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When Faith Becomes Action · Faith at Work

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  What if love could become second nature to all of us in all of
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  our relationships,
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  SPEAKER_00: the ones that are easy and the ones that are in difficulty?
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  SPEAKER_00: What if our hands moved before our egos set in?
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  SPEAKER_00: What if service felt as natural as breathing?
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  SPEAKER_00: as natural as living.
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  SPEAKER_00: There are four scriptures that we're looking at here this morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: James asks a blunt question.
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  SPEAKER_00: What good is faith without works, without putting our faith into action?
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  SPEAKER_00: His belief, real faith moves, real love shows up.
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  SPEAKER_00: in James 2, verses 14 through 17.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus paints a picture for us.
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  SPEAKER_00: I was hungry,
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  SPEAKER_00: I was a stranger,
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  SPEAKER_00: I was sick,
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  SPEAKER_00: and whatever you did for one of the least of these,
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  SPEAKER_00: you did it for me.
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  SPEAKER_00: Matthew 25, 31 through 46.
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  SPEAKER_00: Acts gives us structure for love.
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  SPEAKER_00: The church appoints servants to care for the widows.
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  Word and table,
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  prayer and food held together in Acts chapter 6,
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  1 through 7.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then James circles back on all of that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Are any suffering, are any sick among you
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  SPEAKER_00: Show up with oil in person.
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  SPEAKER_00: Compassion and intercession, walking hand in hand in James 5, 13-18.
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  SPEAKER_00: So here is our big idea for today.
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  SPEAKER_00: Faith becomes visible when care becomes habitual.
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  SPEAKER_00: Serving is how our church becomes relevant and vital in our world today.
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  SPEAKER_00: I drew from a line in the Let Our Joys Be Known book, chapter 12.
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  SPEAKER_00: It says this,
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  Matthew 25 praises those who serve so automatically that they
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  aren't even aware
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  SPEAKER_00: that they are doing it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And friends, that is the goal, holy muscle memory.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let me name our Pleasant Valley story.
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  SPEAKER_00: I know I haven't been here but about 14 years.
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  SPEAKER_00: I was told by the life, 14 months, sorry.
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  SPEAKER_00: I guess it seems longer than it actually was.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
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  SPEAKER_00: But I was told by the life development team,
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  SPEAKER_00: Brian Wilson in particular,
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  SPEAKER_00: that I don't get to use the I'm new card anymore.
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  SPEAKER_00: All right.
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  SPEAKER_00: But I have actually been here,
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  SPEAKER_00: or at least been familiar with the congregation for many,
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  SPEAKER_00: many years.
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  My wife served,
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  I don't know,
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  20,
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  25 years ago as the youth pastor,
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  actually.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I was part of the youth group and doing some things.
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  So I'm fascinated by the Pleasant Valley story and everything
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  that we have done as
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  SPEAKER_00: a congregation.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I believe that we have been living these ways for many years.
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  many years it is it is who we are and i believe it is who we
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  plan on continuing to
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  be we tend the mission field um it's over there right it's a
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  soybean field so i'm
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  SPEAKER_00: not great with directions
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  SPEAKER_00: It's somewhere around the church here nearby behind the cemetery.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the proceeds for that go out the door.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are given away every year.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's something that I believe started when my wife was here.
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  We plant soybeans,
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  we harvest them,
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  and then we share the proceeds from that.
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  SPEAKER_00: We run the Karis Consignment Shop.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many of you are part of that and have been for a long time.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a simple shop, but it's a steady witness in our community.
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  SPEAKER_00: Goods are recirculated and neighbors are cared for.
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  Did you know that that ministry gives upwards of $100,000 away
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  every year?
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  SPEAKER_00: Did you know that?
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  SPEAKER_00: We host the Jimmy Fortune concert coming up on December 10th and 11th,
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  SPEAKER_00: 2025 at the Community Center.
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  SPEAKER_00: I think we raise, I don't know, $10,000, $15,000 a year.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the proceeds of that go to the Verona Community Food Pantry,
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  SPEAKER_00: which many of you also volunteer at on the fourth Tuesday of every month,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is why we can't have puppet practice on the fourth Tuesday anymore,
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  SPEAKER_00: I was told.
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  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to have to pick another day.
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  SPEAKER_00: for the puppet ministry.
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  SPEAKER_00: Backpack pals.
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  Downstairs there's a big room with a whole bunch of food and a
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  lot of backpacks.
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  And those backpacks are packed every single week under our roof
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  right next to the
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  preschool where we have wonderful children that are being
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  ministered to and cared
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  SPEAKER_00: for down there.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is mixed with mercy.
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  SPEAKER_00: And 60 kids a week
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  SPEAKER_00: go home with food in their backpacks because of that ministry.
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  SPEAKER_00: Dignity is sent home in backpacks every week.
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  SPEAKER_00: We send teams after tragedy, and it hits homes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Brethren disaster trips, we all know about that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Faith X Journeys.
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  SPEAKER_00: Brethren, voluntary service moments.
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  SPEAKER_00: We go where the hurt is and we stay long enough to help.
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  SPEAKER_00: Years, in fact.
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  SPEAKER_00: And let me not forget our deacons.
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  SPEAKER_00: Quiet saints.
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  SPEAKER_00: Steady hands.
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  SPEAKER_00: Faithful presence.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, cute little faces too.
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  SPEAKER_00: They carry towels more than titles.
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  SPEAKER_00: They anoint and they care in places that we never know about or see.
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  We are the church of the brethren,
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  and service and care is our lane in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: God's word made deed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our prayers turned into practices that impact people's lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peace made tangible through kitchens and work gloves.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  SPEAKER_00: a family story that has roots in the Church of the Brethren story,
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  SPEAKER_00: one that I have a personal affinity to.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many of you know about the Heifer Project.
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  SPEAKER_00: How many of you have ever heard about the
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  SPEAKER_00: have for a project?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well,
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  SPEAKER_00: for those of you that don't,
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  SPEAKER_00: and maybe those of you that do,
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  SPEAKER_00: its seed was planted by a guy named Dan West.
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  SPEAKER_00: He was a brethren farmer in 1937, 1944, that kind of era.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he came home from refugee relief with this simple idea.
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  SPEAKER_00: Don't just send milk, send a cow.
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  SPEAKER_00: Give families a living, not a ration.
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  SPEAKER_00: A guy named M.R.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ziegler,
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  SPEAKER_00: Michael Robert Ziegler,
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  SPEAKER_00: who was actually,
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  SPEAKER_00: in fact,
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  SPEAKER_00: my great uncle,
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  SPEAKER_00: helped it take flight.
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  SPEAKER_00: He was the first executive of Brethren Service Committee, okay?
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  And he championed this idea and connected this vision all
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  across the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: He became a key architect and a promoter of this work.
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  SPEAKER_00: Heifer grew ecumenically, and later it became Heifer International.
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  SPEAKER_00: But its heartbeat remains the same.
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  SPEAKER_00: dignity, sustainability, and hope for people.
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  SPEAKER_00: A brethren vision that keeps feeding the world day after day after day.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our denomination still lives this way.
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  So let me just real quick go through a few service partners
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  that I haven't already mentioned.
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  SPEAKER_00: Brethren Disaster Ministries,
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  SPEAKER_00: volunteers,
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  SPEAKER_00: rebuilding homes for survivors,
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  SPEAKER_00: hands that help,
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  SPEAKER_00: long-term presence.
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  SPEAKER_00: Children's Disaster Service, a number of you are part of this.
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  These are trained teams that create safe,
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  playful spaces for kids after disasters.
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  SPEAKER_00: They tend to little hearts while the grown-ups face big losses.
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  Brethren Voluntary Service,
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  how many of you all have gone to Brethren Voluntary Service?
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh my, we need to fix that.
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  This is year-long placements,
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  a wonderful thing for youth and young adults to be involved in.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are out there serving for peace,
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  SPEAKER_00: serving for justice,
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  SPEAKER_00: serving for human need all across the U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: and abroad.
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  SPEAKER_00: There's a thing called Global Food Initiative,
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  SPEAKER_00: where partners grow food security through sustainable agriculture.
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  SPEAKER_00: All of our farmers should be involved in this.
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  SPEAKER_00: And there are grants and there are projects from Africa to the Americas.
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  material resources at the brethren service center there are
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  warehouses full of
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  teams that are packing and shipping relief all across the globe
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  behind the scenes
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  SPEAKER_00: logistics that are saving lives
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  SPEAKER_00: Serve International.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a brethren-born fair trade initiative.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was actually,
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  SPEAKER_00: from what I understand,
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  SPEAKER_00: one of the very first fair trade initiatives that was happening,
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  SPEAKER_00: where they create justice through work.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was begun in 1949, before it was even a thing.
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  SPEAKER_00: owner of peace,
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  SPEAKER_00: equipping peacemakers and non-violence training for teams,
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  SPEAKER_00: forming people for the work of reconciliation,
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  SPEAKER_00: the ministry of reconciliation that we are called to in Jesus Christ.
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  And of course,
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  faith acts,
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  short-term service trips that meet real needs and stretch
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  disciples.
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  SPEAKER_00: All of this is Matthew 25 with sleeves rolled up.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not noise.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is nurture.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is not slogans or scriptures.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is service and salvation for people.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, for us, what keeps service flowing among us as a congregation?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, first off, we just have to see what is going on.
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  We need to ask the question,
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  what is Jesus,
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  where is Jesus hiding in plain sight for us to see?
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  SPEAKER_00: Often, Jesus looks like a neighbor that we have overlooked.
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  We need to step up to interrupt your schedule for someone
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  else's survival.
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  SPEAKER_00: And understand, small steps can turn into holy habits.
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  SPEAKER_00: And lastly, stay.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is something that the brethren,
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  SPEAKER_00: I think,
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  SPEAKER_00: have done very,
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  SPEAKER_00: very well over the years in many,
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  SPEAKER_00: many ways.
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  SPEAKER_00: Stay.
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  SPEAKER_00: Stay.
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  SPEAKER_00: Care that lasts heals deeper than just a moment of ministry.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we need to remember that when we stay and when we get tired,
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  SPEAKER_00: the net doesn't break as long as grace holds it.
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  SPEAKER_00: So remember our quote today.
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  Matthew 25 praises those who serve so automatically that they
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  aren't even aware of
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  SPEAKER_00: They are doing it.
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  SPEAKER_00: A lot of the things that I mentioned today,
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  SPEAKER_00: you are probably not even aware that we were doing it,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Church of the Brethren is just continuing in that lane.
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  SPEAKER_00: So let's join in.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's practice until mercy is second nature among us.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is our path forward.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep tending the mission field.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep stocking backpacks and pantries.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep sending teams and forming servants.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep singing and serving at concerts for good.
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  SPEAKER_00: Keep raising children.
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  SPEAKER_00: in a church that gives itself away.
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  SPEAKER_00: And keep telling the service stories.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is our family story of practical compassion in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is a picture of faith with hammers, hooves, and hope.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.