Faith

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, August 26, 2018.  The Bible verses used are Hebrews 11:1-16.

            Today we start a new sermon series, “What’s the Good Word?”  We’re going to look at some of the words we throw around in church a lot and talk about what they really mean.  

Now, maybe you’re thinking, “But I already know what these words mean.”  And maybe you do.  But even so, we sometimes get so used to saying these things that we stop thinking about them.  They become just words that we use, without thinking about the real meaning behind them.  As you may have guessed from our Bible reading, and from the hymns we’ve used, the word we’re going to look at today is “faith”.

We use that word “faith” a lot.  We say that we are saved by faith, faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  When Jesus healed people, he would often say, “Your faith has made you well”.  We refer to our religion as a “Christian faith”.  So when we use that word “faith”, what is it that we actually mean?

Our reading from the letter to the Hebrews tells us a little about it.  It gives us what seems to me a really good definition of faith.  It says, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

If you think about that, it makes perfect sense.  I don’t have to have faith that this pulpit exists.  I can see it.  I can feel it.  I don’t have to have faith that the keyboard is over there.  I can see it.  If our pianist bangs on the keys, I can hear it.  If I walked over there, I could touch it.  Those things don’t require any faith at all.

There are other mundane things that take a little bit of faith.  As I stand here right now, I cannot see my car.  It was out there when I walked in here this morning.  I think it’s probably still there.  But it might not be.  Someone could’ve stolen it.  It takes a little bit of faith to believe that my car is still there.

The same thing with the parsonage.  The parsonage was there when we left this morning.  All of our stuff was in it.  I don’t know that it’s still there.  But I have faith that it is, and that all of our stuff is there, too.

And of course, there are various things in our lives that require more faith.  I have faith that Wanda loves me.  I have faith that when I take a check to the bank, it’s going to go into my account.  I have faith that when I get here for church on Sunday, the lights will be on and someone will be there to play the piano and to run the power point and to act as ushers and to do all the other things that need to be done for us to have church today.  There are all sorts of things we do every day that require faith.

But of course, when we talk about faith in the church, we’re talking about something quite a bit more serious.  We’re talking about faith that God exists.  We’re talking about faith that God loves us.  We’re talking about faith that God knows what’s best for us and that we need to follow God, even when we have no idea what God’s up to and even when what God’s telling us may not make any sense to us..  

Our Bible reading addresses that.  It gives all kinds of examples of people in the Bible who had faith.  It starts out with the example that it is by faith that we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command.  It then talks about the faith of Abel, the faith of Enoch, the faith of Noah, the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah--we’re given all kinds of examples of people who had faith.

But what does the letter to the Hebrews say about their faith?  It says their faith was shown by their actions.  We know that Abel had faith because of the offering he gave to God.  We know that Noah had faith because he built an ark, even though he was living in the desert and there was not a cloud in the sky.  We know Abraham had faith because he went to a strange place at God’s command, even though he knew nothing about it and knew no one there.  

That tells us two things about faith.  One is that faith must be revealed by our actions.  It’s no good to say we have faith in God if the way we live does not show that.  That may seem like kind of an obvious point, but think about it.  Think about how we live our lives.  Does the way you live your life show that you have faith in God?  Does the way I live my life show I have faith in God?  If someone did not know you, and just observed how you live, would that person be able to tell that you have faith in God?

That’s more important than we may think.  We tend to believe that in a little town like this everyone believes in God, but it’s not true.  There are people in our parish who do not believe in God.  There are people in our parish who do not accept Jesus as the Savior.  And they’re not likely to open up the Bible and change their minds.  You and I, as Christians, are representatives of God.  We’re representatives of Jesus Christ.  What people can observe of you and me is going to be what they think a Christian is.  It’s a big responsibility.  But it’s a responsibility God gives us.  If we have faith, our faith needs to be revealed by our actions, just as the faith of those Bible heroes our reading tells us about was revealed by their actions.

And another thing it tells us about faith is that faith requires us to follow God even when we don’t know what the outcome is going to be.  Faith requires us to follow God even when we don’t understand what’s going on.  Abel did not know what was going to happen when he made his offering to God.  I’m sure he hoped God would be pleased, but he did not know.  He gave the offering because he had faith.  Enoch did not know he was going to be able to escape death, and be taken directly to heaven, when he decided to follow God.  He followed God because he had faith.  Abraham had no idea what he was going to find when God sent him to a strange land.  He went because he had faith.

And those things together--having our faith revealed by our actions, and acting in faith even when we don’t know what will happen--show one more thing about faith.  They show that faith is incredibly powerful.  Jesus said that if we have even as much faith as a mustard seed--a very tiny seed--we can move mountains.  Again, when Jesus healed people, he would generally tell them, “Your faith has made you well.”  Faith--faith in God, faith in Jesus as the Savior--has incredible power.  Faith allows us to do things that we might think are impossible.  But they’re not, because as Jesus also said, with God, all things are possible.

And that’s important.  Because a lot of times, as human beings, and even as Christians, we feel like we don’t have much power.  That can be especially true in our situation, when we’re part of a small church in a small town.  We see all kinds of things happening, and we think, “I cannot do anything about that.  I cannot affect that.  There’s nothing I can do.”

It’s not true.  We may not be able to do everything, but there are things we can do.  Remember what I said a little while ago.  There are people in this parish who do not believe in God.  There are people in this parish who do not accept Jesus as the Savior.  It’s not good enough for us to say, “There’s nothing I can do about that.”  If we don’t do something about it, who will?  If we, as Christians, don’t reach those people who are our neighbors, who else will do it?  The answer is no one.  There is no one else.  Nobody is going to come to Gettysburg, or to Onida, or to Agar, and reach those people who don’t have faith.  It’s up to us.  There is no one else.

How do we do that?  Well, I’ll tell you--I don’t know.  I don’t have the magic bullet solution.  But we’ve got to try.  We’ve started a Sunday evening service in Gettysburg--that’s one way to try.  Our parish posts things on Facebook--that’s one way to try.  Will those things work?  I don’t know.  Do we need to do more?  Probably.  But here’s one thing I do know:  if we do nothing, nothing’s going to happen.  Those people who don’t believe now will continue to not believe.  And if we believe what Jesus said--that no one comes to the Father except through him--then there are people in our parish whose eternal life is in jeopardy.  I don’t like to think that there are people around me--people that I know--who may not be going to heaven.  And I don’t think you like to think that, either.

If we claim to have faith, that faith has to be revealed by our actions.  We need to go where God sends us, to do what God asks us, to say what God tells us.  We need to do that even when we don’t know what’s going to happen.  That’s what faith is.  And when we act in faith, God will bless our efforts.  And then, all kinds of things can happen, things we never even dreamed of.  Because with God, all things are possible.