Growing Faith August 11, 2013

August 11 “Growing Faith” *Hebrews 11.1-3, 8-16  Rev. Jacqueline Hines

This is the hour of power, as Robert Schuller would say. This is the moment we find something to meet our spiritual needs, something to feed our faith, and satisfy our hearts. Our loving creator is stirring up something good right here, right now. At any moment God may shower us with all the love, joy, comfort, strength, peace and something special too wonderful to imagine. We are here because we have faith that God cares for all of us, that our needs will be met as we partner with God and one another.

As we trust in God, have faith in God’s will, and faithfully do God’s will, our faith will grow.  In our own Bethel way, we will be just as important as Mother Theresa who did not just serve the poor in Calcutta, she served the poorest of the poor, or Mother Hale who provided care for infants of drug-addicted mothers and babes infected with AIDS. Baseball has the Hall of Fame with names like Yogi Berra and Jackie Robinson. Football has a Hall of Fame with Jonathon Ogden and Bill Parcells. Retired brain surgeon, Ben Carson has a Hall of Fame for scholars in just about every state in the country. There seems to be no end to the recognition of excellence in our world.  It is the same for people with great faith. Hebrews 11 is known as the Hall of Faith in the bible. It reminds us of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah.

It is a great thing to have faith because without faith scripture tells us, it is impossible to please God.  Of course, our ultimate aim is to please God. When life presents a bitter pill for us to swallow, our faith may suffer. When our lives are touched by circumstances that are unbearable, unpleasant, or unfulfilling our faith may go by the wayside. We may begin to try to control our own lives when we would do better to let go and let God.

The late Rev. Claude Edmonds, pastor of Tindley Temple UMC tells the story of one family who had exceptional faith. They had no food in the cupboards, but still set the table and sat down together. The father said the blessing over the food that they were about to receive. Then a knock came at the door; there was no one there, but a bag of groceries had been left on the steps. They had faith in God’s promise to provide and they acted accordingly.

The Old Testament tells a story of an ordinary widow who had faith. Every month she wondered how she would survive. She kept going until one day all she had in the cupboard was enough to make one more meal. She made up her mind she was going to eat it and prepare to die. All of us should keep our bags packed, ready to go to Heaven at a moment’s notice, but preparing to go to Heaven was not God’s plan for the widow that day. God sent Elijah with a strategy that helped her survive for many more years.

Without faith we are easily lured into Satan’s plan which is to steal, kill and destroy anything in our lives he can get his hands on. Not nurturing our faith can mean giving up precious blessings. Jesus healed a desperate man. When Jesus saw him a while later, he warned him, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.” Faith paves the way for us to do great things. Doubt leads us down a dead end street.

I heard James McDonald speak this week about three circumstances that can drive us to a place where we lose our faith. The first is surprises. When catastrophe floors us and we find ourselves saying, “I did not even see it coming.” It is then that we are most likely to let go of our faith. Secondly, when our situation is severe. Life has its simple annoyances, like parking tickets, but from time to time we experience a situation that is severe and sobering.  It is then that we are more apt to abandon our faith. Thirdly, when Satan convinces us that some unfortunate and bitter situation in our life is settled, that there is no way out, nothing can be done about it, it is easier at such times to forget about our faith. A psychologist once defined being “crazy” as believing that there are no more options. Surprise, severe, and settled circumstances can easily throw us off the course. Our faith reminds us that God always has a purpose and a plan, a way out even when there seems to be no way. All we have to do is stay the course and keep the faith. There is an old gospel song that says, “If you just keep the faith ‘til the morning, if you just keep the faith through the night. If you just keep the faith ‘til the morning, everything will be alright.”

Fortunately, faithful members of Bethel listen for the Word of the Lord, we take God’s guidance seriously, we expect God to do something good and something GREAT. We hold on to our faith as if our lives depend upon it because it does!

Faith grows in the soil of courage. Doubt grows in the soil of fear (James McDonald). You remember the story of Peter wanting to do great things for the Lord. His faith was so great that he asked Jesus if he could join him walking on water. He started out strong, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ Why are you troubled and why does doubt arise in your heart.” Those are good questions for all of us to meditate and reflect on. Why? Why are we troubled, why does doubt arise in our heart when God has never left us or forsaken us?

On another occasion, Jesus was sleeping on a boat in the middle of a very bad storm. The disciples were naturally afraid, thinking they would drown as the boat was filling with water and beginning to sink. Jesus asked them another question that we do well to ponder from time to time. Where is your faith? After all, it’s in the times of strain and struggle where we need faith, not the times of contentment. Where does our faith go when all hell breaks loose?

We want a faith that is alive and growing, a faith that looks for God in every situation, a faith that somehow finds God in every situation. That’s how we become faithful witnesses. We see for ourselves that God is good and we can witness to the fact everywhere we go.  We are witnesses to the many ways God has of blessing those who love God. We are the witnesses; God is the judge and the jury.

There is a story about a U.S. Marine that was separated from his unit on a Pacific island during World War II. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire, he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly, he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen." After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave. "Hah," he thought, "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer, he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that, in you, a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."

Growing our faith may mean a few hills to climb, a few crosses to bear, but in the end we will always be alive and well, whether in this life or the next. Peggy L. sent me an email not too long ago that depicted a man carrying a very large and heavy cross. He complained about how big it was, so he cut off a few inches. It was better but the man still felt that it was too much to bear, so he cut off a few more inches. This went on until the man finally smiled, feeling that the cross was now manageable. He continued on his journey until he came to a place in the road that had a big hole between where he was and where he wanted to go. The cross that he was carrying was no longer enough to bridge the gap so he could continue his journey.

In this world, holding on to our faith makes our faith grow in ways that make our lives better and the church strong enough that when we arrive in the house of the Lord and sit in our pew, we will hear the word’s whispered in our ear, “Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.”  Amen.