable and out of date stuff.  In the same way, before, we can adorn God’s designer ware, we need to discard our old wardrobe.  We can’t have both and truly be a Christ follower.  Then, with our old garments in the trash we can begin to dress the part of a Christ follower the way God intended. We can begin to put on the character of Christ and embrace the garments of Christ.   And when we do we are going to start looking more and more like Jesus.

God has a fashion sense, but He’s not telling us to grow a beard or purchase a linen robe or walk around in leather sandals.  No, we are to put on God’s designer clothes.  What are those clothes? The wardrobe that identifies you as a Christ follower are the following:  Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness and love.  When we live out these qualities in the midst of everyday life, when we put on these characteristics with people – we will live a real world faith.

Compassion: expressing tender care to those who are hurting or helpless

Kindness:  blessing the undeserving with humble acts of service

Humility:  putting others ahead of myself. Laying aside my rights so I can help others succeed!

Meekness: putting on gentleness rather than intimidation.  Refusing to use my personal power to get things done my way.

Longsuffering: putting on patience with the sinful actions, attitudes and attacks of others.  Bearing any injury of insult without resorting to revenge!

Forbearance: putting up with the imperfections, mistakes and shortcomings of others

Forgiveness:  putting away the offense of sin

And Paul if over all these virtues we put on love we will begin to look more and more like Jesus. One of the fun things about being your Pastor these past three years is that I had the privilege to see Christ’s garments in action. Take kindness for example.  A couple of Christmas’ back, I saw how one woman expressed kindness to so many of our Seniors by giving each one of them a special hand made quilt.  Then around Christmas time of this year, you may have heard that Tom Smith fell off his roof trying to put up some Christmas lights.  Well, when word of that got around, a group of guys got together and helped put them up.  And since then , they’ve also come and taken them down.  That’s kindness. Or take humility.  One of my greatest blessings has been to watch the selfless love of Gary and Sheryl Wallace as they humbly served all kinds of people in all kinds of ways week in and week out. And compassion.  Well, each year, your giving and serving in Christmas compassion grew and touched more and more lives with the tender heart of Christ.  And of course, forbearance.  I know this one personally, because many of you have been so kind to my family and me and have put up with more than one of my shortcomings as your Pastor.

Living a real world faith means putting on the garments of Christ and touching lives with His grace. It all comes down to grace.  For without God’s grace to us we would never want to put these on; and without God’s grace in us we could never put them into practice.

But at the end of the day, nothing I can say here will help you start looking more and more like Jesus unless you make it your choice to dress the part.  I hope you will.  They say “clothes make the man.”  But Jesus has given us clothes that can change the man and help us live a real world faith.  If you’re living a real world faith, you’ll dress the part. Now, that’s just part of it.  There’s more here. What else will keep me on target for living a real world faith?

If you’re living a Real World Faith you’ll seek to stay as close as you can to Jesus
Listen now to these words: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:15-16  If there’s one truth that I’ve spoke on more than once in my three years it’s this:  You can’t grow your faith – and you won’t develop a real world faith if all you do is attend a worship service once a week.  You can’t build a relationship with anyone on one hour a week, and you can’t feed your soul with just one meal a week. To have a real world faith, you and I need a real close walk with Jesus.

And that starts with letting His peace rule:  When Jesus came and gave His life for us; Jesus made a peace treaty between you and God.  The price of peace was His blood.  When we believe in Jesus our war with God ends.  We have peace with God.   This is also a peace He gives.  He gives us a peace the world does not know. No more striving, no more fear, no more guilt – only peace: A peace that guards our hearts, a peace that’s beyond our own understanding.  Listen to how Eugene Peterson translates this verse:“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing.”

One of the habits of our old heart is to do our own thing. In fact, we live in a world that champions the person who speaks his mind, and stands on his own opinion. But what is gained when we do that?  When people do what is right in their own eyes?  What’s gained? Anarchy, chaos.  There is no peace with anarchy.  There’s only strife.  The gal with the loudest voice gets her way.  The guy with the biggest stick wins. The strong dictates to the weak.  There is no love in that.  There is no grace in that.  

When we live in peace with each other we show the world that we belong to Jesus. Our peace is our message.  Our peace shows that Jesus is real.  This harmony is what Jesus came for.  Listen to Jesus upper room prayer:  “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that that world may believe that you have sent me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  John 17:20-23

So God wants us to keep the peace by letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.  So how do we do that?  By letting the Word of Christ dwell richly in us.  God doesn’t want us to simply dabble in the Word, but to digest it, soak in it, meditate on it, to store up its truths in our hearts.  We have a treasure chest of truth here that we often neglect.  This is the living Word of God.  The Word of Christ is the Word that can change your life and can change the world. Jesus is called the Word.   And if you and I dwell richly in the Word, then the wisdom of Christ will flow out of us and peace will rule.  Jesus said this himself in the Gospel of Matthew:  “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:34-35.

Staying close to Jesus means letting His Word dwell richly in us.  And as His Word permeates us it will be reflected in our words, our decisions and our attitudes and the result? His peace will rule.

Letting the Word dwell richly in us is one way we stay close to Christ.  A second way is by being thankful.  It makes sense doesn’t it?  When we’re thankful for what God has done for us or given us, we begin to have a perspective that there’s nothing we deserve.  And with that kind of attitude we are set free from this need to have our own way.  Being thankful frees us from strife and the result is peace.  

So let me ask you: Are you thankful?   I know I am.  I am thankful that God took a selfish and sinful man and washed away all my sin.  I’m thankful Jesus gave me a new life – His life.  I’m thankful that God gave me a new purpose in life: to live for Him and help others find Him.  I’m thankful that He gave me the opportunity to go to school to study theology and Greek and Hebrew.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to sit under the teaching of godly men and godly pastors who helped equip me for ministry.  I’m thankful that God put it in my heart to preach the Word of God.  And I’m thankful for the opportunity He gave me to be your Pastor – to have the privilege of teaching you about Jesus, about God’s grace, about His steadfast love, about His mercy and kindness, and about His greatness and glory.  I’m thankful for the people of this church who serve without recognition or thanks.  I’m thankful for the faithfulness of those who just keep on serving Christ no matter what.  I’m thankful for the love I’ve received from you.  And I’m thankful that we serve a God that will never leave us nor forsake us.  

All I know is that when I’m thankful - peace does rule.  When I’m thankful God is closer. And when I’m thankful it’s just easier to live a real world faith.

But there’s one more truth that’s got to be apart of who you are if you’re going to truly live a real world faith.  I would say it this way: If you’re living a Real World Faith you’ll seek to stand out for Jesus    God’s Word says it like this:   And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:17

You see you may not always put on compassion or kindness or humility. You may not always let the peace of Christ rule in your heart or be thankful. But if you have truly encountered the grace of Christ, if you’ve come to know the goodness of the Father and if you’ve embraced being His child – then living for the name of Jesus will become the core of your being – it’s what you will live for - and you will live a real world faith.

So I guess it all comes down to this: Do you love Jesus?  Because if you do, you will seek to please Him in everything you do.  It won’t matter what kind of job you have or what kind of family you were born into.  It won’t matter how much or how little you education you have or how much or little talent you have.  It won’t matter how wealthy or how poor you are.  It won’t matter if you’re a stunning beauty or a wallflower.  It won’t matter.  

It won’t matter if you’ve gotten some bad breaks in life.  It won’t matter if you’ve messed up your life.  It won’t matter if you’ve got every thing you wanted from life.  It won’t matter…  Because once you’ve met Jesus, once you’ve been lifted set free by him, once you’ve rested in His goodness, and set your foot on the solid rock – nothing else will matter but pleasing Him.

Do you love Jesus?  If you do, you will live a real world faith.  And whatever you do in life will be for Him.  And you don’t have to be a pastor to do that - for God can get glory from anyone who chooses to live for Him.  I’ve made my choice.  I can only hope that you will do the same.