What’s It All About Alfie?

[HKHaugan]

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb.11:1 KJV).”

This assemblage of words is well known and appears quite often in sermons and writings to touch the heart and challenge the mind to embrace God’s offer of an eternal relationship with Him. They are important words, words of salvation, words of life and words of invitation to share real presence, nature and essence. These are the words used to translate the Greek word, hypostasis. The initial meaning was sediment, that which settles to the bottom. It also meant that which supports. It was used as a metaphor to describe the inner meaning, the groundwork of a matter. So when the author wanted a word to get the reader to grasp the absolute truth of faith he was inspired to choose hypostasis as the best way to understand it was something God was giving from His very nature.

The same usage of words can be seen when the author brings elengkos and employs its secondary meaning, which we read as evidence. It is the secondary meaning of a word that was used to define scrutiny, a means of testing and trial. For the writer of Hebrews (could it have been Apollos?) the word elengkos gave proof that it was through testing and trial that God’s spirituality rises above all else.

What makes both words so significant is that they were the words the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to use. The fact that they were secondary meanings is not unlike the word agape translated as love in the New Testament. It was a rare Greek word the Holy Spirit inspired to separate the idea of God’s love from the romantic and emotional images of the time.

So how do we begin our walk in faith? We need to think about what faith means. The Greek word is pistis which classically meant faith in the gods, confidence, persuasion in a thing. Pisteuo was the verb meaning to trust, to rely on, to confide, to believe. It was a common word that dealt basically with the ability to apprehend the invisible.

So what does this mean for us as Christians? Why is this common word and not a rare word chosen? I’m reminded of Paul’s debate with the philosophers on Mars Hill. There he wanted them to see that among the gods that were honored with statues there, there was one to an unknown god. He chose that one to show that there was only one God and He was revealed in Jesus Christ who, unlike the others, was raised from the dead and eternally alive. It was a brilliant and inspired moment that illustrated faith in action. Here faith was put in a common context from which only one conclusion could be drawn, Jesus was God in the flesh, alive and active, and that all other gods are idols of man’s making.

Just what does that mean for us? Four ideas emerge. Faith is evidence, personal, spiritual and shaping.

First, faith is evidence. Evidence is proof. Evidence is factual. The very fact that we believe, trust and have faith in things like: there will be a tomorrow, the sun will rise and set, the bank believes that I will make a payment on my mortgage, that I believe I need to work and trust that I will be paid for it, that I have and will continue to have friends plus the myriad reservoir of trust expectations. The very idea that I expect repetition, ongoing experience, life and the universe to function, shows that faith is reality, faith is real, faith is evidence, the existence of faith is fact. Faith is invisible but undeniably real. No matter what you believe in terms of God or self, the meaning of life and existence, faith drives your thinking processes.

And here stated conclusively, faith is the substance of things hoped for. We hope we will be alive in the next moment, that our kids will grow up, that we will be able to pay our bills, have friends, enjoy living and having a full life. Faith is the substance of all that we hope for and expect. None of this can be denied. Even those that don’t have a spiritual faith hope they will have the same things and believe in them, have faith to act to obtain them.

Just an aside here, it is amazing that an atheist denies faith because he believes in denying faith. Actually that makes atheism a religion. Religion is a word used to describe a belief system. He has faith in thinking he doesn’t have faith. Granted, he doesn’t have faith in God but what he does have is faith in believing there is no God. Every next moment for an atheist is the same as every one else’s. He has faith in existing, working, being paid and having friends. Yet he believes he needs to impose his religious ideas on everyone else and tries to deny others their right to belief. It seems strange that atheism is not treated as a religion in our judicial system. Why should its religious ideas prevail that no crosses appear on public property when it is obviously a religion. Should one religion take precedence over another?

Second, faith is a personal word. It is a person-to-person word. It is a relational word that defines a person by a person. When someone has faith in someone it is that someone that defines him. In this case faith in Jesus Christ is given each person as a way of communicating with the Creator of all existence as an individual person. Faith is designed for us to have a unique relationship with God. There are no cookie-cutter believers. He has made each of us unique in order to be unlike any other person. When we have a relationship with God it is unlike any other person’s, which makes each of us special to God. We may believe the very same ideas and be looking to the One Lord and Savior but they will be framed in the uniqueness He has given each of us.

As an aside, Descartes the philosopher said, “I think therefore I am.” We can say something more exacting, “I believe therefore I am.” Just thinking is still very much self-centered. I don’t and can’t truly define myself since, outside of God, there is no objective point of reference to do that, unless, of course, we choose to be defined by the world and its temporariness. But, and this is important, when I say I believe in Jesus Christ and He says that He and the Father are One and also that when Moses asked for an identity to take to Pharoah, God said, “Tell him ‘I AM’ sent you”, then it is He that identifies me. I am because God said He is the “I AM” in whose image I am made. I am first identified spiritually. All other identities are subject to that definition. Family, community, nation, friends, clubs, schools, jobs and hobbies are temporary but spiritual identity is forever.

Third, faith is a spiritual word. It defines the unseen ability to function in the unseen dimension of reality. The unseen is spiritual. True, there are unseen physical things like air, wind, heat, cold, magnetism, electricity and so on. These are part of physical Creation. In actuality they are invisible to give us a picture of the spiritually invisible dimension that drives the engine of existence. It is an unseen dimension filled with realities we classify as good and evil, right and wrong, love, fear, mercy, hate and so on. They are personally and interpersonally real. Here we are describing spiritual reality. Faith is the ability we are given to navigate in the invisible spiritual dimension, a dimension that motivates 100% of everything we think and do.

Fourth, faith is a shaping word. What we have faith in shapes who we are and is our identity. Think of how people are defined or want to be defined. The great athlete, businessman, wife, husband, friend, fat, skinny, nasty, kind, jerk, narcissist, nutty, comedian, stuffy, snob and on and on. For each there is an impression given that others see as their definition. For some people food defines them or their job is who they are.

The best way to put it is this, what ever we allow to dominate our every next moment is what we have faith in and that is what shapes us. How we want to appear to others in every next moment is what we have faith in and that shapes us. How we deal with inner conflict is what we believe in to restore our peace and that shapes us. How we deal with physical and emotional pain is what we believe in to solve them. Avoiding pain and seeking pleasure is a strategy to deal with reality. When it becomes a belief it is a misuse of faith that shapes us to isolate ourselves from reality.

Faith in Jesus Christ shapes us to be like Him. He is unique as God the Son. He is personal and interpersonal. He is perfect in thought, in emotion, in Spirit and in action. His individuality is Charismatic and charismatic. We are drawn to His grace, by His grace and for His grace. We are uniquely created to be unique with an eternal uniqueness. We are being shaped to be like Him but even more unique through a relationship with Him. This world is simply the beginning of a reshaping program. Who can we pray for today to be a part of this eternal program God has chosen for us? More about faith coming………