Sermon: The Journey of Faith

Delivered at Laurens Road United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on August 11, 2013.

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

The Journey of Faith

Audio Version

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.  By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old – and Sarah herself was barren – because he considered him faithful who had promised.  Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them.  They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, He has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16 (NRSV)

Everybody's scared to death

When they decide to take that step

Out on the water

It'll be alright

Life is so much more

Than what your eyes are seeing

You will find your way

If you keep believing

From “What Faith Can Do” by Kutless

When I was in college, I was involved with the Wesley Fellowship, a United Methodist collegiate ministry.  During the autumn after I graduated, I had the opportunity to join the group for a weekend getaway at Asbury Hills.  This camp, like many retreat locations, has a ropes course.  Ropes courses are structured to build trust and teamwork within groups of friends or colleagues.  This particular ropes course included a trust fall.  In a trust fall, a participant will climb to a height of at least six feet and then fall backward, letting his friends catch him.  That day, for some reason, I volunteered to be the first in my group to try the trust fall.  I climbed up to the platform, crossed my arms over my chest, gave the signal that I was ready, and fell backward into the arms of my friends.

I had no way of knowing for certain that my friends would catch me that day.  After all, I was the first person in my group to try the trust fall, so I had no evidence with which to judge whether or not they were up to the task.  My reason for participating in the trust fall was the fact that I had faith that my friends would actually catch me.

In the Bible there is a document, the title of which is literally translated, “To the Hebrews.”  The authorship of this document is unknown, but some speculate that the author was an associate of St. Paul, maybe Barnabas, Apollos, Luke, or Priscilla.  Though we typically refer to this document as the Epistle to the Hebrews, scholars generally consider this work to be more of a sermon than a letter.¹  A major theme of this work is Christology: the author paints a picture of Christ as an empathetic high priest who mediates between God and humanity in a way that no other priest ever could.  The author calls his or her readers, who are apparently facing increasing harassment from the world around them, to remain faithful to Christ and to the life to which He he has called them.  In the midst of these exhortations, the author launches into a beautiful discourse on faith.

So what exactly is faith?  The Mirriam-Webster online dictionary offers a number of definitions of faith, many of which concern a person's beliefs:

• belief and trust in and loyalty to God
• belief in the traditional doctrines of religion
• a system of religious beliefs
• something that is believed especially with strong conviction
• firm belief for which there is no proof

Other definitions pertain to a person's character:

• allegiance to duty or a person
• fidelity to one's promises
• sincerity of intentions²

The author of Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for” and “the conviction of things not seen.”  These are a bit different from the dictionary definitions.  If you feel as though these almost poetic definitions of faith leave something to be desired, I would suggest that maybe what the author calls faith is something that cannot be easily defined.  Perhaps faith is like love in that it cannot truly be defined: perhaps it can only be experienced and described.

These definitions suggest that faith concerns our hopes as opposed to certainties and things that cannot be observed as opposed to things observable.  The author writes that it is by faith that we proclaim that the universe we observe all around us was created by God, One who is not observed with our senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste.  Faith is that which enables us to trust and to even experience what cannot be observed or proven.

One of my favorite hymns, “O Love that Will Not Let Me Go,” was written in 1882 by George Matheson on the evening of his sister's wedding.  His sister, who had always looked after him, had left to start a family of her own, and the wedding had undoubtedly triggered painful memories of his own broken engagement years earlier.  In the midst of great loneliness, the words of comfort that became the beloved song came to him.  The most poignant part of the hymn, in my opinion, is the third verse:

O Joy that seekest me through pain

I cannot close my heart to Thee

I trace the rainbow through the rain

And feel the promise is not vain

That morn shall tearless be

What I have not told you about this story is that Matheson had lost his sight years earlier.³  Though he could not see the rain, he could still hear, feel, taste, and possibly smell it.  A rainbow, on the other hand, is a phenomenon that can only be seen, yet Matheson speaks of tracing a rainbow in the present tense.  The only way he could possibly experience a rainbow is by having faith that one would indeed emerge after the clouds pass by.

We will all face times in our lives when we will have trouble seeing a rainbow – a symbol of God's promises – when the dark clouds descend upon us.  We will all face times of doubt and darkness when God seems very far away.  Faith allows us to trust in God's promises even amidst the storms of life.  It is this same faith that we read in the words of a young Polish Jew who faced persecution at the hands of the Nazi regime: “I believe in the sun, even if it does not shine.  I believe in love, even if I do not feel it.  I believe in God, even if I do not see Him.”

After describing faith, the author of Hebrews goes on to discuss what he or she will later call “a great cloud of witnesses,” men and women throughout Israel's history who lived lives of faith.  Some people call this part of Hebrews the “Hall of Faith.”  The author writes of Abel, whose faith led him to offer a sacrifice acceptable to God.  The author writes of Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and through the wilderness to the land God promised their ancestors.  The author writes of Joshua who circled the fortified city of Jericho with his troops for seven days until the walls miraculously fell.  The author writes of Rahab, a resident of Jericho who hid Joshua's reconnaissance team from the local police.  The author reminds us of Gideon, who led three hundred men into battle against an army of soldiers as uncountable as the grains of sand on the seashore.  The author reminds us of David, who challenged a fully-armed giant, with nothing but a slingshot and a few stones.  The author mentions other leaders and warriors who defended Israel against insurmountable odds.⁴

Sometimes we mistakenly think that faith is something that happens in our heads, but we must remember that faith is much more than mere belief.  The common thread between all of these men and women of faith is that they are known not for what they believed, but for what they did.  Faith is more than what we believe in our minds and in our hearts: faith is that which puts hands and feet on what we believe.  Faith is that which drives us to act on what we believe, to live for what we believe, and to even risk our lives for what we believe.  Having faith is the spiritual equivalent of “putting one's money where one's mouth is.”

I have never been skydiving, nor do I have any desire to ever do so, but I think that having faith is a lot like strapping on a parachute and jumping out of an airplane.  A skydiver must put a lot of faith in her parachute.  A person can stand in an airplane with a parachute on her back and proclaim, “I believe that this parachute will see me safely to the ground,” but she does not demonstrate her faith in her parachute until she actually jumps out of the airplane and pulls the ripcord.  Skydiving is an act of faith even if the skydiver is afraid or has doubts that her parachute will open.  To paraphrase St. Paul, we walk by faith and not by certainty.⁵

In the Midrash, an ancient collection of Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures, there is a story that I think illustrates this aspect of faith very well.  When the Israelites flee Egypt, they find themselves caught between the Red Sea in front of them and the Pharaoh's army in hot pursuit behind them.  Moses raises his staff as God commands him, but nothing happens.  While the rest of the Israelites cry out in despair, a man named Nahshon jumps into the water and begins to wade.  Only when he has waded to the depth at which the water is up to his nose – the point at which he would no longer be able to breathe – do the waters finally part, allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land.⁶  Nahshon had faith that God had indeed called the Israelites out of Egypt and that God would ensure the success of their flight.  He had so much faith that he was ready to cross the Red Sea even before the waters parted.  Where the rest of the Israelites saw certain destruction, Nahshon saw possibilities.

The person who is featured most prominently in the “Hall of Faith” is the Jewish Patriarch Abraham who, at seventy-five years of age, was called by God to leave his home and to travel to an unknown land.  God said to Abraham,
I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
God promised Abraham that his offspring would inhabit the land God showed him.⁷  Abraham and his wife Sarah wondered how their progeny would become a “great nation” when they had no children of their own and when Sarah was well beyond childbearing years.  When God promised them that they would have a child together they both laughed.  When they finally did have a child – when Abraham was 100 and when Sarah was 90 – God made them name him Isaac, a name that means “laughter.”⁸

We often look to Abraham as an example of someone who had great faith, but faith was something that Abraham had to learn.  In his story we read of a number of times when he and Sarah faced difficulty because they took matters into their own hands instead of trusting God to keep God's promises.  When Abraham was afraid that someone would covet his wife Sarah and kill him, he caused trouble by hiding the fact that they were married instead of trusting in God's promise to protect him.⁹  When Abraham and Sarah had trouble believing they would ever have a son together, Abraham fathered a child with Sarah's handmaid, creating jealousy and discord in the household.¹⁰  Like all of us, Abraham had to grow in faith and learn to trust in God.

According to theologian Frederick Buechner, “Faith is not being sure where you're going, but going anyway.  A journey without maps.”¹¹  Faith enables us to leave what is familiar and to follow God's call into the unknown because we trust God with the journey.  Faith enables us to embark on a journey that we don't know how we'll complete because we trust God with the outcome.

The author of Hebrews suggests that maybe the Promised Land the Jewish Patriarchs desired was not a mere tract of land, but something far greater.  I believe that they sought something that, deep down, we all want.  The author writes that they desired “a better country,” “a heavenly one,” and a “city... whose architect and builder is God.”  I believe that they held on to a hope that we express in prayer every week.  When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them a prayer that includes the words: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”  Though these words might, at first, sound like two different prayer requests, these words actually express a singular hope.

The Kingdom of God is the place where God's will is done on earth.  It is the place where “justice roll[s] down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”  It is the place where swords are beaten in to plowshares and where the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth “as the waters cover the sea.”¹²  The Kingdom of God is a reality that is often described as both “already” and “not yet.”  Though we look forward to a time in the future when Christ Himself reigns on earth, the Kingdom of God already exists in the hearts of all people who follow Christ.  The prayer that God's will is done on earth as in heaven is not merely a wish for the future but a way of life for everyone who has decided to follow in Christ's footsteps.  As Christians, we look forward to the day when Christ returns to reign on earth, but, by faith, we live as though that day has already come.

The author of Hebrews writes that the heroes of faith “died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them.”  The Jewish Patriarchs lived as foreigners in the land God had promised them.  Moses led the Israelites though the wilderness to a land he would not be able to enter for himself, though he was able to view the land from a mountaintop.  Living a life of faith sometimes means working for a something we might not see in our lifetimes.  The chaplain at my alma mater always closes chapel services with a benediction that contains the words: “May Christ come behind you, completing and fulfilling all of the things you leave undone (and there will be many).”

I am reminded of Martin Luther King Jr., who had a dream of a world in which people of all races could “join hands... as sisters and brothers,”¹³ and he worked to make such a world a reality.  On April 3, 1968, the day before he was murdered, he delivered a speech in Memphis Tennessee.  In reference to recent threats on his life, he said,
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place.  But I'm not concerned about that now.  I just want to do God's will.  And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain.  And I've looked over.  And I've seen the Promised Land.  I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.¹⁴
By faith, King lived and died working to create a more just and Christlike world, not just for himself but for future generations.  Though he did not live to see such a world, by faith, he could see that such a world will someday become a reality.

Faith is a journey.  It is a journey into the unknown at the call of One whom we cannot see and cannot prove.  It is a journey to a Promised Land, a Kingdom “not of this world” where Christ reigns.  It is a journey people have taken long before we got here and a journey people will continue to take long after we're gone.  So, in the words of the author of Hebrews,
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.¹⁵

Amen.


Notes:

1. Wikipedia: Epistle to the Hebrews
2. Mirriam-Webster: Faith
3. Richard Niell Donovan. “Hymn Story: O Love that Will Not Let Me Go.” 2008, Lectionary.org
4. Hebrews 11:4,23-32
5. 2 Corinthians 5:7
6. Wikipedia: Nahshon
7. Genesis 12:1-4,7 (NRSV)
8. Genesis 17:15-22, 18:9-15
9. Genesis 12:10-20, 20:1-18
10. Genesis 16:1-16, 21:8-21
11. Frederick Buechner.  Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC.  1993, Harper One.  p. 30
12. Imagery taken from  Amos 5:24,  Isaiah 2:4, and  Isaiah 11:9 (NRSV)
13. From King's “I Have a Dream” speech.
14. From King's “I've Been to the Mountaintop” speech.
15. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NRSV)

The photograph of the trust fall was taken by Flickr user klndonnelly and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  The photograph of the tandem skydivers is used courtesy of PROskydiving.com.  The photographers are in no way affiliated with this blog.  Abraham's Journey from Ur to Canaan was painted by József Molnár in 1850.