This week's message is one that can be confusing.  It speaks about two sides of the same coin ... the faith in the unseen promises of God and the actions (our actions) that profess faith.  Notice I didn't say they professed this faith with words.  Look at the list.  Not many great talkers ... but many who risked it all for a God they loved.  They professed it [faith] by following God's calling in complete trust of His promises.  Hebrews 11 is the hall of fame of people who had this kind of faith.  They followed, struggled, failed, had victories and often saw nothing of the end of the promise ... yet they believed.  Many of them were people we would shun or avoid because they were messed-up.  But their lives were invested in a God that saw their risk, their steps and their pain.

Are we like them?  Over the past few weeks I have seen some disturbing images.  People who say they are Christians clap for the number of executions conducted in Texas.  People applaud as debaters spell out that a person who has chosen not to buy health insurance should be allowed to die.  I distinctly remember Jesus talking about having compassion for those in prison and being in the business of healing.  Casting Crowns performed a song that had the lyrics, "If we are the body, why aren't His hands healing,  why aren't His arms reaching, why aren't His words teaching?"  When we, as Christians, are in the forums of our world it should be as if Jesus were there.  And when Jesus comes to town, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come."  How do these things happen?  Through those who, Jesus said, gave the world flavor and revelation about Him (salt and light).  For is is our task to proclaim (by our lives and by our lived-out witness) that God's kingdom is come.  Our Lord reigns both in the future and the present!

Read Matthew 23.  See if those claiming to be the Church today are known for what Jesus pronounces judgement upon, or if we are known for mercy, grace, peace and a loving spirit.  When I see folks claiming to be God's people that are known for bitterness, anger, vengeance, prejudice, and war, I fear for their souls.  I fear that they will meet a Maker who says to them, (Matthew 25) "I never knew you."