Growing Faith
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
For Sundays In Advent, Christmas, And Epiphany
It's an old joke, but an insightful one: A man slipped off the edge of a cliff, and just before he fell the hundreds of feet to the valley floor below, he grabbed a protruding branch. There he was, dangling precariously from that little branch, afraid that any second it would pull out from the side of the cliff.
"Help!" he began to cry. "Help! Is anyone up there?!" Finally, after no answer, he began to pray desperately, after which he heard a big booming voice. "I am the Lord. I am here to save you!"
The man was beyond relieved. "Oh, thank you. Thank you, Lord! But please hurry. Do something!"
The Lord returned, "I will, my son. All you have to do is follow my every direction without doubting or fear."
"Fine. Fine," hollered back the man. "Anything! But please hurry! What do you want me to do first?"
The booming voice came back, "Let go."
The man was silent for a moment. Finally he hollered out, "Is anyone else up there?"
This business of "having faith" in God is a huge issue. It is a huge issue today. It was a huge issue long before Jesus came. It has been a huge issue in the intervening centuries.
Think about your own life. How often have you prayed and prayed, hoping against hope that God's will and yours would be in sync? And how often has it turned out that they were not?
I don't have to give examples. You are even now reeling them off in your memory. There are many who would be sitting here in this sanctuary were it not for a prayer that was not answered in the way they had hoped, and something snapped inside, and faith was no longer a possibility for him or her.
The early church, struggling not only with the everyday stuff of life and death and relationships that face you and me in our time, also had other issues. Their whole religious life had been turned on its head. They had been taught from birth to follow the law, and things would be cool. Follow the law and God would smile. Follow the law and you could be at peace.
Of course, there were two problems with that. Number one, there were just too many laws on the books. Hundreds. Too many for anyone but the professional religious folks to memorize, to say nothing about follow.
And secondly, even following the ones they did know brought little peace, for two reasons. First of all, they knew they were leaving some out, so God might still be upset about one they were not following. And secondly, it's hard to be at peace and feel totally accepted and loved when you know that that love is conditional upon doing something.
And along comes Jesus! As Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, just a few verses after our scripture reading for this morning: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 RSV).
Can you begin to fathom how different that concept must have been for those first Christians? Think about what that would feel like today: "My daddy gave me a new bike while I was in litigation for burglary." "My boss gave me a raise after stealing from the company." "My grandmother took me to the movies after I broke her favorite vase." "My teacher came over to my house on Saturday to tutor me after I had stolen her purse."
Do you get it? Can you feel the difference? What kind of love is this? What kind of God is this, who sent us the means of salvation, of coming back into relationship with God, right while we were knee-deep in sinning against God?
What can you do to be sure you are right with God? Saint Paul was well aware of this struggle when he wrote his letter to the Romans. Some folks were so captivated by Jesus' understanding of God's grace that they went way to the other extreme, thinking that all one had to do was have faith, to believe in God, and what one did didn't mean a thing. Others were still stuck with the idea that what matters is simply what we do, and so we can easily judge each other by our works, by our actions.
Saint Paul jumped into the fray with both feet and said you can't divide the two. They are just as tightly connected as the two sides of a coin. To make his point he lifted up Abraham, who was seen by the Jews as their ultimate forefather. Everyone knew the poignant story of Abraham who heard God direct him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. After his wife Sarah had been barren for so many years, she had finally given birth to Isaac and it looked like God's promise to Abraham years back that his descendants would be as the dust of the earth or the stars in the sky would finally come true.
Then this. It made no sense at all. Yet, Abraham was obedient, and took Isaac to the land of Moriah (Genesis 22), fully prepared to sacrifice him on an altar there. At the last moment God stayed his hand, and a ram appeared to be sacrificed instead. This dramatic event was never forgotten and Saint Paul referred to it again and again in his letter to the Romans in his discussion of faith.
Can anyone imagine the kind of faith in God Abraham must have had? To be willing to sacrifice his son, assuming that if such a thing was somehow a part of God's will, it had to be okay? He did not holler out, "Is there anyone else out there?" It is to this faith that Saint Paul referred, saying that doing what Abraham did and that faith which enabled him to do it, were absolutely one and the same thing. To talk of his faith without the action would be senseless, and vice versa.
Now we come to the point for this morning. First of all, am I being unfair to say that not everyone in this sanctuary feels that he or she has the kind of faith Abraham exhibited? I suspect there are many of us for whom this is precisely the issue in our lives. To trust God, really to trust God, is so difficult, especially when we face terribly difficult decisions and experiences.
So how do we get such faith? How did Abraham get such faith? Saint Paul gives the answer in Romans 4:20: "No distrust made [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God...."
There it is. His faith got strong "as he gave glory to God." Simple. Give glory to God and your faith will grow. So what does it mean to give glory to God?
It means not to glorify ourselves. Not to glorify our wisdom, our creativity, our money, our job, our good looks, our situation. It means not to glorify our country, our party, our way of life. It means only to glorify God. To praise God as the all in all, the sine qua non of our lives. The one whom we most long to know and understand and be with, more than wanting to watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, more than working on our finest car, more than sitting at our new computer.
The Greek for the English word "glory" is doxa, which means that which is bright and magnificent and radiant and powerful and majestic and mighty. Remember the song we sing as the offering is being brought up? It is called the "Doxology." "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."
Saint Paul said that the more Abraham gave glory to God, the more his faith grew. How would that work for us?
I believe we grow faith, which seems to be something that cannot be directly acquired (like happiness) by doing what we can do, namely glorify God. If we focus on the glory of God, instead of the glory of all the other things that get our attention, our spirits have the possibility of beginning to consider God first, to trust God more, to have more faith in God. It's still not proof, of course; it's still faith. We will always have to trust without seeing, which makes it tough for us scientific folks.
Saint Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians that "we walk by faith, not by sight." Remember that verse in that beautiful hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul"? Remember that last verse, "And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll..."? Ah, how we long for that day, but it is not yet. My, how true that is!
We can grow our faith, like Abraham, by giving glory to God, by focusing on God's glory, God's power, and God's works in the world. And faith then has the possibility of growing in our lives.
I read a fascinating article in the February 1999 issue of Scientific American (p. 86).The authors wrote about space tethers. They spoke of a theoretical means of getting things in and out of orbit, or of moving satellites or space craft from one orbit to another. They said that the concept was that of having a strong tether, ten or twenty miles long, which would be cartwheeling in orbit. By attaching an object to one end of the tether, the cart wheeling effect would swing it up and into a higher energy orbit, with no fuel expended! Sort of like David using his sling shot to hurl a rock at Goliath.
A tether, with one end in one orbit and the other end in another orbit. And because it is one tether, it connects the energy of both orbits and enables objects on one end to be moved to the other as the tether turns in space.
What an image. It's like giving glory to God being directly connected to one's faith! So you can't lift your faith by yourself? You've been trying all your life? Well, grab hold of the tether of giving God glory, and your faith may just be lifted in spite of yourself. Like Abraham. Just by focusing on God's glory. Just by training your mind and heart to rejoice over life and every moment as a glorious gift of God. Every part of God's world and most especially the gift of God's love we have seen in Jesus, are all gifts of God. To be filled with, overwhelmed with the glory of God, to bring glory to God, instead of putting it elsewhere. And then feel yourself being hurtled to new levels of faith.
It could happen. It did to Abraham. It just might happen with you.
"Help!" he began to cry. "Help! Is anyone up there?!" Finally, after no answer, he began to pray desperately, after which he heard a big booming voice. "I am the Lord. I am here to save you!"
The man was beyond relieved. "Oh, thank you. Thank you, Lord! But please hurry. Do something!"
The Lord returned, "I will, my son. All you have to do is follow my every direction without doubting or fear."
"Fine. Fine," hollered back the man. "Anything! But please hurry! What do you want me to do first?"
The booming voice came back, "Let go."
The man was silent for a moment. Finally he hollered out, "Is anyone else up there?"
This business of "having faith" in God is a huge issue. It is a huge issue today. It was a huge issue long before Jesus came. It has been a huge issue in the intervening centuries.
Think about your own life. How often have you prayed and prayed, hoping against hope that God's will and yours would be in sync? And how often has it turned out that they were not?
I don't have to give examples. You are even now reeling them off in your memory. There are many who would be sitting here in this sanctuary were it not for a prayer that was not answered in the way they had hoped, and something snapped inside, and faith was no longer a possibility for him or her.
The early church, struggling not only with the everyday stuff of life and death and relationships that face you and me in our time, also had other issues. Their whole religious life had been turned on its head. They had been taught from birth to follow the law, and things would be cool. Follow the law and God would smile. Follow the law and you could be at peace.
Of course, there were two problems with that. Number one, there were just too many laws on the books. Hundreds. Too many for anyone but the professional religious folks to memorize, to say nothing about follow.
And secondly, even following the ones they did know brought little peace, for two reasons. First of all, they knew they were leaving some out, so God might still be upset about one they were not following. And secondly, it's hard to be at peace and feel totally accepted and loved when you know that that love is conditional upon doing something.
And along comes Jesus! As Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, just a few verses after our scripture reading for this morning: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 RSV).
Can you begin to fathom how different that concept must have been for those first Christians? Think about what that would feel like today: "My daddy gave me a new bike while I was in litigation for burglary." "My boss gave me a raise after stealing from the company." "My grandmother took me to the movies after I broke her favorite vase." "My teacher came over to my house on Saturday to tutor me after I had stolen her purse."
Do you get it? Can you feel the difference? What kind of love is this? What kind of God is this, who sent us the means of salvation, of coming back into relationship with God, right while we were knee-deep in sinning against God?
What can you do to be sure you are right with God? Saint Paul was well aware of this struggle when he wrote his letter to the Romans. Some folks were so captivated by Jesus' understanding of God's grace that they went way to the other extreme, thinking that all one had to do was have faith, to believe in God, and what one did didn't mean a thing. Others were still stuck with the idea that what matters is simply what we do, and so we can easily judge each other by our works, by our actions.
Saint Paul jumped into the fray with both feet and said you can't divide the two. They are just as tightly connected as the two sides of a coin. To make his point he lifted up Abraham, who was seen by the Jews as their ultimate forefather. Everyone knew the poignant story of Abraham who heard God direct him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. After his wife Sarah had been barren for so many years, she had finally given birth to Isaac and it looked like God's promise to Abraham years back that his descendants would be as the dust of the earth or the stars in the sky would finally come true.
Then this. It made no sense at all. Yet, Abraham was obedient, and took Isaac to the land of Moriah (Genesis 22), fully prepared to sacrifice him on an altar there. At the last moment God stayed his hand, and a ram appeared to be sacrificed instead. This dramatic event was never forgotten and Saint Paul referred to it again and again in his letter to the Romans in his discussion of faith.
Can anyone imagine the kind of faith in God Abraham must have had? To be willing to sacrifice his son, assuming that if such a thing was somehow a part of God's will, it had to be okay? He did not holler out, "Is there anyone else out there?" It is to this faith that Saint Paul referred, saying that doing what Abraham did and that faith which enabled him to do it, were absolutely one and the same thing. To talk of his faith without the action would be senseless, and vice versa.
Now we come to the point for this morning. First of all, am I being unfair to say that not everyone in this sanctuary feels that he or she has the kind of faith Abraham exhibited? I suspect there are many of us for whom this is precisely the issue in our lives. To trust God, really to trust God, is so difficult, especially when we face terribly difficult decisions and experiences.
So how do we get such faith? How did Abraham get such faith? Saint Paul gives the answer in Romans 4:20: "No distrust made [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God...."
There it is. His faith got strong "as he gave glory to God." Simple. Give glory to God and your faith will grow. So what does it mean to give glory to God?
It means not to glorify ourselves. Not to glorify our wisdom, our creativity, our money, our job, our good looks, our situation. It means not to glorify our country, our party, our way of life. It means only to glorify God. To praise God as the all in all, the sine qua non of our lives. The one whom we most long to know and understand and be with, more than wanting to watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, more than working on our finest car, more than sitting at our new computer.
The Greek for the English word "glory" is doxa, which means that which is bright and magnificent and radiant and powerful and majestic and mighty. Remember the song we sing as the offering is being brought up? It is called the "Doxology." "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."
Saint Paul said that the more Abraham gave glory to God, the more his faith grew. How would that work for us?
I believe we grow faith, which seems to be something that cannot be directly acquired (like happiness) by doing what we can do, namely glorify God. If we focus on the glory of God, instead of the glory of all the other things that get our attention, our spirits have the possibility of beginning to consider God first, to trust God more, to have more faith in God. It's still not proof, of course; it's still faith. We will always have to trust without seeing, which makes it tough for us scientific folks.
Saint Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians that "we walk by faith, not by sight." Remember that verse in that beautiful hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul"? Remember that last verse, "And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll..."? Ah, how we long for that day, but it is not yet. My, how true that is!
We can grow our faith, like Abraham, by giving glory to God, by focusing on God's glory, God's power, and God's works in the world. And faith then has the possibility of growing in our lives.
I read a fascinating article in the February 1999 issue of Scientific American (p. 86).The authors wrote about space tethers. They spoke of a theoretical means of getting things in and out of orbit, or of moving satellites or space craft from one orbit to another. They said that the concept was that of having a strong tether, ten or twenty miles long, which would be cartwheeling in orbit. By attaching an object to one end of the tether, the cart wheeling effect would swing it up and into a higher energy orbit, with no fuel expended! Sort of like David using his sling shot to hurl a rock at Goliath.
A tether, with one end in one orbit and the other end in another orbit. And because it is one tether, it connects the energy of both orbits and enables objects on one end to be moved to the other as the tether turns in space.
What an image. It's like giving glory to God being directly connected to one's faith! So you can't lift your faith by yourself? You've been trying all your life? Well, grab hold of the tether of giving God glory, and your faith may just be lifted in spite of yourself. Like Abraham. Just by focusing on God's glory. Just by training your mind and heart to rejoice over life and every moment as a glorious gift of God. Every part of God's world and most especially the gift of God's love we have seen in Jesus, are all gifts of God. To be filled with, overwhelmed with the glory of God, to bring glory to God, instead of putting it elsewhere. And then feel yourself being hurtled to new levels of faith.
It could happen. It did to Abraham. It just might happen with you.
