Sometimes it is difficult to talk about our faith, what we believe, what we have experienced, and how important God and Christ are to us.

Sometimes it is difficult to live out our faith, to do the right thing. Fact is, it is sometimes tricky task to even know what the right thing is.

I Peter 3 says: Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope you have.
Lately, I’ve been wondering if I am prepared enough to tell folks I don’t know very well about my faith. It is easier to talk to folks who think like I do, or at least to folks I know even if they have a different experience than I do or if they believe differently than I do. What about you? Are you prepared to give an account of the hope that is within you? What would you say? How would you express your faith and tell about your love of God the Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit?
Today’s scripture verses give us some clues about what we can say to explain our hope and trust in God.
Psalm 89 is a good place to begin thinking about what to say when it comes time to talk about God. Listen to what it has to say.

READ PSALM 89: 1-4, 15-18
We begin by singing praises ABOUT God and then that morphs almost immediately into singing praises TO God. Then we move on to singing or talking about what God has done and what God promises to do. Finally, we take a moment to reflect on the goodness of the God of love.

Psalm 89 is actually a song. So, perhaps as you give an account of your faith and the hope that lives within you, you will sing to anyone who asks you to explain your faith. On the other hand, if you are tone deaf, then singing may not be the best approach. And besides we are not the kind of folks who get all balled up by taking things literally any way.
But if you are not the poetic type, perhaps you could use the approach the apostle Paul used when he wrote his letters to the early Christians. The book of Romans is a perfect example. Paul is getting ready to take a journey to Rome. He is going to meet people who have heard about him but who don’t know him. In the past, Paul has gotten some bad press and so he writes a letter to introduce himself to the Roman Christians. He wants to tell them what he believes. The letter that we know as the book of Romans is Paul’s best effort to explain the faith that lives inside him.
Listen to what he has to say.

READ ROMANS 6:12-23.
I hope that clear to you. But if you are like me, the meaning of that passage may not be as clear as we would like the first time we read it or hear it. In fact, it is one of those passages that may not be clear until we spend some significant time with it. Approach Paul’s words like you would a fine wine. You need to take some time to savor the words. We need to let the bouquet of the ideas fill our senses if we are to appreciate its subtle nuances.
Or perhaps you are not a wine lover. So choose your metaphor. Paul’s expression of faith isn’t junk food that you wolf down; it is a dining experience that requires the full use of our sensitivities.
Maybe Paul’s ideas are like a beautiful sunset or sunrise that you must take time to enjoy. Its beauty lives in this moment; in this place.

Maybe Paul’s understanding of God is like a beautiful sonnet or symphony. You have to hear it over and over again to BEGIN to catch all the delicate and robust distinctions.

As I spent time with Romans 6 this time around, the ideas that presented themselves for my consideration and rumination are: You are dead to sin and alive to God.

To be alive to God means that we are open to God’s influence in our lives. Alive to God means that we leave enough room in our days so God can stretch out and have an opportunity to create a new reality. God works best when there is enough room and enough trust to let God form our lives and the future.

Alive to God means we have moved past acknowledging the idea of a being greater than ourselves. Alive to God signifies that we have moved beyond the simple awareness of the fact that God is a powerful force in the universe. To be alive to God means we are even further down the path than being mere acquaintances of this powerful Supreme Being. Being alive to God says that we are more than just friends.

When Paul talks about being alive to God he means that God is our lover and our savior. God is an interior reality, an intimate experience where God’s love and power and healing get inside and begin to transform life…my life.
To be alive to God means that I feel alive in a new way…perhaps in a way that is difficult if not impossible to put into words.

Maybe you are not a singer of songs or a writer of grand words. Maybe you express your faith in deeds of kindness, healing and grace. You know: Put your money where your mouth is. Actions speak louder than words.

When Paul wrote to the Romans he not only told them about what he believes and has experienced, he urges them to live like followers of Christ. He uses words like slave and master advising us to consider where we will put our allegiances. Paul argues that we human beings should consider ourselves as slaves to a loving master. He calls that being alive to God. Slavery means that we belong totally and completely to another. Belonging to God brings life and hope and joy.

On the other hand we can choose to be slaves to a dark lord whose goal is to hurt and destroy. Do you want to serve one who takes pleasure in undermining and wounding?. Paul says, put that relationship out of your life. Die to darkness, die to sin and choose life, be alive in God.

Paul’s point is that we have the power to choose and we should choose wiesly.
Take a moment to remember what it feels like to be in love. When you are a slave to lord of love, when you are the love slave to the creator God you feel alive, fresh, new, hopeful. Paul calls it living in a state of grace. Gracefulness is a gift freely given and a joy unreservedly shared. To be alive to God is hope and joy and peace and strength and grace all rolled up into one.

I think Paul would agree that it is not always easy to talk about our faith in God, our love for God, God’s love for us. Just read the book of Romans and see how clearly and well Paul communicates his faith…it gets pretty confusing and convoluted at times. But it is important to try to express our faith and tell what we have experienced. Talking about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit becomes easier the more we do it.

Sometimes it is difficult to live out our faith but the more we try the easier it becomes.
Are you prepared to speak about the hope that is with in you are you ready to speak both the easy words joy and the difficult words of the challenges of faith?