Have Faith !

There’s 2 well known stories about faith. The first is about a man who got the idea of walking on a tight-rope over Niagara Falls. Other people had done it, but this man had a new twist. He was going to do the walk whilst pushing a man in a wheelbarrow. He began at once to prepare for the event, even though he hadn't yet found anyone willing to ride in the wheelbarrow. He set up a tight-rope near the Falls and every day he could be seen pushing and balancing the wheel barrow filled with stones.

One day, a young man came up to him to wish him well. "Good luck," he said. "I've watched you practicing and I have confidence in you. I know you can do it." The tight-rope walker answered. "Do you believe I can do this?" And the young man replied, "Yes, of course!" Again, he said, "But do you really believe I can do this?" "Yes, of course," the young man repeated. "Then you're my man. Get in the wheel barrow!"

In the second story, a man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree on the way down. Desperate the man turned to prayer:

"Is anyone up there?" he asked,
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much longer."
"That's all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"

Today our readings emphasise the importance of faith. In the Old Testament reading (Gen 15:1-6) we hear a little about the faith of Abraham, who followed the instructions of God totally unsure of where those instructions may eventually lead. Then we heard some of the letter to the Hebrews (11:1-3,8-12). The Church there had become a little bit complacent in their faith, and perhaps even a little over confident that they were able to deal with and solve all of their own problems without relying on God, and the writer reminds them of the excitement and the power of faith.

And it is this faith that each of us is called to exercise as we prepare for and await the second coming of Jesus, as we are warned in the gospel reading (Luke 12:32-40) to be ready for that day.

It’s not unusual for people to talk to me and apologise for not having enough faith, and for asking questions or doubting certain elements of our faith. And there is no problem with that – every one of us would, I’m sure, like to have more faith, the kind of faith that can move mountains, but the reality is that each one of us is imperfect.

And so I’d just like to think of 3 things which faith is about this morning. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote, ‘Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ Faith is a hope in something we can’t actually always define or see, but it is not blind. Some people think those of us who profess a faith are in some way clinging to a dream or a vision, but faith is more than that, because it is something to be experienced. Recently I was involved in a discussion about personal testimonies. These are of course a lot more common in some other Church denominations, but each of us has a testimony – a reason why faith is important to us.

We may never stand up at the front of a Church and speak this testimony but it’s worth thinking through what God actually means to us. Why does he make a difference in our lives, what hopes are we putting in him, and what more could we be offering to him ?

On a minor scale I hope that the sun shines tomorrow, but I have no idea whether it will or not – I have no strong faith either way on that matter. On a more important point I hope that the Cardiff Blues win the European Cup this year, but my faith tells me that I may have to settle for them just winning the Celtic League !

Faith is stronger than hope because we have seen what God can do in the form of Jesus, who lived, died and rose again just for us.

So as we recognise that faith is much stronger than hope, we move on to the second thing I want to think about which is the power of faith to strengthen and support us through difficult times. Now this power is something which is impossible to explain, but over and over again, people tell me that they have found a strength from prayer which they never thought they had when going through a difficult time in their life.

And this is a great lesson for us, because it is often when we are at our most weak or vulnerable that we’re actually prepared to put our trust in God. After all else has failed, God alone can help us… It is a wonderful truth that God will never turn away someone who calls on his name, but why don’t we do it sooner, because the more we put our trust and faith in God, the more he will be able to reveal to us of his power, his wisdom, and of course his love.

And thirdly faith offers to us an inspiration and a motivation to go out and live with hope – hope that our lives can be better, and the lives of those we care about, and all those around us, and in fact, the life of the whole world can be much better. As Christians we are not called to live in a dream world or with visions of heaven. Instead we are called to see a vision of a better world here and now, and we are called to show the faith that can bring that world about.

As Christians we have our weaknesses and imperfections – all too many of them at times, but in Jesus we have a Saviour who was prepared to come amongst us, live for us, die for us, but rise again, so that we can have new life through him. In baptism we receive the outward symbol of that love, and that new life.

Faith is impossible to really explain… It is personal to each one of us, because our individual experiences of God in our lives will be different, but faith can’t be kept to ourselves. We know a God who has changed and is changing our lives, and we can’t keep him to ourselves. We know a God who can help to transform darkness into light, conflict into peace, despair into hope and misery into joy, and we must share him by living our lives devoted to his service and his vision not just for a wonderful kingdom in eternity, but for a wonderful world today. AMEN