Lent 13 Faith Alive and Working

[HKHaugan]

‘Gee, if only I had that guy’s faith.’ ‘My faith is weak.’ ‘I try to be faithful but I’m just not there yet. Maybe someday.” Heard those before? Most likely. It is just these kinds of statements that need addressing. Because we know even in our best moments we are not really as faithful as we’d like to be. Everyone has moments of absolute weakness and troubling doubt. These are the product, proof and projection of the imperfection of sin lying in every heart. We have doubts about God, others and ourselves. Doubt and weakness enjoy one another’s company. We admire those who seem to have faith that abounds. We look up to them, we want to be like them and we are drawn to those whose lives seem faithful.

But just what is faith? There are 443 uses of the word faith in Scripture. This doesn’t count the uses of the words ‘belief’ 277x and ‘trust’ 171x. Obviously we can’t go through all of them here so we’ll take one to start, Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” First, if faith is the substance of hope that means that faith is anticipating something that has yet to occur. Faith is a real live activity. Its substance is life itself. When you step out in faith you are stepping out in a living hope that whatever you are expecting will happen. Secondly, faith is the evidence of what can’t be seen. Faith in itself is invisible but real and expectation is invisible but real and hope is invisible but real. All three are the motivation to realize a goal. Third, the real question about faith is its center. What is the reality of faith centered in?

Everyone has faith in something. It is a built in invisible quality that comes from being made in the image of God. How do we know that? Among the vast number of like passages Deut.7:9 tells us He is ‘the faithful God.’ He is a God of faith, the One who constructed us to be faithful. He faithfully created us in His image. So no one is without faith. Even atheists have faith. They believe in not placing their faith in God but in self. They have faith in themselves apart from God. Agnostics simply say they don’t know if there is a God and have faith in not knowing. Everyone has a belief system of some kind since they have faith in something. Again the question, what is faith centered in?

Return for a moment to how God made us in His image. We are self-conscious beings with a physical body. It is our invisible personal being that expresses itself though our visible body. He gave us a mind, a heart and a spirit. With the mind we believe. With the heart we trust and with our spirit we have faith. The following passage is one that sets the stage for the restoration of man. “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always (1Sam.2:35).”

This is a foreshadowing of Jesus. He is the model for restoring man to the image God intended. Three things to note in this passage:
First, he will be a priest, one who lays His life down for His Father. As Peter said, we are ‘a kingdom of priests.’ Our sacrifice is in Christ. We take up our cross of faith, die to self and are raised to God’s work each new day.
Second, he will reflect the mind and heart of God. We embrace Scripture as the truth and let its words guide us moment by moment.
Third, he will minister before the anointed one forever. We are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit for ministry and mission.

Here is where the gift of faith comes in. There are those in the Body who have been given a special measure of faith to minister for those who are weak in faith. They are called to have faith when others don’t have the faith to step out. They believe for others. They believe for the Body. There are unique circumstances that arise which demand an individual to do what only he can do but won’t risk what it takes. The person with the gift of faith stands up, stands when the faith gap needs closing and knows that without that kind of confident movement God’s will won’t get done. Joshua and Caleb returned from scouting the land across the Jordan to see if they could take it. When the people were afraid they stood in the faith gap and declared it could be done and God’s people won.

Jesus exemplified this gift when He knew no one else was able to be a sacrifice for sin. He stood in the gap between man’s sin and God’s holiness and had faith for all mankind. The Cross still stands atop the mount of history as a testimony that not only faith but the gift of faith can make the difference between total destruction and supreme accomplishment and between eternal life and eternal death.

Again, like all the gifts, the Scripture informs the mind and moves the heart to trust its principles. If you sense the need to stand up and be counted, search the Scripture, pray the Scripture in regard to faith, seek out prayer partners to confirm the gift then stand up for the issues necessary for God to be glorified.

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Is.6:8)

More in a week…stay tuned….…..