8/11/13 Sermon by Rev. David Haberer, Pastor: SERMON NOTES: FAITH, Luke 12:22-40 Faith is a hard concept to get one’s mind around. Faith is not wishful thinking; I hope I get what I want. Faith is not the power of positive thinking; if I just believe and say out loud what I want, then God will give it to me. Faith is not blind trust in the unknown. Faith is laying hold to the promises of God no matter what it looks like at the time. The writer of Hebrews defines it this way. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The assurance of things hoped for. This is not an open ended, whatever I want I can have if I just hope for it. For the Christian our hope is in the promises of God. God holds out for us his kingdom. He promises that we will have eternal life with him if we lay hold of the redemptive work of Christ. This is a loaded idea that involves more than my earthly desires. This hope, which the writer of Hebrews points to, is a hope that is founded in the life of Christ. The hope that will be rewarded, the faith that finds its rest in God is a hope that longs for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven. The conviction of things not yet seen is again centered on the redemptive promises of the Jesus. He has called us out to follow him wherever he leads us. He assures us of persecution in this life because the kingdom of this world is at odds with the kingdom of God that we long for. He promises to always be with us until the kingdom of our God becomes the kingdom of this world when Jesus returns to make all things new. This world is not our home, but we are convinced that we will find the city whose builder and maker is God. Abraham is the father of faith. In Genesis 15 we read that God to him to, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be great.” This is a tremendous promise of God to Abram. God would be his protector and would greatly reward him with descents and land. But to Abram it didn’t look so great. His response to God was to point out that he had no children, and he was wandering around without a home. To which God said look up at the night sky and try and count the stars. That is how many descendants I will give you. Herein lies the dilemma of faith. God says one thing, but we live in a world that does not seem to reflect the reality of God. God says Abram will be a great nation. Abram is old and childless. God says trust me. We are given the promise of eternal life with God. We are assured that our sins are forgiven. Yet death still reigns in this life. I was with a woman in the hospital this week, a Christian, who was facing death. The doctors give her little hope, and so she lies alone in the hospital, hours from her family and friends with only the promise of God to hold on to. We all take to heart the words of forgiveness of our sins, and yet having received absolution, we leave the church and find ourselves again in need of forgiveness. No matter how determined we are, sin crouches at the door of our lives ready to devour us. We know the promises of God and yet our reality speaks otherwise. Upon hearing the word of the Lord, we are told that Abram believes God, and it is counted to him as righteousness. Faith looks at life and hears the word of the Lord and chooses to side with God no matter what it experiences at the moment; assurance for what’s hoped for and confidence in the not yet seen. In Luke, Jesus brings it home to us. “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.” I don’t know about you, but this is where I live. Don’t be anxious is easier said than done. This is New York City where everything is expensive and the bills keep coming. Don’t be anxious is easy to do when you make a ton of money, and the bank account is full, but that is not my experience. The money never seems to go far enough, and as soon as you think you can get on top of things, something happens. Something breaks down and needs to be replaced, you get sick and need see the doctor, something happens and the cushion you thought you had is pulled from underneath you. Don’t be anxious seems like a bad joke sometimes. Tell me the rising cost of food doesn’t weigh on you at times. The cost of everything you need, forget your wants, continues to go up, but Jesus says don’t worry. Jesus says don’t be anxious about your body. This is a good one for us. The diet industry is thriving on people’s obsession with their weight. The fashion industry is built around making people overly concerned about how they look. Add to that simple health concerns. We are overly concerned about staying young. Nothing irks me more than to attend a birthday party of someone around my age and to hear the reassuring words, “60 is the new 40,” as if we can adjust time to make us feel better. 60 is the same old 60 it always was. We get old, the body slowly decays, and we die. That is the way it is. Into this situation Jesus says, don’t be anxious. Here is the faith dilemma, not for Abram, but for us. The story of Abram is a good one, and when we read it, we imagine that we would be men and women of faith. The problem is that we are Abram. Those who come to Christ must believe that he is, and we must trust him as did Abram. You are Abram, and your test of faith is as real as his. We stand here at this time and in this place knowing two things for sure; sin is very real, and we struggle with it daily, and this flesh that we inhabit is going to waste away, and we will die. We are tempted to look at life, and when we do, anxiety rises within us, and the fear of death reigns in our hearts. We try to reassure one another with words like 60 is the new 40, but though we simile, we know deep down inside that those words are just not true. We say we believe God, but each bill that arrives in the mail sets us to worrying. The word of the Lord comes to us, and we are told not to be anxious. Jesus tells us to look around, which when anxiety sets in, we see nothing but our own problems which get blown totally out of proportion. Jesus calls us to rationally think about our lives. First he reminds us that we are more important than the things that we worry about. He then tells us to look at the birds to see how God takes care of them. God takes care of them even though they don’t plant crops and store food in barns. Jesus then reminds us that we cannot by worrying add any time to our lives. This is the whole 60 is the new 40 nonsense. If we can’t do that, why worry about anything at all. Take a look at the flowers. As we walk around and see the beautiful flowers remember that in a few months they will all be dead. Yet, they are beautiful to look at. God makes them this way, and they are of little value. How much more will he take care of you? Now he gets to the faith question. Abram was to look at the stars, but we are asked to look at the birds and the flowers. The faith question is, if God takes care of all of these things, do you trust him to take care of you? He then reassures us with the words, “Fear not it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It is his pleasure to give you the kingdom. Our eternity is sure, and that is the promise. If our eternity is sure, Jesus will keep us, and give us all that we need until we arrive with him in the city whose builder and maker is God. Now Jesus gets crazy on us. Not only are we not to worry, which seems like a tall order, he tells us to freely give away the things that we worry about so that the needs of others will be met. Instead of worrying about what you will eat, feed the hungry. Instead of fretting about what you will wear, clothe the naked. Give and it will be given to you. Seek the kingdom of God, and you will find it. The challenge of faith is that its logic runs contrary to everything this world tells us is important. Like Abram, we stand and look at our lives, and things don’t seem to add up. Too often we live like the kings kid who had no place to lay his head in this world, and yet as we look inward upon our lives, God says raise your head and look around. His promises are sure even though they are not yet seen. The challenge before you and I this morning is will we have faith when Jesus returns. Go forth from this place with eyes wide open, look out at the things God is doing, and take you eyes off your problems. Trust God, and it will be counted to you as righteousness.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 16:02:17 +0000
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