4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— ⁶ just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Whenever we get to this Sunday in January I always feel like my illustration plate has already been filled. As an American, a Christian, and a pastor, the influence that has been left by Martin Luther King, Jr. is immense. He is one of God’s modern-day prophets, who was able to climb upon the wall that we had built to separate ourselves from each other and declare the truth that is of God, regardless of the expense that he might have to pay. In a sermon that he gave on April 7, 1957 at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church he said it this way: "If there had not been abolitionists in America, both Negro and white, we might still stand today in the dungeons of slavery. And then because there have been, in every period, there are always those people in every period of human history who don’t mind getting their necks cut off, who don’t mind being persecuted and discriminated and kicked about, because they know that freedom is never given out, but it comes through the persistent and the continual agitation and revolt on the part of those who are caught in the system." These are the words of a prophet who operates from a position of faith, not of fear.

He declared a truth that forced many in this country to examine how they had allowed their lives to be constructed: did they fashion their lives as to how God would have them do, or merely as they felt they could do? He stood up along the watchtower and declared with an authority that could not be quieted, "There is something wrong with our world, something fundamentally and basically wrong. I don't think we have to look too far to see that. I'm sure that most of you would agree with me in making that assertion." Those were the words that were lifted up through him on February 28, 1954 at the Second Baptist Church in Detroit in regards to the segregation and racism that existed so openly in this country. These are the words of a prophet who operates from a position of faith, not of fear.

He looked at the world of which he was a part and saw those portions that did not line up with the life of freedom that he read (not only in the Declaration of Independence), but also in the book of Exodus, as the Israelites, led by Moses, cried out for freedom from their Egyptian masters. He saw those areas of the American society that didn’t line up with that message of freedom, and he stood up and spoke. In doing so he declared that his life would be one that followed the path of faith: faith that he was in the very hand of God, faith that he had been created to live in freedom as he read in the scriptures, faith that as a child of God, he was no better (and certainly no worse) than any of his white contemporaries.

Think of how different our lives would be if Dr. King had not taken that path of faith. Think of how different our lives would be if he had looked at the world and said, "I can’t say that. I’m too scared that I’ll be killed." How different, and I think more sorrowful as well, our world would be, if he had not thought to himself, as we hear Paul say in our passage to the Corinthians, "you are not lacking in any spiritual gift." He had the gift of proclamation and prophecy and through the use of those gifts in faith he was able to declare his dream that, "one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood." He was able to declare that dream, because he was willing to follow the path of a faith-filled life, and not that very different path that said that he should be afraid.

This is the unspoken of fork in the road that Paul is alluding to in our passage this morning. Paul knows that there are two very different paths that exist in terms of how we live in the world. He knows those paths because he was the one who inflicted fear into those who claimed Christ as their savior. Remember it was Paul (who, at that point) was still known as Saul) who approved of the killing of Stephen in the 7^th chapter of Acts after Stephen has stood up to declare the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that in Christ true freedom exists. He approved of the killing. He knew the fear tactics that could be levied. He knew how difficult the path of faith may be.

And yet what does he say to those in the city of Corinth? He says, "[God] will … strengthen you to the end" and "by [God] you were called into the fellowship of his Son." What Paul is saying is that we have be called by the Creator of all to walk a path of faith. And that we need not worry about what that journey may hold because we will be strengthened so that we might be able to endure, even to the end. Paul wants those who are able to hear what he is saying, including us here today, that we have been imbued in such a way that we can stand up and show through our actions, show through our words, that we will not live in fear, bound to the self-centered ways of the world, but instead that we will live in faith, beholden to a God who will grant us all that we need, regardless of how inadequate we may feel. Which path do you walk upon? The path of worldly fear that says that you can’t or you shouldn’t: or the path of God-led faith that declares that through God we will overcome and ultimately thrive in the presence of the Divine?

I’m sure that there some of you, maybe many of you who are thinking to yourselves, "Yeah, …but Ryan you don’t understand the difficulties that I face. You don’t know how hard I’ve got it. I can’t walk that path of faith." I am sure that thought has been lifted up here in the course of the last few minutes. Now the subtext of that thinking is that I somehow, I have it easier, or that because I’m a ‘man of the cloth’ I’ve been granted some sort of dispensation that allows me to know all the steps that I need to take in order to walk that path of faith. That somehow, I’ve got more of my life figured out than you do.

Here’s the thing: I preach this sermon, not as someone who has it all figured out, but as someone who struggles to move beyond the fears that I have carried within myself for most my life. I preach this sermon as someone who needs to hear this message. I preach this sermon as someone who is working hard to live the life that I know I should, but too often I have not. I preach this sermon as a person who trusts implicitly in the promise that in God all things are possible, even moving beyond the life parameters that I have established for myself. I preach this sermon as a disciple of the risen Christ who is confident that with the Holy Spirit as my guide I might be able to live a life of real faith, not faith through fear, but real faith. (in regards to the last two, I know I’m not there yet, but with God’s help I’m working on getting there.) I preach this sermon as someone who struggles to stay upon that path but knows that with the Holy Spirit as my guide I will ultimately be led to overcome the fears that cause me to slip.

Faith is not an easy path to walk upon, especially considering all the levels of brokenness and sinfulness that we carry with us. However, I refuse to relent to the lowest common denominator mentality that we so easily fall into. That sort of thought that says, "that’s too hard for me." It’s not just you! God is with you! Do you believe that? Because if you do, if you really do, then your life will not be lived through the prism of fear, but instead in the reality that, as a community, and as Paul has written, "in every way you have been enriched." Not just in a few ways, but in all ways. There is nothing that should cause us fear, for even the specter of death has been taken away.

How different the world would be if people of faith took the words that we profess and actually live them out. How different would the world be if people of faith stopped living in fear, and instead walked upon the path that is of God.

It’s time to stop wondering how different it would be, and actually start seeing how different it is. We need to genuinely and sincerely start praying for and with one another. We need to delve into the Word of God for the strength and support that it is able to provide (the year of the New Testament where Desiree has distributed 70 bibles thus far is a great start). We need to head out in mission and serve God and neighbor beyond these very comfortable walls (we’ve got plenty of opportunities for that including the three mission trips that head of this summer). We need to live in such a way that radically declares to the worlds of which we are a part that we will not live upon that path of fear, but instead stride confidently in the power of Jesus Christ upon the path of faith.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream and as we look at the landscape of our country today, so much of that dream has been accomplished. It’s not all done, not by a long shot. But because he was willing to stand up in faith, the will of God was able to be accomplished. He stood in faith and not in fear. King was a special man, but we can absolutely stand in the legacy that he carried forward. We can walk, and not only walk, but we can live in faith! God will provide all that we need. Let us trust in that promise. Let us live in faith.

O most holy and gracious God, You are able to provide all that we need in order to walk upon the path of faith that You have called us to. God, help us to receive that support so that instead of living in fear, we stride forward in faith. Lord, let it be so. Amen.