Ladies, please join me in
the prayer to the Holy Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and
kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be
created. And you shall renew the face of
the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts
of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and
ever enjoy your consolations. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Let
me repeat .............
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That quote comes from
Methodist founder John Wesley and is, perhaps, the ultimate definition of
Christian action. Christian action is
the subject of this talk and my name is Kathryn Banner.
Christian action is probably
an appropriate topic for me because I am a "Martha" - you know as in
the sisters Mary & Martha whom Jesus visited in Luke 10:38-42. Like Martha, I am a "doer", a
"busy bee" - I am always busy doing.
Even the women's group at church typecast me as Martha in a mini- play
about Mary & Martha! And my Girl
Scout "boss" is always telling me to stop cleaning or preparing
because the girls need to learn to do that stuff.
Even for obsessive, compulsive "doers" like
myself, Wesley's admonition is a tall order.
But it is a tall order for all of us. The challenge of Christian action
is great, but we can refer to Phillipians 4:13, "I can do all things
through Christ who strenghtens me."
Further clarification is
needed of this term Christian action. This is action flowing from a Christ-centered
life. A life char-act-erized by a personal relationship and commitment to
Christ! Through our words and actions
we are representing Christ and his universal church. Through our words and actions we bear witness to Christ at all
times and in all places. First John
3:18 "Let us love, not in word or
speech, but in truth and action."
Through our words and actions, we become servants of God, doing what
Christ would do if He were here in human form.
I was raised in a Christian
home. We were a military family
and although I was born in Texas &
have been back since 1974, I have lived many places. I grew up seeing Christian action performed by very many people
in these many places. My parents practiced Christian action when they would
take children of color from their Sunday school class to a "white"
beach in Florida in the 60's. I
witnessed Christian action as a college student when my car broke down outside
of town on a Sunday near dark and a couple of dubious looking men towed my car
back into town, got the car parts store to open up & then take an out-of
-town college student's check for the only water pump for my kind of car they
had, and then the gentlemen replaced the water pump and did not expect payment! I was the recipient of Christian action as a
new Mom as people showered us with baby gifts and food. I have had good friends pray at the altar
with me when I needed suppport.
I could go on and on and on
......... but I won't.
Let's take a moment to
review.
{TRIPOD}
We first give our hearts to
God (piety)- one leg. We then give our minds to God (growth through study)- the
second leg. And now we will give our
hands & feet to God (Christian action)- the third leg. In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way
(piety), the truth (study), and the life (action). Like this tripod, all three parts are needed for a Christian to
remain upright and balanced.
Knowing that we are loved
TOTALLY by God and saved COMPLETELY by His grace should create in us a sincere
desire to pass it on as in one of my favorite songs - "It only takes a
spark to get a fire going, And soon all those around can warm up in its
glowing. That's how it is with God's love once you've experienced it; You
spread his love to everyone. You want to pass it on."
Our ability or way of
passing on God's love will depend on our God given gifts. Yes, we all have them! Remember the fruit of
the spirit? Galatians 5:22 - 23 states, "By contrast, the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control." We
are given these gifts to use in Christian action. I guarantee that I didn't get them all - I am especially lacking
the fruit of patience! I could be the
poster child for the prayer "God give me patience- Right Now!" What are your gifts of the Spirit? They are vital in Christian action.
What are your talents? Be honest with yourself! Can you pray? My mother has prayed for a guardian angel to watch over me (this
pin is a symbol of that angel) and I know that angel is with me at all times.
Are you a good listener? A good listener on a Christian retreat helped me
understand that with God's help I could be a good mother and that linked with a
prayer to God produced a precious child with a true heart for God. Can you
draw, sew, bake, sing (on key is great but not necessary)? These are not my areas of talent. I love to
sing but unfortunately I am musically challenged. And the sewing, shopping, artistic chromosomes have skipped a
generation in my family. Do you enjoy
working with a particular age group? I
love all ages but I do have a special spot in my heart for the little ones. I teach Sunday school (right now first
graders), I help with our church's children's ministry, I co-lead a troop of 21
Brownie Girl Scouts, and I am active in our Parent Teacher organization.
Talking to the children and listening to them. Hugging them, all of them, even
the dirty ones, the hard to love ones. Even when you know that head lice is in the
classroom. Taking that disadvantaged Brownie on a special outing for her
birthday. Or reaching out to those in need that we will never meet. Daily I, or sometimes my daughter, go to the
website www.thehungersite.com & "click" to donate food to the
world's hungry. There are other
donation sites linked to the hunger site.
These are all times when I can be Christ's representative on earth.
Assessing one's gifts and
talents is the first step toward a plan for Christian action and yes, we do
need a plan. The popular advertising
slogan, "Just do it," doesn't apply with God's work. Christian action does not happen by
accident- we chose to show Christ's love through our actions and also our
words.
Once we know our talents, we
need to pray, asking for guidance in our thoughts, words and deeds. We need to set priorities- ask where can I
put God's love into play. It could be
the casual contact with the women in the grocery line that needs a cheerful
hello. I try to say hello, smile, wave,
wink at the people I meet. Actually, I
say "Howdy" because I spent seven years at Texas A&M University
where one the great traditions is to say a great big "Howdy" to
everyone you meet. Showing God's
love by our actions could be at home when a child or spouse needs extra time
and attention. This can be difficult,
especially after a long, hard day. I often fall short in this area - I have
yelled at my child & ignored my spouse more than once.
We could show God's love in
an organization or club when a service project needs extra hands. I became a Junior Girl Scout leader when a
vacancy occurred even before my daughter became a Girl Scout & I had
intended to start leading. It could be on the job when a co-worker has a
personal problem. I have spent many
hours listening and offering advice to the high school kids who have worked for
us. The job place
may be a fertile ground for Christian action.
I am a veterinarian in private practice. We often lend a listening ear,
a shoulder to cry on, offer words of sympathy and send notes of condolences
over the loss of a pet. It could be helping a
"disadvantaged" individual by making a gift box for Operation
Christmas Child. Our women's group has
done this for 2 years now.
The next step is to figure
out what is needed to complete the action.
Do you need money, other resources, more people such as Christians in
your home church, in our Emmaus community, or from the rest of the Body of
Christ? Helen Keller said, "Alone
we can do so little; together we can do much." Then take on the plan.
Trust that you can achieve your goal.
Remember, God equips those He calls.
Friendliness is important in
the way we carry out our Christian action.
My mother often says, "You can catch more flies with honey than
vinegar." Reaching out in friendship
to people we normally come in contact with is a perfect start for our
plan. Smile, encourage, be
friendly. Thereby making a friend. Then be that friend. Listen and love. Then bring that friend to Christ. Also reach out to those in need - even those we may not know. Matthew 25:40 " And the King will
answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these
who are members of my family, you did it to me.'"
Some words of caution. A Christian should not neglect family,
church, community, or job while doing God's work but neither should a Christian
neglect God's work while taking care of day to day affairs. Winston Churchill said, "You make a
living by what you get. You make a life
by what you give." Christian
action needs to be "real" or sincere. Things done to grandstand, to
earn points on earth or in heaven, or to fulfill a need for notoriety, etc. IS
NOT Christian action. "It is not
enough to do good; one must do it the right way." John Morley
Christian action is a way of
life- an EVERY DAY way of life. This
type of action, done in the everyday happenings of our lives using our unique
personality, our spiritual gifts and talents, will become comfortable and
natural and service will become a regular part of our lives.
I would like to close with a
quote from St. Teresa of Av-i-la :
Christ has no body now on
earth but yours;
No hands but yours;
No feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
is to look out Christ's compassion to
the world.
Yours are the feet with
which he is to go about doing good.
Yours are the hands with
which he is to bless now.
DeColores!
Christian Action
Walk #90
Kathryn Banner