FAITH FACES FORWARD
Introduction
Frequent fabled friends are found forcefully focusing our faith forward. Noah, foreseeing flood, found favor and failed to be flushed. Abraham faced forward with fresh faith for a foreign land. Faint faith fizzles and flops when fear filled. Fundamentally, faith finds fulfillment in fidelity.
Okay, before you panic, no, I am not going to do the whole sermon that way! Still, I hope it got your attention! On this Sunday when we ordain and install new officers to positions of leadership within the church, I couldn’t help but think of this passage in Hebrews where so many of our Biblical leaders are mentioned.
There is Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. And that was only in the passage that we read! If we continued on in this great chapter there is also Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Sampson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and unnamed prophets and people.
Our Ancestors
I want you to take a closer look at verse two in Hebrews chapter 11. “By faith, our ancestors received approval.” It’s time for a small chuckle. Instead of ancestors some translations have put, men of old, the ancients, or elders. The Greek word there is “presbyteros”. Yes, it is the same word for which we get this denomination’s name. I’m not sure our Session members, both current and those who are about to be installed are quite prepared to think of themselves as men or women of old, much less ancient ones! Perhaps they might have second thoughts about agreeing to serve if this is how they are to be remembered!
More seriously, are we prepared to think of ourselves in the same category like these saints of the past? And yet that is exactly what the author of this book is trying to impress on us. As we run the race of faith, we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses who have already made the journey.
The Mystery of Faith
What is this thing we call faith? The world in which we live is full of unknowns. We don’t know what the future holds. There are also unseen realities in the present that leave us uncertain. And although we feel like we have a better grasp on the past it too sometimes eludes us. Faith is not simply a crutch to cope with these unknowns, (or the opiate of the people as Karl Marx once wrote).
Faith lives in the world of both the seen and the unseen. Faith is both objective and subjective. It is found in both the heart and in the head. It is, in the words of verse one, the assurance (objective) of the things hoped for (subjective), the conviction (objective) of things not seen (subjective). Faith is not an either/or but a both/and.
I like how the author and preacher Dr. Tom Long put it. “Faith as an inward reality sings, ‘We Shall Overcome’. Faith as an outward reality marches at Selma, Alabama. Faith as an inward reality trusts God’s promises that ‘mourning and crying and pain will be no more. Faith as an outward reality prays boldly for those who mourn, serves tenderly those who weep, works tirelessly to ease the pain of those who are wounded. Inwardly, faith moves hearts; outwardly, faith moves mountains.”
What Faith is Not
But be careful not to associate faith with what might be superficially label “success”. Yes, there are some great stories of triumphs that are told in the lives of those who are mentioned in this passage. Noah’s trust in God saved his family, Abraham’s courage led him to a new country, David’s faith takes on Goliath. But for every story of triumph there is another story of tragedy. Abel is murdered by his brother. Moses never gets to the Promised Land. And at the moment of his greatest victory, Sampson is killed. Nevertheless, these too are people of great faith and they are listed in this chapter right next to others we might think of as successful.
So what is a truly victorious faith? When those of you who are to be installed and ordained as elders or deacons look back one, two or three years from now, by what standards will you judge whether your years of service have been a success? Will you think about the projects that were accomplished under your leadership? Will you gauge your leadership by the dollars spent or the income received? While these are not unimportant, they are inadequate. By these standards, some of the names mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 are failures. Instead, look at some of the ways these people are described: They offered their lives to God, they were obedient, they built, they set out, they looked forward, they respected God, they considered God faithful, and they desired that better country.
In trying to define faith the author of the book of Hebrews does what the apostle Paul does in 1 Corinthians 13 when he seeks to define love. Neither Paul in describing love nor the author of Hebrews in describing faith seeks to develop a comprehensive definition. Rather they use evocative words. (Love is patient, kind, it is not rude or boastful). In Hebrews instead of words, the author uses the saints of old as evocative models of faith. Faith is Noah building a boat. Faith is Enoch walking with God. Faith is Abraham and Sarah believing they would have a family, despite their advanced age.
Run the Race!
It was July 24, a little over a month ago and Nicki and I were witnessing an amazing site. We watched as 11,438 runners, two of which were our sons, began the seven mile course in the middle of a thunderstorm. It was the annual Bix Race in Davenport, Iowa. It was awesome to see, but there was no way we could pick out our boys in that mass of bodies that ran up Brady Street shortly after the race began. Think of it like every man, woman and child in Indianola meeting at the intersection of the 92/65 and beginning to run north all at once!
In this race we call faith, it is you and I who are running, and that great cloud of witnesses have already finished their race and are cheering us on. Do you hear the voices of Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Rahab and Gideon? Listen and you may pick out the voices of your grandparents, a Sunday School teacher of many years ago, a dear friend. They are cheering you on. Don’t quit. Keep running.
But this message is not just for those who are about to be installed and ordained. This is not just for those who are elected in roles of leadership within the church. Everyone of us is in this race.
Conclusion
Called one of America’s foremost preachers, Fred Craddock writes that, ‘Faith is not simply belief that there is a God but trust that God ‘rewards those who seek him.’ Faith has a long memory and profits from experience of our forebears. Faith also hopes, looking beyond the immediate to God’s future. Faith is tenacious and enduring, able to accept promises deferred in the conviction that death itself cannot annul God’s promises. Faith is subjective, to be sure, a conviction firmly held; but it is not solely subjective, since it is the substance, the essence, the very being of things hoped for.”
Finally friends, frame faith for a fight to the finish by forever facing forward. Fuse faith with fervor, filtering out fear whose fretfulness fractures the foolish. Faith’s fulcrum finds focus on him who is the Faithful One.