One
week ago today 35 of our youth and adults departed for Sneedville,
Tennessee. Many of them had gone there before. A number had never been
there. This past week they worked on two houses, sorted clothes for needy
children, and unloaded supplies. They laid flooring, installed sheetrock,
and put up siding. When they left last week they weren’t exactly sure
what the future held, especially those who had never gone before. Would
you understand me if I said to you this morning that their efforts this
past week were done in faith? They did not know what the future held but
they sent forth nevertheless. We sent them off last week with the faith
that, “you go with God.”
That is
the faith you express and experience in your baptism. As you bring your
children and your grandchildren for baptism, you don’t know what the
future holds, but, through baptism, you entrust that future to God.
Sunday
after Sunday you bow before God in this sanctuary. You don’t know what
the future holds but wherever you go, we go together and together, you
see, you don’t go alone, you go with God.
That’s
faith. Faith is going forth in life not knowing the future but going
nevertheless, going with God. So the writer of the letter to the Hebrews
describes faith this way:
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not
seen.
It has
been said that faith is an unusual thing in our day. In our scientific
age when our culture demands evidence and proof before we can ascent to
anything, faith, it is held, is something better left to the theologians
and the wishful thinkers. Yet it almost goes without saying, doesn’t it,
that even in our science-bound culture we do, after all, live by faith?
When you come home to a dark house at night and reach to flip the switch,
you have faith, you believe you will be able to see where you are going.
When you sit down and reach for the remote you have faith, you believe the
TV will come on. You go to bed at night in faith that when you awaken in
the morning the sun will be right there in the east in the same place it’s
always been. When you go out to your garden and pick that tomato it was
your faith that trusted that that scrawny little plant would produce
something very good to eat. Yes, we live by faith even in this scientific
age of ours.
What is
faith? What do the words in this letter to the Hebrews mean after all?
Public opinion poll recently asked people whether they believe in God.
80-90% of us say yes. But do 80-90% of us have faith? Is faith simply
believing God exists? Is faith confined to what you think about
things? When we’re talking about “the assurance of things hoped for and
the conviction of things not seen” it seems to me that this is more than a
mere curiosity. We’re talking assurance and conviction, not just
knowledge and information. Assurance, conviction—these are heart words.
Assurance and conviction do not reside here (pointing to head), do they?
Assurance and conviction are here (pointing to the heart), in the heart.
No,
faith is not just a matter of opinion, it is a matter of the heart. Faith
is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen. Faith is not found in a community as it is measured
by opinion polls. Faith is found in the heart of a people who entrust
their lives, their children, their grandchildren, their future to the care
and guidance of God. You don’t know what the future may hold, but faith
entrusts that future to God.
Life is
not easy most of the time. Life is full of surprises, the unexpected,
with its full share of the tragic and the difficult as well as joy and
grace. Sometimes life feels like a long journey into the unknown where
you cannot see clearly ahead. So you feel your way slowly and carefully,
choosing the right paths as best you can. With your hand outstretched you
feel you way along in the dark. Literally taking your life in your hands
you go forward making your way as best you can. That’s the time to ask,
“Do you believe in God?” That’s when the answer to that question is more
than just a curiosity but one you can bet your life on. That’s when its
not just a matter of opinion but it is a matter of the heart. When you
face tough, hard decisions in life or when life brings the unexpected, the
difficult, the tragic, that’s when assurance and conviction make a
difference. Faith is
the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen.
That’s why you bring your children and your grandchildren to be
baptized. That’s why you come Sunday after Sunday and through worship,
prayer, song, and word remember your baptism. You are baptized—no
matter where you go, what you do, or what may come, you never go alone;
you go with God. That is the assurance and conviction of faith. God is
here, now, with you, with your children, your grandchildren, and will
never let you or them go.
So
faith is more than mere knowledge or information. Faith is more than just
your opinion. Faith is going forth in life not knowing the future but
nevertheless going, going with God.
But the
text today bears witness to an even deeper reality of faith than this. It
bears witness to an assurance and conviction that we have yet to describe
this morning. This letter speaks of a commitment that perhaps the more
seasoned and mature in faith know well. It is the next step, if you will,
in trusting God. It is to foster this faith that this letter was written
to the Hebrews and to you. To help this faith grow among them and you,
this letter describes the faith of Abraham who left the safety and
security of his father’s tribe and took his family on an uncertain journey
through the wilderness because God promised him a land flowing with milk
and honey. This letter was written that they and you might have the same
assurance and conviction of Moses who stood against the political power of
his day and led the people out of slavery in Egypt. This letter wants
them and you to share in all the fullness of faith that Joshua experienced
as he marched the army of Israel around and around the fortress of Jericho
until the walls crumbled at the sound of the trumpets and the shouts of
the soldiers. This letter, you see, doesn’t only tell you what its like
to wander around in the dark. This letter is full of stories of those who
followed the call of God. They did not know for sure where God would lead
them or how they would get to the destination God promised but they
followed the call of God. That’s the next step in faith. Faith is not
only the assurance and conviction that wherever you go you never go alone,
it is the assurance and conviction that you are going exactly where God
wants you to go. If life is a long journey into the unknown where you
cannot see clearly ahead so you feel your way along as best you can
knowing all along that you go with God, this letter asks why not take hold
of the outstretched hand of God and let God lead you by the hand through
life to exactly where God calls you to be. It’s one thing to feel your
way along in the dark as best you can knowing that God is always there
with you; it is quite another to be led through the darkness by the Guide
you trust to the destination intended exactly for you.
Faith
is more than a matter of opinion, it is a matter of the heart. Faith is
the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen.
Faith knows that, as you try your best to make
your way through life on your own, no matter what you do or what may come
or where you go you never go alone, you go with God. But faith also knows
how much better it goes when you respond to the call of God in your life
and go with God where God leads you.
That’s
the message for you today. You go with God. That a fact. It’s fact but
it’s also an invitation. You go with God!
