Faith In Action

Good morning friends. It's certainly wonderful to see each of you this morning,

and it's always an honor each opportunity that I have to stand behind this sacred

desk that so many prominent pastors and preachers who have once stood here as well.

And also, Happy Mother's Day to all the biological mothers, adopted mothers,

foster mothers, spiritual mothers, mother figures, godmothers, housemothers, all

mothers. I hope that you have a joy filled day with loved ones.

As I look around, I can imagine that some of us came here to

hear our magnificent choir and musicians, or to maybe marvel at the Gothic architecture

that we find here in the nave, out in our hallways and on the

facade of the building. Some may have come to meet up with a friend

or a loved one, to pass the peace to Christ to one another.

And there are some who may have come with broken hearts, heavy burdens.

Some came today grieving a loss, loss of a loved one, loss of

income or ability position. Maybe some of us came because we may not know

where else to go or where to turn. But said, if I could

just make it to church today, if I could muster up enough strength to

make it into the House of the Lord, to be in fellowship with God's

people, to be in community, to hear a word sung or proclaimed that

God is going to give me the strength, the hope, and the courage

I need to keep moving forward. For some of us, our faith could

be a bit fragile right now. I hear you. It's been an unprecedented

few years of navigating a global pandemic, and not only that, but sweeping

systemic injustice and inequity, war and extreme poverty, polarized and radicalized views manifesting

into harmful and dangerous policies and practices that push people further and further to the

margins. With all of what we're facing today and with what we see around

us, I believe that there's a message of hope, even in what some

may describe as a challenging text today, A message that reminds us of the

power of faith. Faith not as blind optimism or an unmeasured hope in God's

love for us, but faith that is a part of the very core of

our being, where we embrace and belief the limitless, unbridled and inclusive love

that God has for you and me. Won't you pray with me? Dear

God, we are so humbled to be here in your presence this morning.

We ask God that your Holy Spirit saturate this place. God, we ask

that your spirit move up and down these aisles, through the pews in our

hallways. God, that you will tune our ears and our hearts to what

it is that you want us to hear today. God, I ask that

you empty me out, take me out of the equation, that I may

be a vessel to be used by you. God. We give you the

glory, the honor, and the praise in the name of your son,

Jesus the Christ amend. Growing up as a young child in the South,

Sunday mornings for special I remember waking to music from our local radio station playing

in the background and hearing songs from artists like James Cleveland, Keith Pringle,

Dotty Peebles, Tremaine Hawkins, the Wine Ends, Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Bell

Armstrong, and others. The sound fill the house with a sweet aroma of

praise and worship. I can even remember hearing the sound of hoots and pans

clinging from the kitchen as dinner was being prepped as the unforgettable smell of spray

starch used to iron a white button down shirt for church wafted in the air.

By the way, the wrinkles in that shirt never stood a chance.

Growing up church for me and for so many black families, wasn't optional.

We didn't have the choice, and there was certainly no I'm too tired,

maybe i'll sleep in today. Going to church was an extension of our expression

of faith in the context of a shared history, and it was that well

nurtured, deep rooted faith that contributed to our capacity for resilience in a world

that then and even today treats black cloaks poorly sees us as problematic, a

world that is fearful of dismantling systems of white supremacy because equality and equity to

many means a loss of power and privilege. Though my earlier memories of going

to church certainly influenced my spiritual practices, now as an adult, I find

that the private moments with family and incommunity had a significant impact in shaping my

faith. One of the earliest memories that I have of witnessing one's expression of

faith was watching my great aunt Bertha, aunt b as I called her.

She modeled for me what it was like to express faith in her fervent prayer

and embracing scriptures as a tool to help navigate challenges that came her way.

I remember walking into my mother's bedroom and seeing her kneeling on the ground that

her beds side, expressing her faith by offering prayers to God before she went

to sleep. Some of us have been taught over the years to think that

if we do this and we do that, then we just have faith.

But friends, it took some spiritual maturity for me to realize that faith in

action is more than humbling oneself in prayer, more than just studying the scriptures,

but that expressions of faith are deeply connected with the understanding of how much

God loves us. And so for a few moments, I'd like to explore

with you this faith in action, and not focusing on faith being an act

of deeds or blind optimism, but instead focusing on the heart of faith,

which I believe the Scripture tell us is our internal sense of knowing and believing

how much God really does love each one of us. And I'd like to

take this maybe a bit further and challenge us today that as we walk through

this text, think of faith not as a practice that we engage in just

because we're Christians or just because that's what we've been taught and told to do.

Instead, when we hear the word faith, think of our inward belief,

in our outward expression of how much God loves us, how much God

loves you and me. Let's go to the text for a moment, and

I want to focus our attention a bit on Chapter five, verses one through

five. Now we know that in order to better understand our sacred one must

engage with the theological nuances that exist by having some context. Romans was Paul's

longest letter, and some scholars say his most reflective and thoughtful. Paul was

no stranger to using language connecting his teachings to the law, justification, and

righteousness, a lot of language that for modern Christians may cause some of us

to sit on edge, yet carved out here in Romans, we see a

shift in Paul's writing, wherein like the chapters before and after, Paul's focus

is peace and reconciliation. I'm going to read verses one through two, and

there are few words that I'll highlight that I discovered in my studying that have

alternate meanings five Verse one. Therefore, or consequently, since we are justified

by faith our belief of God's love for us, we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access or connection with

to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope or

the expectation of sharing the glory of God. Let's read that again. Consequently,

since we are justified by our belief of God's love for us, we

have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained

connection with this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our expectation

of sharing the glory of God. Now, these next few verses I'm about

to read may make us a little uncomfortable, But us the writer now dips

his toe into the waters of describing moments that are difficult as something that's useful

or helpful. Verse three says, and not only that, but we also

boast in our afflictions and trials and stress, knowing that affliction produces endurance,

which is steadfastness constancy. An endurance produces character and character produces hope. Yikes?

Is the text really telling us in some way that to embrace affliction is

a condition of a christ centered life? Okay, Paul, I was with

you up until this point. I'm not sure I'm with you right now.

However, if we're to utilize the scriptures as a tool to better understand and

to better ourselves, then perhaps there's a way to reframe this narrative a bit

to help us understand more clearly. I once worked with someone in my psychotherapy

practice who described themselves as going through seasons. There were seasons of abundance,

happiness, joy, and also recurring moments of hardship, struggle, and pain.

After hearing their experience and validating their feelings connected to that experience, we

begin to explore an unpack this analogy of seasons in a way that could become

a source of hope, resilience, and strength. And perhaps we can start

with acknowledging what we know about seasons that seasons are cyclical. However, seasons

don't last forever. Riverside, seasons may be cyclical, but they don't last

forever. Seasons come and they go, they change with the passing of time.

However, seasons are just though. However, some seasons are just tough

to get through. However, if we look closely, perhaps in our season,

our current state or position in life, despite its difficulty, there is

something something we can grasp a hold too that will help us navigate that season

better or differently than next go around. A person moving to Maine from a

tropical climate in the middle of winter will certainly have a reality shock if they

weren't prepared for the weather in their new climate. However, after having an

experience of being in that harsh, cold winter, that person understands what it

means to layer on clothing or perhaps even put chains on their tires when they're

driving in the snow. They pick up tools and skills, and with that

a better understanding and confidence to get through the next winter with greater success,

less stress, and hopefully much more warmth than the year before. Here in

Paul's letter to the Romans, he's connecting life's challenges to faith. Faith in

knowing how deeply God cares for each of us. That it's not God's intents

for challenge us to tear us down, but perhaps for us to use that

experience to explore what we could possibly gain from it that will then produce endurance.

Friends, The truth is we're often powerless to influence or change the seasons

themselves. As much as I'm not much of a summer person, there's not

much I can do about it. However, over the years, I've learned

ways to cope with the summer. I've I've learned more about sunscreen and protecting

my skin from UV rays. I've learned the best times to be outdoors when

the air quality is poor. I can't change the season, but I can

change the way that I respond in the season. Paul is telling us to

embrace the challenge because as a believer, you have faith, faith in knowing

that God loves you and knowing the love of God for your life, and

that faith is what can give us the insight, the tools, and the

hope we need. The scripture go on and share that hope does not put

us to shame because God's love has been poured out, has been distributed into

our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Now,

Reverend Wingate, doesn't that sound nice? I mean, maybe I could just

end the sermon there. However, I can't. I can't help but wonder

who here struggles was with believing that God loves you, and maybe maybe maybe

it's because you find it hard to love yourself riverside. This may not be

a popular thing to say, but it's real. And if we can't be

honest about the true struggles and challenges we face within ourselves, how do we

expect to fully embrace this message of peace and reconciliation when our heart is torn

and self love feels like a luxury. Before I take my seat, I

just want to offer a few points that I pray touches my sibling who is

here today in the knave or perhaps online, who was struggling with loving themselves.

They're saying, you know, Minister Derek, this is a great message,

but you know, I really wish I believe that God loved me.

But you know, honestly, it's hard for me to even love myself.

Whoever I'm speaking to today, the first thing I'd like to say to you

is be true to how you feel. We're often in places and spaces where

we aren't able to really be really let folks into what's going on in our

hearts and in our lives. We smile, and we nod and portray a

sense of having it all together, yet on the inside the storm is raging.

There's helplessness and hopelessness. Don't let societal expectations cause you to negate how

you feel and stop you from being in touch with your true feelings. It's

okay to not be okay all the time. The second thing I'd like to

say, give yourself some grace. Be kind to yourself, don't beat yourself

up. We're all human. We have all sorts of sets of challenges and

faults that we grapple with each day. In addition to being true to how

you feel and giving yourself some grace, take inventory of the people you're spending

time with. If they aren't building you up and contributing positively in your life,

it may be time to reconsider some of those relationships. So be true

to how you feel. Give yourself some grace, take an inventory of the

people you're spending time with. And number four it's okay to ask for help.

And number five develop a practice of self affirmation. Get a journal or

use your phone, and throughout the day write positive things about yourself, things

like I'm good enough, I'm allowed to be happy, I deserve respect,

I'm worth it. My life has value. I have value whoever this is

for. I encourage you to read these affirmations each night before you go to

bed, and every morning you wake up, keep adding to the list.

I'm a sticky notes type of person, So if that's your thing, write

them some things down on sticky notes, or set reminders on your phone so

that you read those affirmations and remind yourself of the person that God has beautifully

and wonderfully made. And if you find yourself in a place where you just

don't have access to those affirmations, you don't have access to the list of

things that you've curated, take a moment, and if you can, look

in the mirror, put your hands on your heart and say to yourself,

God loves me. God loves me. God loves me. Amen. M