Faith Matters
August 18, 2013
Mark 9: 14-28
Hebrews 1:1-3, 8-16
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Six coal
miners were trapped by a cave-in in Crandall Canyon Utah. Family members immediately rushed to the mine
only to be met by reporters who asked the usual questions. How do you feel? Do you have any hope for their rescue? One wife responded, “I have to have hope
because hope is life. Without hope,
there is no life.” At that point in
time it didn’t look good, but she wa right, without hope all of life becomes
dark, and it is easy to feel you are trapped with no place to go.
The
questions for each of us are these, “In what or in whom do you trust?” “Where does your hope lie?” “Where does faith come from?” “Why does it matter?” Before we look for
answers, let us look to God.
We come each of us Lord, looking
for answers, but our questions are all different. Speak to each one of us, we pray, so that we
might hear what we need to hear in order to find hope and healing. Amen.
It is interesting to note that in all of scripture
there is only one place where you will find a definition of faith, and it is
here, in this eleventh chapter of Hebrews.
Everywhere else faith is assumed but never really described in any way
other than the action that follows. It is kind of like good art, you know it when
you see it. Scan through the hall of fame of faith described in this chapter
and you’ll see great men and women of faith depicted by their deeds.
“By faith
Abraham obeyed when he was called to go – and he went though he did not really
know where he was to go.”[1]
“By faith Moses left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king.”[2] By faith the people crossed the Red Sea…By
faith the walls of Jericho fell…By faith, Jesus said, “mountains move.”[3]
In other
words faith acts. It makes a difference; and if it doesn’t then maybe faith is
not present at all. James puts it this way, “Faith without works is dead.” He said, “Show me your faith apart from your
works, and I by my works will show you my faith.”[4]
This
connection between belief and action is understood by even the smallest
child. They quickly recognize the
hypocrisy of “do as I say and not as I do.”
If you teach children not to use bad language, but then use bad language
yourself, which do you think they’ll imitate - your warning not to use bad
language or language you use? Teach them
to always tell the truth, but then tell them a lie, which do you think they’ll remember
– your lesson or your lie? Children are
like little mirrors in which we will always see a reflection of ourselves as we
really are.
Our attitudes and actions always
demonstrate our beliefs. Inward conviction
always determines outward expression. So,
when our walk does not reflect our talk, when what we say we believe is not seen
in what we do, we must ask if we are honest, “What do I really believe and how
much do I believe it?
We see an example of that in the
ninth chapter of the gospel of Mark. A
father brought his son to Jesus’ disciples and asked if they could heal his
boy, for he had, for as long as the father could remember, been plagued by
convulsions that stiffened his body and clenched his teeth. Today we recognize these as the symptoms of
epilepsy. Back then the only word they
had to describe it was demonic. Dad
wasn’t so much concerned with the diagnosis as he was with the remedy. Each episode broke his heart as he helplessly
watched his boy suffer.
Well, the disciples tried, but they
couldn’t do it. They did the same thing they
had seen Jesus do, said the same words they heard Jesus say, but nothing happened. To make matters worse, this failure prompted
a debate between the disciples and some armchair quarterbacks who had been
watching from the sidelines. In no time at all these two groups got into an
argument over the right and wrong way to heal this boy. “You are doing it
wrong.” “You should have said this
prayer.” “You should have done that.”
“Your hands should be up.” “Your hands should be folded.” “You need to pray louder
– you should speak more softly.”
Neither group could do it, but that did not stop them from arguing. So, they established a pattern, a model for
theological debate that has been followed in the church from that day to this.
One of the great criticisms leveled
against the church by those outside the church is that we seem to spend too
much time arguing over trivialities, while the world goes to hell in a
hand-basket. People die of thirst in
Africa because they have no wells and we argue about the quantity of water
needed to make a baptism legitimate.
Folks are dying from H.I.V. and we debate musical styles and wrangle
about which one best glorifies God.
Every once in a while someone will
peek through the window and wonder if maybe there isn’t something for them in
here, some hope for healing; but when they see the banal pettiness that consume
our attention they conclude they won’t find what they’re looking for here and
so they walk away.
Right in
the middle of this religious merry-go-round a desperate father knelt in the
dust and holding a suffering son wanting to do something but helpless to do
anything, and no one seemed to notice or care – no one except Jesus of course. He
would not be distracted by the trivial religious dialogue that, “strains out
the gnat, but swallows the camel.”[5] Jesus,
as always gets to the heart of the matter and so he ignored the debate over
religious trivialities and went straight to the father, “How long has your boy
been like this?” Dad replied, “As long
as I can remember”, and then the father asked, “Can you help him?” “Can you heal my son?”
Jesus looked straight into his soul
and said and turned the question around, “If you can. All things are possible for the one who
believes.”[6]
Imagine the awesome power of that
moment. This father’s greatest hope
would be determined by his deepest conviction.
Jesus had just told him that his son’s future would be determined by his
faith or lack thereof. If he believes
the boy will be well, if he does not he will not.
Now, if it was me, I’d have told
Jesus anything I thought he’d want me to say.
I’d have said, “I believe you Jesus, I know you can do it - so heal him!” I’d have promised to be in church every
Sunday to tithe faithfully and volunteer wherever there was a ministry need. But, that’s not what this father did. When he
looked in the eyes of the carpenter, he had a feeling those eyes could see
straight through him. No pious
platitudes, no hollow words would be enough.
He could not or would not fake faith, so he answered with more honesty
than I think I could have mustered in a moment like that. He said, “I believe; help my unbelief.”[7]
That’s where most of us are. We believe, but there are times when we
wonder. Sometimes we’re absolutely
convinced that God is in his heaven and all is right with the world and
sometimes we’re not so sure. Maybe it’s Christmas Eve and we’re lighting the
candles and singing “Silent Night” and our family is gathered round and we
leave this sanctuary confident that God is with us. But, a month or so goes by and an ice storm
knocks out all the power and it’s dark and cold and you’ve got the flu and now
you’re not so sure. God seems a million
miles away.
So, we have questions and sometimes
we have doubts. We don’t like these feelings of uncertainty; we wish we could
have the confidence of those who never seem to struggle, but we know it does no
good to pretend and that it is fruitless to fake faith. Anyone who has faced any kind of crisis,
anyone who has ever heard a doctor’s dire diagnosis, anyone who has struggled
with depression, anyone who has ever wrestled with a bottle knows that when the
rubber hits the road faith or lack of it will be revealed. So we pray, “I believe, help thou my
unbelief.”
So, belief in this context and in
any situation that really matters must go far beyond intellectual assent, of
just agreeing with something. Most polls I’ve ever seen will usually indicate
that 9 out of 10 Americans will say “Yes” to the question, “Do you believe in
God. But, I’ve often wondered if that
were really the case, wouldn’t America look different? If 9 out of 10 Americans really believe in God
as God has been revealed through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or as God has been
revealed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – shouldn’t the culture and climate of
our county look different?
If 9 out of 10 Americans really
believe in God, should that not impact what is presented and what is watched on
a T.V. screen? Should that not influence
the way we understand morality? Shouldn’t it influence the way we spend money
or the way we treat the poor? Shouldn’t
it influence sexual behavior and norms?
Shouldn’t that belief reduce crime rates? If 9 out of 10 Americans really believe in
God shouldn’t we live a little more like God’s children and a little less like
children who pout when they don’t get their own way?
Clearly, there is a difference
between saying you believe in God and living as if you believe in God. And
maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Not everyone who says, “Lord,
Lord, will be welcomed into the kingdom of God.” That difference is described in this first
verse of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen.”[8] Or, as Eugene Peterson paraphrased that
verse, “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith,
is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.”
In other words faith is where you
stand. It is that upon which you will
rely no matter what. Make no mistake
everyone has faith is something.
Whatever that something or someone is; is where they turn for purpose
and meaning and for a “very present help in times of trouble.” The object of that faith can be
anything. It can be wealth or family, it
can intellect or muscle, it can be patriotism or passion, or it can be any
number of deities, gods that offer and promise what you hope to find. So, we must choose carefully, because not
every object of faith will be able to hold us up.
Jesus spoke of this in a simple
parable. “Every one who hears these
words of mine and does them will be like a man who builds his house upon the
rock, for when the rains fall and the wind blows, it will not fall because it
had been built upon a rock. But,
everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a
foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and when the rains fall and the
winds blow it will fall.”[9]
This requires a decision. Most of
you at one time or another stood before this congregation or another and
declared your faith in Jesus Christ. You
said you trusted in him and that you believed he “would never leave you or
forsake you.” So, how are you
doing? Do you still hold onto that same
conviction? Do you have that same
assurance? Or, have you wondered of
late? Maybe a doctor’s dire diagnosis or
a financial set-back or a family crisis has given you pause, and prompted a
question or two. Faith is beginning to
swing back and forth like a pendulum.
If so, you’re not alone. Look at this passage and you’ll see that the
writer to the Hebrews was honest to the core and would not paint a Pollyanna
picture of these great figures in the Bible.
He portrays their faith, but he does not leave out their doubts. God had promised Abraham that if he stepped
out in faith he would be rewarded with land and children. But, children were a long time coming, so
Abraham and Sarah gave up on God or at least thought they’d give him a helping
hand. Their plan “B”, which resulted in
the birth of Ishmael from Sarah’s maidservant muddied waters that have not
cleared to this day. The children of
Ishmael (Palestinians today) and the children of Isaac (Israel) still contest
the ownership of this holy land.
On this scripture is clear, God
always honors his promises, but his timing will not always be ours. Sometimes we have to wait and wait for a long
time and we may not always know why.
Sometimes all we see is the darkness and we feel trapped as if there is
no way out. That’s exactly when we need
to remember his promise to bring us safely through the valley of the shadow, so
that one day we will lie down in green pasture and sit beside still
waters. That’s exactly when we need to
hold onto faith as the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of
things not seen.
Let us pray:
“Help then, O Lord, our unbelief;
And
may our faith abound,
To call on
You when You are near,
And
seek where you are found.”
Amen.[10]
