Faithfulness

What a word, faithfulness.

The sermon actually hasn't planted in me at all

until I walked into the building

and I've been reading the passages.

I was given the proverb first,

which is, obviously it's great, isn't it?

You get given a one-liner.

Talk about that for 20 to 30 minutes.

Don't worry, I'm not going to do 30.

We'll see.

But I was like, okay, it says,

who is there that's faithful, essentially?

Who is there that's faithful?

And Daniel came to my mind, so I was like, great,

I can get some good meat out of Daniel

because it's a big book.

The book is essentially about God's faithfulness

and the faithfulness of people like Daniel and his friends.

So I thought, oh, I could really get my teeth into this

and unpack that.

And as always, I want to find,

I want to ground any scripture in our reality today.

What's the point of reading the Bible

if it's only history,

if it's only about the past?

Like, it needs to speak to us today.

We have to begin by knowing it in its context, of course,

and rightfully interpreting it as best as we can.

But if it's to speak truth,

it needs to be grounded in reality.

And I was worried.

I had some stories going around in my head.

What could I talk about?

And I have a sermon written,

but I'm probably not really going to use it

because today is dementia-friendly Sunday, right?

You're looking at it, right?

That one went over my head.

If it was written down, I completely forgot.

Sorry, I'm sorry about that.

My dad's actually got dementia.

And I wanted to give you a story of real faithfulness

in reality, grounded.

And I had a story of me standing in the school playground this week

while my kids did their sports day,

which is two hours of waiting for 20 seconds of running.

And mainly betting on which kid's going to fall on their face first.

That was pretty much what I was doing.

And it was great because I was there.

My kids clocked that I'd actually turned up,

and they got excited.

You could see that it lifted the room for them.

It lifted the space because their dad was there.

And they said he was going to be there, and he was there.

And you could see that faithfulness was amazing.

But actually, I thought, do you know what?

There's a really cool, it's a bit heavy,

but there's a really cool story of faithfulness

that I often forget.

And it was a nice reminder this morning.

So my dad's got dementia.

My dad actually is my mum's second husband.

My mum's first husband was not a very nice man

and caused a lot of problems.

And they had two kids.

I've got two older brothers that I don't see.

But yeah, a really messy situation.

My dad met my mum at some sort of camp that she used to.

She used to run one of the parks down in Weymouth

for her husband's very rich family.

And we didn't see any of the money, sadly.

You'd think there'd be some comeback for us,

but never mind.

One day, hey?

Hey.

I don't even get birthday cards with checks in them.

They're stingy, I tell you.

Those rich people.

Anyway.

My dad was just on holiday.

He was a DJ.

He used to collect these really rare records.

And he met my mum, and he found out the story.

My mum was being, you know,

in lack of a better word, she was being severely hurt.

And my dad basically smuggled her out of the situation.

He planted her in a new situation

and tried to give her a new life.

Eventually, they got together.

But actually, it wasn't that way around.

My dad initially just wanted to help.

And they fell in love.

It was a lovely story, a happy story.

And my dad basically brought up my two older brothers.

They weren't his.

But he treated them like they were.

And even today, all the mess is a big story.

You know, I'm one of those baggage people.

Today, they still call him dad, you know.

And I just thought about how amazing is it

that who can find faithfulness.

And sometimes you can actually find it.

And what was it about faithfulness?

Well, faithfulness by the dictionary

is this firm adherence to promises

or perpetual observance of duty.

It's very rigorous and sounds very soldier-like.

But actually, it's reflected in words like

dependable, reliable, trustworthy, loyalty.

My dad just showed that right before I was even born.

In a difficult situation, my dad carried those words.

And he carried them through to this day.

He forgets lots.

I'm going there this afternoon to paint over some stuff

that he missed having put up a radiator

that fell off a wall.

You know, those sort of things.

To this day, he is still, though,

dependable, trustworthy, reliable, and loyal.

And, you know, when we find people like that,

it is really worth taking note.

Like, why are they like that?

Why are they like that?

Well, faithfulness, according to Scripture, at least,

in Galatians 5 there is helpful,

because I haven't got it out in front of me there.

It's one of the fruits of the Spirit.

It's a spiritual thing.

It comes from the Spirit.

It grows in the Spirit's power in us.

It develops.

It's a fruit.

And to see that in my dad is actually,

today, this morning,

especially, it was like a real reminder.

Actually, there are some people who nail it, you know.

They nail it.

And I wonder for you,

it was in the prayers,

and that was another reminder.

Gene, I wonder for you,

who are those people, actually,

that you think,

they've shown me faithfulness like I've not seen before?

Learn from them.

Take notes.

For my dad, he's not good-looking anymore,

but he was good-looking.

And the pictures,

I feel like I've got the...

I'm joining him.

No, no, I'm joining him.

The trajectory's downward.

But he was a, you know,

he's a stunning young man in the photos,

super cool with his beer and his vinyls,

first time around.

And he could have had anybody,

just so the story goes,

according to my mum.

But he saw mum,

and he knew what was the right thing to do.

And because part of who he is,

is he's a faithful guy.

And he can't ignore an issue.

He can't ignore a problem.

And he wanted to help.

So faithfulness is,

is a,

is,

is a spirit thing,

but it's,

it's rare,

I think,

I'm going to be honest.

I think,

it's rare to see it as uniquely

as I think I've seen it in my dad.

And even my dad,

you know,

he's,

you know,

he's,

there's been other stuff.

It's been difficult.

But,

you know,

faithfulness,

I wonder for you,

if you know people,

where when you hear that proverb,

many claim to have unfailing love,

but a faithful person who can find,

you can say,

I know one.

I was looking around faithfulness,

and,

yes,

the Bible on the whole,

is a story of redemption.

The Bible is the story of God's redemption,

of,

of his creation,

his restoration of,

of it,

of what he's made,

healing,

of the brokenness,

is a story of victory,

and God is the victor.

God is the ultimate person,

of faithfulness.

But the heart,

that is the heartbeat of the story,

is faithfulness.

And it's two,

it's twofold.

It's faithfulness of God,

which we know is consistent.

And it's why,

the,

the,

Israel could,

could cry,

God,

where are you?

Because they knew,

he was the faithful God.

That's why the Psalms are full of crying out to God,

for,

him to be who he is.

Because they knew who he was.

Um,

but the other side of the faithfulness heartbeat,

in scripture,

is our,

story.

And it's the one of,

unfaithfulness.

You have the story of the Bible,

you have the faithful God,

and the unfaithful people.

That's the pattern.

And yet God,

in,

in grace,

and love,

chooses to work through,

unfaithful people,

to bring about,

bring about,

his kingdom,

on it.

And so,

again,

you can see that this,

where is this sermon going?

What,

what,

what is the big,

big message we can take?

Well,

my dad is a,

a real human experience,

from now,

time,

of faithfulness.

But when we look at scripture,

actually,

it's not so easy to find someone,

that,

that we can say,

as long as we're not in Sunday school,

and Jesus is the answer.

We can say,

this person really nailed it,

when it comes to faithfulness.

And actually,

Daniel is,

a unique character,

in that way.

The Bible gives us,

no dirt on Daniel.

The Bible gives us,

lots of dirt on other people.

We think of Abraham the Great.

Well,

he had the Hagar incident.

He was a liar.

He kept passing off his wife,

to the rulers,

just to keep himself safe,

you know.

Faithful?

Not sure.

We have,

Moses,

guy who brought out,

the whole of Israel,

through trusting in God,

to take them through the Exodus.

Yeah,

but he was a murderer,

he got angry.

Okay,

alright,

where should we go?

So we've got,

Abraham,

Moses,

not so good.

David,

David,

David's good.

David's the great king,

they've been waiting for us.

Saul was the bad guy.

David,

loved the Lord,

his heart.

But he also loved the women a lot.

He was an adulterer,

and a murderer,

to try and cover his traps,

and in fact,

even on his deathbed,

he was a bit shady.

I said I wouldn't kill them.

Solomon,

off you go.

Not the most faithful guy.

Oh,

there's got to be some in there,

there's got to be some.

Maybe we need to go a bit further back.

Noah,

Noah,

the guy with the ark,

he was a giddy,

right?

Well,

the first thing he did,

when he gets off the ark,

he gets drunk,

and even Glastonbury would be a bit like,

mate,

steady on.

What's going on?

Okay,

so Noah's not a good one either.

Ah,

Job.

We all feel sorry for Job.

You know,

Job,

poor Job.

Good guy.

What was he?

Was he covering his family's sins

with the sacrifices?

Was he diligent,

trying to compensate

for the mess of his family?

Maybe.

And even if not that,

well,

he finally gave up,

and he got a bit annoyed at God.

And even he repents

of his doubting God,

and his relationship with God.

So actually,

Daniel,

all of a sudden,

there's this really awesome character,

where we can go,

oh my goodness,

there is faithfulness possible

in human beings.

A true example of faithfulness.

And Daniel is that for us.

And we read just briefly,

an example of why he

demonstrates that,

he embodies that,

is that he,

a Jew,

taken from his home

into a new place.

He's,

chapter one of Daniel

tells us that he's smart,

and he's good looking,

and all those kind of things.

But actually,

he's dependable,

trustworthy,

loyal.

He's faithful.

That's why he rises up.

That's why he gets put over

all these other nation leaders,

these subtracts,

as you heard,

these governors,

who would not have been

Israel.

You know,

he is an exiled person,

and he's been given responsibility

because of his character,

because of his faithfulness.

And so I want to take from him,

really,

a couple of examples,

not examples,

a couple of points,

I guess,

about how faithfulness

can grow in us.

And so my first point

is going to be simple.

It's going to be that faithfulness

is grounded in relationships.

Faithfulness is grounded

in relationships.

Our proverb,

what does it say?

Many claim,

many claim

to have unfailing love.

Many claim to be,

you know,

devout,

committed.

We're good at words.

We're good at words.

We can say we're faithful.

We can say

we're dependable,

loyal.

We're reliable.

But how do you know

if somebody is one of those things?

It's grounded

in reality,

and it's found

in actual

relationships.

You know,

it's not a theory.

Faithfulness is not a theory.

It's grounded

in relationships.

My dad is the example

that I gave

earlier.

It's clearly there.

You can tell my dad

was a faithful guy

because of the actions,

not just the words.

And for Daniel,

it's the same thing.

In chapter one,

right at the start

of his story,

when he's being

prepared

to be useful

in the empire,

they offer him food,

and he says,

I can't eat that.

That's not what my God

says we eat.

And he doesn't just say,

you know,

I'm God's person,

you can't make me eat that.

He says,

let me eat,

let me show you,

let me show you.

Let's have a season.

We will eat this stuff,

and if it's wrong,

we'll eat whatever.

But he grounds it

in reality.

He makes a good

relationship

with this official

who's responsible

for them.

and straight away,

you can see Daniel

is this trustworthy,

reliable guy.

So that's the first point

I want us to think

about when we're

trying to work out

whether there are areas

where we're maybe

not so faithful

or lacking in faithfulness.

Are you actually

grounding it

in relationships,

in your friendships,

in your marriage,

in your workplaces

with your colleagues?

Are you grounding it

in a real experience

where people can say,

yes,

he is reliable.

Yes,

he is faithful.

So that's my first thought.

And my second one,

again,

Gene,

you nailed the prayers

this morning.

It's costly,

right?

Faithfulness is costly.

My dad's example,

the unwritten part

of the story,

is the bit

that shows the cost

of it,

really.

But also for Daniel,

it was costly.

What if he'd got this wrong

right at the start?

Might have been

a different story.

But then we go

to chapter six

and we see that

he's grounded

in the relationships.

The leaders,

they trust him

as in at the top.

And all these other leaders,

they don't like him.

The cost of his faithfulness

to the empire,

his faithfulness to God

first and foremost,

means that people

are out to get him.

Faithfulness isn't

something the world

actually wants.

We talk about it a lot.

But you just read the papers.

You use your news app.

You tell me if faithfulness

is a characteristic

of our society,

something we really want.

Let's not get into

politics right now.

But I think

across the planet,

we're seeing that

faithfulness is really

not that important.

For Daniel,

to be faithful

meant to be at odds

with people in the world.

And for us,

to be faithful,

means that we're going

to be at odds

with people in the world.

Especially when we're

trying to protect

our relationship

with God.

But also,

our relationship

with each other.

I wonder if

that's something

that maybe

that is the area

for you right now

when it comes to

faithfulness you're struggling.

Actually,

it's going to cost

if I'm faithful there.

If I'm going to be

faithful to God's promises

and call on my life

to be a Christ-like follower,

I'm going to have to

put myself a little bit

lower on the spectrum.

A little bit lower

on the scale.

Because that's

the reality of it.

Faithfulness isn't a theory,

it's something

we are to embody.

Daniel embodied it.

The cost for him

was great.

So much so,

it wasn't just

that the people

were out to get him,

he ended up

in a lion's den.

I don't know about you,

but that doesn't sound

like a motive

to be a faithful

kind of person.

I don't even like

big cats.

Lions are...

All of a sudden

you're stroking them

and they're like

pouncing on you

trying to kill you

or something.

It's a tiger in them.

It's got to be...

That's the problem

with not using notes

is you get sidetracked

by your own

terrible jokes.

Lion's den.

Daniel.

Faithfulness

was proven.

His loyalty to God

was proven.

His trustworthy,

his reliableness

was proven.

Even in a lion's den,

this guy did not quit.

And then it comes back to,

well, okay,

so you're saying

it's costly.

What is it worth it?

Sometimes

it's going to be my answer.

Sometimes it's worth it

in the now.

It's always worth it

when we talk about

the kingdom of God.

But sometimes

it's worth it.

There's another story

I tell you

which I really...

I love and I hate.

Has anyone heard

of a guy called

Kenji Goto?

Yes?

Kenji Goto

was a Japanese

journalist.

In about 2015,

there was some stuff

going on in Syria.

And Kenji Goto

had a friend

called Haruna Yakawa.

And Haruna

was a complicated character.

But these two

were friends

and they both

spent some time

in Syria together.

One of them...

I love this.

I'm just going to...

That's so good.

That is awesome.

Normally a young person

is on their phone.

Yeah, yeah.

Hello!

Haruna Yakawa

was a complicated character

and he...

he ended up

trying to do

lots of stuff in Syria

like bodyguarding

and all sorts of things.

And he ended up

getting captured

by the ISIS

bunch of people.

And...

Yeah...

Kenji Goto

was at home

back in Japan

and his wife

and two kids

and he heard the story

and he was compelled

to go

and try and help out.

He was compelled

to respond.

He was a Christian,

funny enough.

And he knew

the love of Christ

and what Jesus

had done for him.

And his friend

was in prison,

literally.

His friend

was in the hands

of an empire

of evil.

And he could not

stay in Japan.

He had a wife

and kids.

He could not

stay at home

because he said

Christ

and greater love

have no man

and he lay his life

down for his friends.

And so Kenji

went to Syria

and he started

making noise

his faithfulness

was costly.

He started

making noise.

Where is this person?

Where's my friend?

Finding out

where he is.

Ends up,

no surprise,

ends up getting captured.

Ends up sat

next to his friend.

He found his friend.

I wonder what

conversations they had

sat next to each other

in a prison cell

knowing what the outcome is

because it was

always the same.

But Iharu no Yakawa

knew his friend

was trustworthy,

reliable,

dependable,

faithful.

And they both died.

They both were executed.

They were both executed.

Sometimes,

faithfulness

is costly

and it doesn't

end up good.

Now the story

is amazing.

The story

is amazing

for us.

But I don't want

to make it light.

I want it to be real.

It's grounded in reality.

It's a horrible

true story.

But it's the reality

of trying to be

faithful people.

Sometimes it doesn't

go well.

Yes,

faithfulness

is costly.

but it's what we're

called to.

And not only is it

what we're called

to seek out,

it's something

that shows

we follow Jesus.

The fruit

of the Spirit.

Those who follow

Jesus

have the Spirit

of God

in them.

Now,

the Spirit can do

what it likes

and it can work

through unbelievers.

Of course it can.

It can work

through non-Christians.

Of course it can.

The Spirit did that

throughout the whole

of the Old Testament.

Let's not be crazy here.

But for us

as Christians,

the promise

is the Spirit.

The great counselor

will be with us.

Yeah?

So those things,

one of which

we're looking at today,

are fruit

of that relationship

with the Spirit

in us.

So it needs

to be grounded

in our reality.

grounded

in our relationships,

grounded in reality,

and yes,

it is costly.

Now that's

the lowest point.

We're going to build now.

We're going to

lighten up

a little bit

because

we began the service,

which initially

panicked me,

with a really clear

point about how

we're going to learn

about God's faithfulness

to us.

God's faithfulness

to us.

Yes.

We cannot compare

to God's faithfulness.

That's why we need

Daniel.

That's why we need

the testimony

of people

who choose

to follow Christ

because we can

comprehend

that level

of faithfulness.

God's faithfulness

is so far above.

So far above.

We are not worthy,

we say in some

traditional communion,

we are not worthy

to even eat the crumbs

under your table,

yet you welcome us.

God's faithfulness.

God's faithfulness.

Wow.

That's faithfulness.

That's dependability,

reliability,

trustworthiness,

loyalty.

Even while we were

still sinners,

Christ died for the

ungodly.

Wow.

Even if we didn't

choose to follow him,

he still did it for us.

He still went to the

cross for us.

That's something

we can never quite,

even snippets,

Kenji,

the snippets of it.

But here's the good news

and this is where

I want us to feel like

we can breathe a bit

deeper again.

The fruit

of the Spirit

is

not the fruit

of Jay's hard work,

not the fruit

of your hard work,

your upbringing,

your money,

your situation,

your context.

No, the fruit

of the Spirit

is faithfulness.

How freeing

is that to know?

That actually,

the bottom line is,

our job isn't to try

and become

more faithful.

It's not to try

and make plans.

It's to live

our life

and trust

the Spirit

to lead the way.

Not to make

it happen,

but to let

the Spirit

do what the Spirit

does in his people.

The Spirit

of God

is in us,

perfecting us.

That was one of the things

that I was worried about

talking about faithfulness,

is actually sometimes

when we hear a sermon

and it gets to the

moral conversation,

we get guilty,

we feel bad,

because for so long

you've heard from

the front of a church

how you need to repent

and how you need

to be better.

If you really follow

Jesus,

you need to be better.

And that's not the message

of the Gospel,

the message of

you're not better,

but I love you anyway.

You can't be perfect,

but I can perfect you

through my Spirit.

I'll do the perfecting,

says God.

My Spirit will be in you

and it will guide you.

I'm sending you

a great counselor.

The guidance,

the actions,

the words,

they're God's.

and we have just

got to be willing

to take a faith step.

That's our responsibility

in this,

a faith step.

And so let's land

on a challenge,

if I haven't already

felt,

been a bit too challenging

already.

Here's a challenge for you.

Right now,

the Spirit is in you.

If you follow Jesus,

that's no question.

And if you don't follow

Jesus right now,

the Spirit is still hovering.

Hovered over the waters

in the beginning,

it's hovering now.

The Spirit

is showing you stuff.

Even now,

as I'm talking,

the Spirit's probably

bringing people into mind.

In relationships,

where you need to be

more faithful,

or you know that

that's the issue.

Or situations,

maybe jobs.

Maybe you're in

a career path

and there's some options

going on and you think,

actually,

am I being faithful to God?

Am I being faithful

to my colleague?

The Spirit's giving you

opportunity.

He's not saying,

now I've shown you,

go do it.

He's saying,

now I've shown you.

Trust me.

Seek me.

God,

here's the issue.

Be the God

that I know you are.

Be the God

that Daniel trusted.

I'm not going to eat

this food,

and I know it's really

unpopular,

chapter one.

But I need to trust

and trust in my God's

faithfulness.

The fruit

was proven.

It's illegal.

The only thing

we're going to be able,

chapter five,

the only thing

we're going to be able

to do to catch him out

is to break

his own laws,

his God laws.

We're going to have to

change the rules

so that he gets in trouble.

First thing he does

when he finds out

is he goes

and he breaks the rule.

God,

he prays,

gets seen praying.

Naughty boy.

He's in the lion's den.

I'm going to trust

my God's faithfulness.

For Daniel,

it's different

than it was for Kenji,

but faithfulness

is God's to produce

the fruit of.

Faithfulness grows

when God cultivates it.

But we are

to be faith-filled people,

and our role is

to start with

the step of faith.

Just one step of faith.

And you'll be surprised

at what God does

with that little thing.

That little step.

How God will

fill you

with faith-ness.

Amen.