Sermons for the Month
That's What Faith Looks Like
DATE: August 12th, 2007
SERVICE: 11th Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
What does being sure, confident in, at peace about the things that we hope for, that we desire, that we long to be true, look like? In other words, what does faith look like? The writer of Hebrews wants us to have a concrete image of faith, so he lists the various ancestors of the faith, detailing the ways they were confident that their hopes would become realities. In today's reading the focus is on Abraham who set out from his homeland with his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, and their households knowing only that they would end up where God placed them. He and Sarah believed the promise that God would create a great nation from them and they would be blessed. There was, of course, no proof of that when they left Haran, and it was not smooth sailing. Here are the "highlights" of the storms they encountered. It so happened that there were other people living in the land to which God brought them; those pesky Canaanites were in the way. Then there was a famine, and they went to Egypt for food and shelter. Rather than trusting God, Abraham passed Sarah off as his sister to get on the Pharaoh's good side, and she went to live in the palace. Abraham was then basking in sheep and camels, but not basking in God's favor. The next thing we know Abraham and Sarah are getting up in years and they have no children with whom to start building a nation. So, they take matters into their own hands and an Egyptian maid named Hagar has Abram's son Ishmael. There's quite a drama then, it ends with Hagar and her son being kicked out into the wilderness. Even though Abraham and Sarah were unfaithful, God remains faithful and does not abandon Hagar and her son. God continues to tolerate Abraham and Sarah who at the ages of 100 and 90 both laughed at the idea that the long-ago promised son would be born. He was, and they name him Isaac. That overview reminds us that there were moments - indeed, hours, days, weeks and even months - of doubt in the lives of those who are held up as examples of faith. So, did the writer of Hebrews get it wrong? No, he did not. To quote David Lose, "Biblical faith is living with doubt and uncertainty and yet still believing this other story that tells us of a God who loves this world so passionately that God will stop at nothing until this world and all of us who live here are gathered together in love. This kind of faith requires imagination and courage, the imagination to see a reality beyond the evening news and our everyday experience and the courage to live life as if it were true." (1) That's what faith looks like. We live in a world that is a tumultuous place. Faith does not stop the tremors, it allows us to keep our footing in the midst of them. Dr. Tony Campolo tells a story about keeping ones footing in the midst of the terrible tremor of the death of a teenager. Let me share it with you. "I belong to a black church is West Philadelphia. I grew up in that church. I'm the only white member of this 2,500 member congregation. I remember when I went to my first black funeral. I was seventeen years old. A friend of mine, Clarence, had died. The minister was magnificent. He preached about the Resurrection and talked about life after death is such glowing terms that I have to tell you, even at 17 I wished I was dead just listening to him! He came down from the pulpit. Then he went over to the open casket and for the last 20 minutes he preached to the body. Can you imagine that? He just yelled, 'Clarence! Clarence!' He said it with such authority. I would not have been surprised had there been an answer. 'Well', he said, 'Clarence, you died too fast. You got away without us thanking you.' He went down this litany of beautiful, wonderful things that Clarence had done for people. Then he said, 'That's it Clarence. When there's nothin'more to say, there's only one thing to say, good night!' Now this is drama. White preachers can't do this! He grabbed the lid of the casket and he slammed it shut and he yelled, 'Good night, Clarence! Good night Clarence, cause I know, yes, I know that God is going to give you a good morning!' Then the choir stood and started singing, 'On that great gettin' up Morning we shall rise, we shall rise.' I knew I was in the right church, a church that can take a funeral and turn it into a celebration. That's what the faith is about.'" (2) I would add, that's what faith looks like, even in the midst of doubt there is a sense of something else, something better, in short, there is hope and the ultimate hope that we have assurance of is that life triumphs over death. Now, I could easily end my sermon there and I would have said a lot. But, I have to take us back to Hebrews 11, to verse 13 (it's one of those "favorites" written in the front of my green Bible.) "All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them." Abraham and Sarah died before the promise of a great nation was fulfilled. They saw it from a distance, though, and that promise was so real to them that it was like a visitor still a long ways away who is greeted even before arriving. If you or I were so excited about some guests' arrival that we stood outside and waved even though we could not yet see them, we would do that only if we knew in our hearts that they were coming. Our greeting would be a sign of faith. Today we are introducing the Capital Funding Campaign that will make it possible to proceed with the church building project. As we embark on this journey much will need to occur before the building that will be a tool for ministry is a reality. It's in the distance. But, like the visitors who are not yet visible, we can see the possibility and greet it, trusting that God will make it happen through us. Afterall, it has happened before now, through people like Raymond and Mary Allen and Harold and Clara Frankenfield, Dan Hare, to name just a few of those who made this building possible, who are now in the church triumphant and are to us examples of faith. I found the first materials, much like those you (will receive) received today, that were distributed in 1959. The campaign theme was "Forward With Faith". The cost was $150,000 for the first unit, which we now use as a Fellowship Hall. The sought-after pledges ranged from 6 at $20 per week to 6 at $1 per week. The flier announced that on May 4, 1959 people would be visited and asked to offer their pledge; there was mention of equal sacrifice. The format of our campaign is somewhat different, and certainly the numbers have changed, but the vision of gathering and growing disciples is the same. Our past is filled with examples of that which was not yet seen becoming a reality because people acted in faith. Such a time has arrived again, and although we cannot yet see it, in the distance is that for which we hope. Our hope is 2b Transformed, and to gather and to grow disciples for mission. Changes in the building will support that hope. My prayer, then, is that someday we - not a building - but we will be the ones of whom it is said, "That's what faith looks like."
AMEN
(1) "The Faith Journey" by David Lose, 30 Good Minutes, Program #5017, February 2, 2007, www.30GoodMinutes.org (2) "Trusting in God in the Days that Like Ahead", 30 Good Minutes, Program #4604, October 27, 2002, www.30GoodMinutes.org