The past couple of weeks we have been talking about The Four Keys as being basic spiritual disciplines of faithful Christians for the 21^st century. The Four Keys are foundational faith practices that can nurture and shape faith in daily life, in the congregation and most significantly in our homes. The Four Keys help us be the church in our homes and extend the doors of the kingdom God deep into the community. The Four Keys are avenues and channels upon which the Holy Spirit can travel into your life, into the life of the home, and into the life of the congregation to build up and strengthen faith and community.

So far we have looked at the first two keys. Two weeks ago we briefly explored Caring Conversations as the first key, and last weeks Devotions as the second key. Tonight we take a brief look at the third of the Four Keys – "Service."

"…what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

"…the only thing that counts is faith working through love." Galatians 5:6

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?"

"Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith." "…faith is brought to completion by works." James 2:14, 18, 22

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? (Jesus) said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest the first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’" Matthew 22:36-40

"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." Matthew 25:40

"Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to me." Matthew 25:45

In my sermon on Sunday I made the statement that "Christian Faith is personal, but not private." When we listen to verses the likes of these I just read, and when we hear Jesus say the things he said there is no question that the Christian faith is intensely personal, but also incredibly public.

That’s not necessarily an easy thing for us to discern or an easy thing for us to swallow. I don’t know how many times over the years I have had conversations with people telling me that their faith is nobody else’s business; that faith is a private matter between the individual and God. So get out of my face!

All I have to say in response is you can get me out of your face, that’s not hard. That’s easy. But you cannot get the God of the Bible out of your faith. You see, it’s God who made your faith a public matter, not me, not the church, not anybody, but God!

In our culture we worship self-reliance and privacy – period. We worship those things most intensely. Now, there is a lot to be said for self-reliance and privacy for all the obvious reasons, don’t get me wrong. Self-reliance and privacy are good things.

However, if we push either one of them too far in matters of faith and relationship with God, we will be pushing in the wrong direction. Self-reliance and privacy ultimately take us in the opposite direction of the core principles of Christian faith and put us on a road that take us further from the Lord Jesus Christ, not closer.

Self-reliance is ultimately the worship and deification of self. Insistence upon personal privacy is ultimately the worship and deification of self.

I must confess that when I am approached by someone who asks for my help in some way, shape or form I have noticed something. I have noticed how quickly I can be tempted to jump to one of two responses. I don’t verbalize them, but I for sure think them. I can have a privacy response which in my head may sound something like, "So what does your need have to do with me?" Privacy pushed far enough declares that you and I are in no way connected or linked to each other, and that you have no rightful claim upon me.

Or I can jump to my self-reliant response which in my head may sound something like, "I made it the hard way through hard work and application of effort, so why don’t you do the same?"

Both thoughts take us to the same place and that place is. "Sorry, I cannot help you!"

Does that inner dialog sound at all familiar to you, or is it just me? If it’s just me, then I guess I you have just witnessed someone making a public fool of himself.

I believe our truest colors show, our deepest values reveal themselves, our most authentic humanity is unmasked in how we respond to the needs of others.

When Jesus said, "If you do it (or don’t do it) to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you do it (or don’t do it) to me," he shattered any illusion that the Christian faith is anything but public.

Now when I say "public" what do I mean? By public I simply mean "turned outward." Public means "connected to others."

You see, the love of God in Jesus Christ is a power and energy that turns us inside out. Self-reliance and privacy ultimately turn us inward and disconnect us from others. But God’s love in Jesus Christ always works to short–circuit the temptations we feel to self-righteously dismiss others or to minimize the needs of others.

I believe that nothing short of the credibility of the Christian Faith is at stake over the issue of service. I know that James would agree. What is it he said, "...faith is brought to completion by works." James 2:22

The core truth of the Christian faith is that we are "saved by grace through faith." We are not saved by our good deeds or our works of service. We are saved by God’s atoning work on the cross though Jesus Christ. It is God’s gift.

But James is quick to remind us that deeds of love and service, using Jesus Christ as our model and mentor, are as much a part of faith as heads and tails are a part of the same coin. Within God’s saving embrace is a purpose and a mission, and it is found in allowing God’s amazing grace to turn you "inside out" and make God’s love "public."

One last thing: Deeds of service are faith nurturing. The analogy of faith as a muscle pertains. If I don’t exercise my muscles they will get weak and atrophy. If I exercise my muscles they gain in strength and empower me to do more and enjoy life more.

Faith is much that way. When Jesus said, "If you do it (or don’t do it) to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you do it (or don’t do it) to me," in part he was talking about the faith-empowering and faith-nurturing aspect of service. It’s not a matter of getting enough faith and then going out to serve. That’s not it. It’s a matter of allowing God’s saving embrace in Jesus Christ to turn us inside out and to become vessels by which God’s gracious action of salvation is carried on through us. When we carry it on by public actions of service we will discover that our faith is empowered and strengthened more than ever before.

I have never been more delighted than last year when this congregation got behind the Africa Mission Trip in all the ways that we did and sent ten of us to Tanzania to serve. But you don’t have to wait for the congregation to go to Tanzania, or to Mexico, or to wherever every year to make your faith "public" and get involved in a life of service.

There are so many ways to make faith public with the members of your household and home. Create memories of "public faith" that the younger ones especially will be shaped by and look back upon. When a parent and child, grandparent and grandchild perform service activities together, the child sees the adult’s faith and values in action, and faith is nurtured. Service to the world that flows out of the home has been shown to be a vital and dynamic way to pass on faith from one generation to generation. It’s not that hard, but its effects are monumental!

-Every time you go grocery shopping buy an extra few cans of something for the food pantry. Take your children or grandchildren with you and let them pick out something for the food pantry. You will be mentoring them in a profound way. Tell them it’s a way to make their faith public.

-Adopt a person or family in need. Pray for them everyday around your kitchen table. Serve them by mowing their lawn, removing snow, visiting, or helping with their shopping.

-Adopt a young adult at college or in the military. Send e-mails, letters and care packages. Remind them they are a part of the family even though away from home.

-Adopt a person or child outside the community or country. There are all sorts of good programs for that. Stay at home with your children or grandchildren instead of eating out or going to a movie and channel those dollars towards the adopted family or child. Hang their photos on the wall and pray for them.

-As a family you could serve regularly at a pantry, mission kitchen, or shelter.

As Christians, but God’s grace we have been joined to the most powerful force in the universe, faith in the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ.