Have you ever tried to make a flashlight work with just one battery when it needed two to work? That would be ridiculous, right? We all know that in order for the flashlight to function properly it takes both batteries!
Just like it takes both batteries for the flashlight to work, it takes faith and action working together to live a life fully devoted to Christ.
In Matthew 7:21-29, Jesus says-
“”Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.””
What if we united our actions and our faith? Would our lives look any different? Would the daily choices we make change? Would the people around us see a difference in our lives?
In the Old Testament, Moses was a man who demonstrated the unity of actions and faith. We will peer into his life to see how this unity is practically lived out and the consequences of misaligning our faith and actions.
Moses is the man God used to lead the Israelites out of Egypt where they were slaves. Knowing that they were not ready to inhabit the promised land God used Moses to lead them the long way to the promised land.
The journey was difficult and the people immediately began to complain. They complained about being trapped between the sea and the advancing Egyptian army. Moses asked God what to do and God used Moses in the miracle of splitting the sea so the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. When the Egyptians tried chasing after them the waters engulfed the Egyptians.
Then the Israelites complained about not having food so Moses went to God and God sent food. In the form of manna and quail. They complained about not having water so Moses went to God and God told Moses to strike a specific rock with his staff in front of the people. Moses did just that and water began to flow.
Every time they complained, Moses went to God and talked with Him. When something went wrong Mose went to God. When all was well Moses went to God. Moses met with Him regularly. Moses had a relationship with God.
That is how Moses was able to determine Gods will.
Moses unified his faith and actions by having a dynamic relationship with Yahweh. Just like Moses needed to know God in order to know Gods will, we need know God. It’s what we were created for; relationship with our creator!
We must experience a dynamic relationship with the Father. Jesus was clear in the passage. Honestly, He was what some would consider harsh.
Jesus wasn’t like-“Hey y’all tried really hard to do good so here’s your participation trophy. Welcome to the Kingdom.”
Clearly, Jesus was saying just doing good isn’t enough to enter into the Kingdom of God. However, He didn’t leave us hanging out to dry, either. He told us the way into the Kingdom, plainly.
Knowing Him.
Not just knowing story’s about Him but truly knowing Him on a deeper level.
John 17:3 confirms this-“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
When we know God, when we have a dynamic relationship with Him we want to hear and do His will. We don’t act to gain his approval instead we are approved by God therefore we act accordingly.
C.S. Lewis stated it this way in his book Mere Christianity.
“…handing everything over to Christ does not, of course, mean that you stop trying. To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really hand yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you. Christians have often disputed as to whether what leads the Christian home is good actions, or Faith in Christ. I have no right really to speak on such a difficult question, but it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.”
It takes both blades for a pair of scissors to function properly. It takes both, our faith and action being united to live a life built on Jesus. Our aim is to be the wise man in the story Jesus told. The wise man who built his house on a solid foundation.
In order to build on a solid foundation one must put a tremendous amount of labor into the project. I work at a coal mine where we have heavy equipment that makes the labor of digging much easier than what they had available in Jesus’s day. I enjoy digging and playing in the dirt, probably because I grew up doing it.
When I was about six year old I came up with the most amazing idea to dig a tunnel from my house to my grandparents house 1/4 mile away. Like any sensible six year old I grabbed my dads shovel and dug, and dug, and dug. I dug for what seemed like hours. Sweating, muscles aching, I was working as hard as any six year old boy had before.
As the day ended I was eager to inspect how deep I had dug. I knew I had just nearly dug to the other side of the world! I jumped down into the hole and my heart sunk. I was only up to my knees, after all that labor.
I was going to need help. I recruited a friend to come over and help me dig the next weekend. He came over and we dug, and dug, and dug. We worked away dreaming of just how awesome our tunnel was going to be once we had completed our task.
When an imaginary army started to invade the yard, we got distracted. The hole we had dug was the perfect depth for a fox hole for a couple of six year old boys! This distracted us for the remainder of the day and my friend went home.
The days passed and I nearly forgot about my dream of digging a tunnel then one day after a big rain I heard the screams of my three year old little brother. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, he either jumped or fell into the hole we had dg and was now soaking wet since the rain had completely filled it up with water! Despite never finishing my dream of a tunnel between my parents house and my grandparents house I did get a great laugh thanks to my brother!
Hopefully, you understand my point that digging is a laborious task even for a couple of six year olds with nearly endless energy.
It’s not easy to dig down to a solid foundation. I believe that’s what Jesus is telling us in this passage.
Once we have begun our relationship with Him life is not easy. Being a Christian doesn’t mean life is all rainbows and unicorns.
As a matter of fact if we want to be like the wise man, and we do, then it will take work on our end.
Sweaty, dirty, WORK.
Moses worked hard. So hard in fact that his father-in-law told him that he needed to slow down and delegate his responsibilities or the stress was going to consume him.
He wasn’t a man to shy away from his responsibilities but he listened to his father-in-law. As much as we like to idolize Moses in our Sunday school stories he didn’t always unite his faith and actions. Yet, God still worked with and through Moses.
This should give us hope. Unless you’re already perfect? If you’re like me it give you hope because I don’t always get it right!
However, there were still consequences when Moses failed to obey God. A time when Moses failed God, the Israelites were once again complaining about not having enough water. They have been wondering around in the desert due to there lack of faith in God. They begged Moses to ask God to send them water yet again. We will pick up the story in Numbers 20:6-12-
“Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and heir livestock can drink.” So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “ Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.””
Even after Moses had been in relationship with and followed God for years, in a moment of frustration he chose to do things his way instead of obeying God. Moses chose to be the foolish man and it cost him entering into the Promised Land.
What a sobering reminder that we all can quickly fall back into foolish ways if we are not careful and watchful.
It takes a daily refreshing of our faith to stay off of foolish paths. Not only that but it takes acting in accordance with our faith every second of the day.
It takes both! Faith and action!
By unifying your faith and actions you will positively impact the life of the people you come into contact with very single day. When we as the Church unify our faith and action our community will change for the better.
People who doubt will have no choice but to admit there is something more to following Jesus. Unifying our faith and actions will transform the world. One small act at a time.
Moses was used by God to change the course of human history because he had a relationship with God. He chose to listen to God and then most of the time he chose to act in accordance with what God had said. By living this way Moses delivered an entire nation out of slavery even though he fell short of perfectly unifying his faith and action.
Generations later a man, a God-Man was born. Unlike Moses, He lived a life of perfect unity between his faith and action. He lived a life in perfect unity with God the Father. He was born to deliver all nations from the consequences of sin. So all people could live a life in unity with God living out their faith through their actions on a daily basis.
This man, the God-Man Jesus, has delivered all who put their faith in Him and what He has done. By His perfect sacrifice on the cross He has made a way to live in perfect unity with God so that we are able to know His will.
The actions Jesus lived out on this earth are the examples we must unite our faith and action with every single moment of our lives. By doing so we will continue to transform the world. I don’t know about you but I am thankful Jesus lived a life of both, faith and action!