“if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.”[1]
This is the promise of faith that is given to every one of us in this morning’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans. There are two basic requirements found within these words from Paul; there are two critical actions which must be taken – Confession and Belief! We are reminded that our faith is a combination of words and actions. We are challenged to not only utter the words of Confession … we are also challenged to believe down to the very depths of our hearts that God has raised Jesus from the dead.
Many of us have met individuals who are all too willing to recite for us the words of some collection of rules for a successful life. But the real question is whether they are willing to actually live by them.
I have known a few individuals who have told me that the most basic rule of life is “to do onto others as you would have them do unto you.” But I have also known a few of them to stab their competitors in the back when they thought no one was watching. And there are a few of us around who know that there are certain foods that we should not eat, and yet we continue to consume them.
Yes, it is sometimes easy to say the words … but it is not always easy to put into actions a life of belief. And it’s not just us who have to face this dilemma. Do you remember what happened to Peter when he challenged the vision of Jesus walking on the water? “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”[2] And so Jesus called Peter; Peter stepped out on the water and began to walk to Jesus, but when Peter took notice of what he was doing … when his “worldly brain” once again told him that what he was doing was not possible … he began to sink under the waves. As Peter was being rescued by Jesus, we hear the famous question … “why did you doubt?”
Be careful now, for Peter is not the only disciple who had his struggles with doubt. Do you remember the disciple Thomas? The one who became known as Doubting Thomas?
And now we come back to the present time before us. It is easy for most of us to confess Jesus Christ as the Lord within these walls – and soon we will share a confession of faith before we share Communion – but are we also willing to take our confession of faith into our everyday lives? Are we willing to share with others that it is our God who watches over us when they say that we are “lucky to have escaped injury?” Are we willing to both give assistance and direct them to God when they come to us for help and advice during times of critical need? When we come at last to stand before the Final Judge, what will we answer when asked who did we really share our faith with during our time in creation?
Yes, we will also be held accountable … not only for ourselves but also for our brothers and our sisters. Do you remember what Paul wrote to the Romans? “But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’"[3]
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