By Faith - April 19th, 2015 sermon

By Pastor Greg

An Amish boy and his father were visiting a mall.  They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again. The boy asked, "What is this, Father?"  The father responded, "Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is". While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, a heavy elderly lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button.  The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room.  The walls closed and the boy and his father watched the small circular numbers above the walls light up sequentially.  They continued to watch until it reached the last number and then the numbers began to light in the reverse order.  Finally the walls opened up again and a gorgeous, 24-year-old blonde woman stepped out.  The father, not taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to his son, "Go get your Mother."

Unfortunately, this Amish father had never seen an elevator before and did not fully understand its purpose.  Perhaps the same can be said about faith.  Faith is a word often mentioned in the church and is something a Christian is supposed to possess, but perhaps we don’t fully understand what Faith is.  Do you know what faith is?  Have you ever seen someone demonstrate faith?

Let’s think about faith for a moment.  When someone sings a Christian song, is that a demonstration of faith or is it a heart stirred to worship?  When someone puts money in the offering plate, is that showing faith or is it showing commitment to the Church?  When a person bows before God in prayer, is that faith or is it reverence to God?  What does faith look like?  What does faith do?  How do I know if I have faith? 

The writer of Hebrews says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  For by it the men of old gained approval” (Hebrews 11:1-2).  In the rest of the chapter he gives us many examples of faithful people and what their faith accomplished (Read Hebrews 11:3-40). 

One of the first things we learn about faith is that it is not a feeling; however, this is what most people think.  Faith is not guided by emotion.  Faith is a decision.  Sarah made a decision to believe that God’s Word and God’s promises were true (Hebrews 11:11).  The writer of Hebrews also points out that faith is an action.  Abraham’s faith was seen in his obedience (Hebrews 11:8,17).  Don’t you wish you had that kind of faith; the kind of faith that believes and obeys even though you have no idea how things are going to work out?  Although we should have this kind of faith, too often our faith looks more like Gideon’s. 

One day, as Gideon was lamenting the condition of his nation, the Angel of the Lord appeared.  Gideon reminds the Lord about how the Midianites had been marauding throughout the nation for seven years.  They would burn the crops and steal the livestock.  Gideon certainly had passion and desire.  But standing before the Lord, he says, “Somebody should do something about this problem”.  “Yes”, the Lord replies, “You’re right, somebody should.  And that somebody is you”.  However, even though the Lord encouraged Gideon by calling him a mighty hero, he throws the problem right back at God.  He says, “Where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about?  The Lord has abandoned us” (Judges 6:13).  “You fix the problem Lord.  You do something”

Gideon saw the problem and wanted something to happen.  He had the compassion and the desire, but he was unwilling to put that compassion and desire into action.  In other words, he could not solve the problem because of the littleness of his faith.  He simply would not get involved.

Don’t we do the same?  We want something to happen.  We pray for things to happen, but that’s where it stops.  We think our neighbors need to start coming to church.  We pray that one day they might find Jesus.  My friend, that’s not faith; that’s compassion and desire.  Faith walks next door and builds a relationship.

It is commendable that we have compassion for others.  It is wonderful that we desire to make a difference in this community.  But compassion and desire is not the same as faith.  However, faith is displayed when we do something about our compassion and desire.  I know, I know.  There are many excuses why we can’t get involved.  Time, training, age, you name it.  We do the same thing Gideon did when the Lord told him to get involved.  “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family” (Judges 6:15).  So the Lord simply replied “I will be with you”.

Faith is not confidence in our own abilities.  Faith is not seen in our compassion or in our desires.  Sure, these attitudes are the result of a heart influenced by the Lord, but they are not faith as described by the writer of Hebrews.  Based upon the example in Hebrews, faith is seen when we do something even though it is beyond our abilities.  We see faith when we do what the Lord has commanded even though it’s not our preference.  Faith is placing confidence in the Lord’s promise, not in our situation.  Faith is obeying the Lord even though our accountant says we shouldn’t.  Faith is belief in God coupled with actions that cause us to rely on God.  Faith is showing God that you believe in whom He is and that He is true to His word.  The point is that faith is an action verb.  It calls us to do something. 

It is by faith we say, “We Believe”, but biblical faith also calls us to put that faith into action.   We move mountains when we get out of our pew and start doing something.