Sunday,
August 9, 1998
Joey Noble
"TO EXPLORE WAYS THAT SOME OF GOD'S PEOPLE RESPOND TO GOD'S CALL -- UNCERTAIN OF OUTCOME, BUT CERTAIN OF THEIR FAITH"
HEBREWS 11: 1-
3, 8 - 16
LUKE 12: - 40
I would like to assure you that even when I am sick, I am doing my best to keep our nations leaders on the straight and narrow path. I had to spend a couple of nights in the hospital this week. On one trip into Georgetown, I had a very high fever that caused me to hallucinate. I imagined that David had dropped me off at THE WHITE HOUSE, and I convinced President Clinton to resign. I also suggested some other jobs that he might consider, as well as doing some counseling with Chelsea. But alas, my fever came down and the first thing I heard on the news was that sexual trauma still preoccupied Washington.
The primary Scripture today, which focused on faith, is from the book of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things NOT seen. He cites several Biblical characters whose actions were motivated by faith. "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's." In another example he talks about Enoch, who was tested by God and so pleased God that he was taken to heaven without experiencing death. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach God, must believe that God exists and that God rewards those who demonstrate their faith.
Abraham was summoned by God to go out to a place which was totally foreign to him. He went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith, he and his wife sojourned to the land promised to them as an inheritance, living in tents with their sons Isaac and Jacob, who would be heirs to the same land. Moreover, "by faith Abraham received the power of procreation, even though he was too old - and Sarah herself was barren - because God considered Abraham and Sarah faithful."
The stories go on and on. The stories that the author of Hebrews seems to remember involve believing in something that one cannot prove. Moreover, people took strong and faith actions based on these convictions. Israel's history provided many examples of persons who in faith responded to God's promises, enduring all kinds of hardships because of their faith, faith in God's presence both in this world and beyond. Faith in action calls each of us to make decisions that may move us to places we would not have expected to go,
One of my
favorite prayers is by St Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make
me an Instrument of Your peace.
Where there
is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there
is injury, pardon
Where there
is doubt, faith,
Where there
is despair, hope,
Where is
darkness, light,
Where there
is sadness, joy,
O Divine
Master,
grant that I
may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be
understood, as to understand;
To be loved,
as to love.
For it is in
giving that we receive,
It is in
pardoning, that we are pardoned,
It is in
dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
This is a prayer that I have faith in, despite the fact that there are many unanswered questions within it. It is not always when I have given that I have received; it is not always when there is darkness that I can sow light. (For example, we were without electricity for over 24 hours during this last storm! And even using all of the lovely candles we didn't have much light!) Still, this prayer helps me to believe things that I cannot prove, but about which have strong convictions.
This most beautiful prayer was written by Francis of Assisi, who founded the Franciscan Order of Monks in the twelfth century. He was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant, Pietro Bernardone. He grew up in a home where fine clothes, good food, and spending money were his for the asking. As a young man, he was pleasure seeking and anxious for glory. But after he spent a year as a prisoner of war and was stuck by a serious illness, Francis came face to face with himself, and with God. He realized that he would find joy, not in having, but in giving. He resolved to renounce all of his worldly possessions, and to serve God through prayer and charity to the poor and sick. For a time, Francis hid from his father, not wanting to tell him of his decision to forsake the family heritage. Then he decided to put his trust in God. With his clothing dirty and torn, he faced his father with his decision.
His father was furious. Eventually he ordered his lawyers to bring Francis to trial before the Bishop of Assisi. On the day of the hearing, all of the people of Assisi showed up in the cathedral square. Dressed again in his fine clothes Francis faced his father in the presence of the Bishop and all the people. The Bishop said to Francis, "Even if you wish to serve the church, you have no right, under presence of good works, to keep money what you may have obtained unjustly. Give this money back to your father to quiet him."
Francis said to the Bishop, "My Lord! I will not only give him the money cheerfully, but also the clothes I have received from him." He stripped off his suit of fine material and stood naked before the crowd. He cried out, "Listen all of you! Up to now I have called Pietro my father. Now I return to him his money and all the clothes I have received from him, so that from now on I shall not say 'Father Pietro Bernard Bernadone' but 'Our Father in Heaven'". Francis was then wrapped by the Bishop's cloak and a cloak given to him by a gardener. He then left the city to spend the rest of his life wandering in the countryside, serving others, leaving his destiny entirely in the hands of God. He was free from money and free from the desire for power. Francis's response to God's call took enormous faith (Hugh Noonan and Roy M. Gasnick, Francis of Assisi: the Song Goes On)
There are so many ways that our faith is called upon. Last weekend, David, Vicki and I saw the movie, Saving Private Ryan. What an incredible depiction of war, and some of what happened on D-Day in World War II. Here were men who with incredible faith faced a beach fortified by the enemy, while they had almost no protection. As the first American soldiers walked off the boats into the water to approach the beach, thousands were killed. Their commitment to their comrades and their strong belief in the worthiness of their cause, summoned them forward in an act of amazing faith.
What calls forth your faith? In our adult study of The Good Book, we had to acknowledge that so many of God's ways are mysterious. How do we understand when bad things happen to good people? How do we explain unanswered prayer? How do we understand the sudden death of Charles Elliot, a gentleman and a faithful servant of God, whose cancer took over his body so quickly. We must simply must, we must simply have faith that Charles is in God's hands now. This is certainly not how we would like to have Charles' life end. Mabel wanted more time His lovely family wanted more time. But it was not to be.
We are taken right back to our Scripture in Hebrews -- "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." We can say that to have faith means to have confidence in God's future. It means to respond to God when we are uncertain of the outcome. But faith is a word that really cannot be defined. That may be why the author of Hebrews moved quickly from describing faith to giving examples of people who lived by faith -- Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and on and on. But it is not easy to live by faith, and to live out our faith, to put our faith into action. Several members of this family of faith are working together with members of the First Baptist Church to support a Latino family, to get them on their feet. While satisfying in many ways, it has been very challenging, It has been another example of "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
And sometimes, just sometimes the things we hope for and pray for come to pass. These stories and experiences of hopes fulfilled sustain and nourish us, giving us strength to call forth our faith, This is one of those stories, from Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul.
"The fields were parched and brown, the crops lay wilting from thirst. Local ministers called for an hour of prayer on the town square, asking everyone to bring an object of Faith for Inspiration. The townspeople filled the square with anxious faces and hopeful hearts, a variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands - holy books, crosses, rosaries. When the hour ended, as if on magical command, a soft rain began to fall. Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in gratitude and praise. One faith symbol seemed to overshadow all the others; A 9-year-old child had brought an UMBRELLA. (Laverne W. Hall) Amen.
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