The Adventure Of Faith
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series VI, Cycle A
Object:
Life is an adventure. It starts from the very moment of birth as an infant enters a new and unfamiliar universe. The adventure continues as friends are made, schools are selected, careers are begun, and mates are chosen. Probably the greatest adventure of all comes when this life finally ends and we embark on an entirely new form of existence. Life is an adventure.
Life is an adventure because there is always the element of the unknown as anything new is begun. We begin new things on faith ... faith that whatever the journey happens to be, somehow it will turn out all right. For people of faith there is a certain comfort in taking adventurous steps because we believe we don't take those steps alone. As the psalmist has said, "My times are in your hands" (31:15), and we believe with all the faith we can muster that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). For the Christian, life is no less an adventure than it is for anyone else, but there is that calm assurance that the loving God who came to us in Jesus Christ is with us on the journey ... both now and through all eternity.
Abraham believed that. God came to him and said, "I want you to pull up stakes and head out into open country. Don't worry about your destination. I will fill you in on the details as you go along." Abraham would have had every reason to say, "Wait a minute, Lord. You don't know what you're asking. I have a good life here in Haran. I am respected in my community, have a good income, and many fine friends. My wife is happy here. My father is buried here. And on top of that, I'm 75 years old. You don't know what you're asking."
But God had a plan for Abraham. The Lord told him, "I will make you into a great nation."
Of course, Abraham could have objected further. "What do you mean 'a great nation'? Up until now, you haven't even made me a great family. Here I am 75 years old and my wife is 65. We don't have any children at all, much less enough to populate a nation. Gee, Lord, maybe you're thinking of somebody else of the same name. You can't mean me! No, I don't want to move. I'll just stay right here in Haran."
Of course, to his eternal credit, Abraham did not say that. He did as God instructed, pulled up stakes, and began that adventure of faith that eventually did result in the founding of the people God chose to be God's own. Abraham became the paradigm of the adventurous, faithful spirit.
Years ago, Peter Marshall was reflecting on his boyhood and recalled very vividly a scene from World War I. It was during a summer vacation at a Scottish seaport. He said he saw a grey destroyer slipping hurriedly from port in response to some urgent command. He watched the crew hurry their preparations for sailing, watched them cast off the mooring hawsers, watched as the ship rose to meet the lazy ground swell of a summer evening. He watched her lamp winking on the bridge and continued to watch as she disappeared into the mists of the North Sea. She was a mystery ship. Not even her captain and crew knew her destination. She was sailing under sealed orders. What an excellent way to understand the adventure of faith.
Old Abraham lived like that. He was given, for all practical purposes, "sealed orders" to begin a journey he knew not where. So he set off, content to trust the pilot on board who knew the nature of the orders from the outset as well as the shoals and sandbars, the rocks and reefs, and finally the course to steer to find safe harbor. Do I have that kind of faith?
Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life's tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rocks and treacherous shoal;
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
-- Edward Hopper, 1871
Life is an adventure because there is always the element of the unknown as anything new is begun. We begin new things on faith ... faith that whatever the journey happens to be, somehow it will turn out all right. For people of faith there is a certain comfort in taking adventurous steps because we believe we don't take those steps alone. As the psalmist has said, "My times are in your hands" (31:15), and we believe with all the faith we can muster that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). For the Christian, life is no less an adventure than it is for anyone else, but there is that calm assurance that the loving God who came to us in Jesus Christ is with us on the journey ... both now and through all eternity.
Abraham believed that. God came to him and said, "I want you to pull up stakes and head out into open country. Don't worry about your destination. I will fill you in on the details as you go along." Abraham would have had every reason to say, "Wait a minute, Lord. You don't know what you're asking. I have a good life here in Haran. I am respected in my community, have a good income, and many fine friends. My wife is happy here. My father is buried here. And on top of that, I'm 75 years old. You don't know what you're asking."
But God had a plan for Abraham. The Lord told him, "I will make you into a great nation."
Of course, Abraham could have objected further. "What do you mean 'a great nation'? Up until now, you haven't even made me a great family. Here I am 75 years old and my wife is 65. We don't have any children at all, much less enough to populate a nation. Gee, Lord, maybe you're thinking of somebody else of the same name. You can't mean me! No, I don't want to move. I'll just stay right here in Haran."
Of course, to his eternal credit, Abraham did not say that. He did as God instructed, pulled up stakes, and began that adventure of faith that eventually did result in the founding of the people God chose to be God's own. Abraham became the paradigm of the adventurous, faithful spirit.
Years ago, Peter Marshall was reflecting on his boyhood and recalled very vividly a scene from World War I. It was during a summer vacation at a Scottish seaport. He said he saw a grey destroyer slipping hurriedly from port in response to some urgent command. He watched the crew hurry their preparations for sailing, watched them cast off the mooring hawsers, watched as the ship rose to meet the lazy ground swell of a summer evening. He watched her lamp winking on the bridge and continued to watch as she disappeared into the mists of the North Sea. She was a mystery ship. Not even her captain and crew knew her destination. She was sailing under sealed orders. What an excellent way to understand the adventure of faith.
Old Abraham lived like that. He was given, for all practical purposes, "sealed orders" to begin a journey he knew not where. So he set off, content to trust the pilot on board who knew the nature of the orders from the outset as well as the shoals and sandbars, the rocks and reefs, and finally the course to steer to find safe harbor. Do I have that kind of faith?
Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life's tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rocks and treacherous shoal;
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
-- Edward Hopper, 1871
