This morning at Embry Hills, we continue our journey through “The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.” Now, if this is your first Sunday here, or if you’ve been sleeping through worship over the past two Sundays, the “five practices” refers to a book by a United Methodist Bishop named Schnase, who suggests that every effective congregation, regardless of size or denomination or style, has five behaviors in common. Having tasted from the fruits of Radical Hospitality and Passionate Worship, we turn our attention this morning to Intentional Faith Development.

What in the world is that? Well, it means that we grow spiritually on purpose. Spiritual growth on purpose. That’s what Paul means when he writes to the Philippians and invites them to work out their own salvation. And, in order to do that, we have to have what any person needs when they strike out to get better at anything. We need a plan.

Once upon a time, I really, really messed up my right knee. It was six and a half years ago, in my last basketball game. Yes, I played one basketball game too many. I wasn’t trying to do anything stupid; it was just one of those freak things. But, I walked onto the court, ran around for a few minutes, and left the court in the arms of people who literally carried me to the hospital. A few weeks later, after the surgery to put my knee back together again, my doctor, Darrell, sent me to a guy named Steve, my physical therapist. Steve and I got to know one another very well over the course of several months of rehab. And, as we worked together, I came to appreciate how thoughtful he and Darrell had been in putting together a plan for my rehabilitation. Here’s what we’re going to work on, and here’s how we’re going to work on it. Rehabilitation on purpose.

You know that it’s the same with anything. It’s the same with cooking or quilting, with playing golf or tennis, with becoming a better parent, with learning Civil War history, with mastering the subtleties of Bridge, with flower arranging or learning to do the tango. There’s a learning curve to everything, and we don’t get better or more adept by accident. And, sometimes we forget that there’s a learning curve to our spirituality. Spiritual growth doesn’t happen by accident. And, it doesn’t even happen by simply showing up at church. It happens on purpose. It happens by design. It happens because we are, and I’ll use Bishop Schnase’s word, “intentional” about our spiritual growth, intentional about our faith development. Intentional Faith Development is spiritual growth on purpose, and to do that, we need a plan.

Now, I’m not expert in taking a lump of hot iron and hammering that lump of hot iron into something. But, I can see the picture as one of our ancient forbears talks about spiritual growth with some of his students. The man’s name is Anthony, and he is credited as the founder of monasticism in antiquity. He lived in the third century. And, here’s what he has to say about intentional faith development.

“Whoever hammers a lump of iron, first decides what he is going to make of it—a scythe, a sword, or an axe. Even so we ought to make up our minds what kind of virtue we want to forge, or we labor in vain.”

And so, what virtue do you want to forge? What are you working on in your spiritual life? What aspects of your faith life are your seeking to further develop? Anthony would tell us that it’s not enough to just say, “I want to be a better person,” or “I want to be a better Christian,” or “I want to grow spiritually.” We’ve got to know what we trying to build. When we hear Paul say, “Work out your own salvation,” hear clarity of purpose in that.

Anthony, the fellow I mentioned a while ago, was born around 250, and he was born into some privilege. Now, keep in mind that Anthony was born and lived before Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which declared Christianity to be the official religion of the Empire. In Anthony’s day, being a Christian was still dangerous business, and people like Anthony had a sense of the seriousness of Jesus’ call that most people will never have. And, out of his desire to belong to Jesus, Anthony sold everything that he had and moved to the Egyptian desert as the first Christian hermit. The only problem when you move to the desert is that people follow you. And, people did. Sensing in Anthony a spiritual wisdom they wanted to access, people came to him and sought out his mentoring.

A brother came to Anthony one day, presumably to receive counsel in some troubling matter involving some temptation or some habit he could not control or that he wanted to change. He said to Anthony, “Pray for me.” And, what do you reckon Anthony said?

“I will have no mercy upon you, nor will God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and do not pray to God.”

What Anthony was trying to teach is that our effort in growing spiritually is absolutely, positively essential. Of course, God’s grace is required. But, our effort in working out our own salvation is equally necessary. It’s like another wise person has said. “God will never answer the prayer, ‘please God, make me love,’ [just because] we simply pray it over and over.” Remember that lump of iron. We don’t just start hammering. We know what we’re forging. That’s intentional faith development. It’s spiritual growth on purpose.

And so, what are you working on in your spiritual life? What specifically are you working to overcome? What specifically are you working to develop?

In the classic old visit to the doctor, the patient strolls in, and in order to know how to proceed, the doctor asks, “Where does it hurt?” That’s a good starting point for intentional faith development. When you look at your life, where do you see something that’s not what you know it should be? Where do you see less of what you really want? Where do you see too much of what you know doesn’t belong?

The Bible is helpful to me here. Because, in many places, the Bible gives us longs lists of things upon which to reflect in order to grow spiritually. There are two such lists in the fifth chapter of Galatians. The first is a list of the works of the flesh. Remember these?

Fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Does anything ring a bell? There’s another list that a Pope thought up one day, with help from Paul. And, a guy named Dante used the same list to elucidate some of the things that we might need to work on. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Anything there ring a bell?

Where are your issues? What impedes your spiritual growth?

And, as you well know, it’s not just a matter of working on the ugly stuff. It’s nourishing the good stuff as well. Paul refers to those virtues as fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Think about those. Or, to be more precise, let those think about you.

Put yourself under the light of those amazing words, and rather than trying to study the Bible, let that part of the Bible study you. If I were trying to grow spiritually, I might find a quiet spot and simply pray those words over and over and over, until something in my life appeared that needed work. And, truth be known, when we really get quiet and prayerful, the places we need to grow appear in vibrant, living color. Just let those words wash over you. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Where do you see lack? Where do you want more? Start working on it. And, get specific. And, get a coach, or grab some friends.

That’s the other thing about intentional faith development. It rarely happens when we’re by ourselves. I’m not saying it can’t happen in solitude. But, growth most often happens in community. That’s the whole basis, by the way, of Methodism. Spiritual growth on purpose and with friends. Because, we just can’t see ourselves the way others see us.

There was many a day that I’d be doing my physical therapy. The first thing I had to do was learn to walk again. Sounds strange. But, my knee was so devastated that I forgot how to walk. Often, Steve would say to me, “Watch it. You’re limping.”

“I’m limping?”

“You’re limping.”

And, I would concentrate all of my powers on my steps.

“Better?”

“Better.”

And, to this day, when this old knee doesn’t want to work right, I’ll find myself walking down a fairway with a golf bag on my back, and one of my buddies will say, “Sarge, you’re limping.” I didn’t even know.

To work out our own salvation, to grow spiritually, to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit, to root out the works of the flesh, we need other people. We need the encouragement of others, and we need others to call us to account. Let me say those two words slowly. Encouragement and accountability.

And so, intentional faith development begins with an introspective, honest look at our own lives. It involves a plan for how and where we need to grow. And, it involves the encouragement and accountability of others. It’s what Wesley referred to as watching over one another in love.

Whenever Methodist people got together for this purpose, Mr. Wesley would famously ask them to share how it is with their souls. And, that is the question of Intentional Faith Development. Indeed, how is it with your soul?