LIVING FAITH
Hebrews 11: 1-3 & 8-16
LUKE 12: 32-40
AUGUST 10, 2025
I received a message from Jean the other day saying that she couldn’t wait to hear this morning’s message and how I tied this morning’s Scripture lessons together. Now that created a challenge that perhaps I am not up to.
That also made me smile as her simple words presented an additional challenge because I already knew that this sermon’s title was “Living Faith” and that our Scripture lessons began with a few of the Bible’s strongest references to what it means to have faith. In fact, Hebrews chapter 11 is a God inspired Scripture reminder to all of us who are today’s faithful about how names we know from the Bible made choices to embrace God and reject the world because they had faith.
Most of you know that I hold Paul’s words to both the churches of Thessalonica and Philippi as my favorite verses from the Bible … “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!” Those nine words I hope are reflective of my faith in God … my faith in Jesus Christ … that even in the midst of the forceful storms and struggles that life and this messed up world have shoved my face into throughout my 31 years that I continue to hold onto my F-A-I-T-H, my faith. Reflecting that hymn I have sung since I was a child … “my faith looks up to thee, thou Lamb of Calvary. Savior Divine.”
Think about it for a moment … do you have a Scripture lesson or Bible verses or a hymn or praise song that reflect your F-A-I-T-H. Perhaps, Paul’s lesson: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” which I have always paraphrased into “I can get through all things through Christ.” Solomon in Proverbs wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding … and he will make your paths straight.” In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus says, “If you can believe … all things are possible to one who believes;” is that your verse of strength … your reflection of faith?
Faith is an often-misused word … faith is a concept that even many church attenders incorrectly associate with their lives … faith is not tangible in a way that we can hold onto but I think most of us understand what it is to have faith in something. I have faith that when I drop this ball it will hit the floor after traveling at the speed of gravity, which is 9.8meters per second squared, which I learned listening to Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen on Hard Knocks.
Real faith in God … is a powerful force that provides comfort and direction to the lives of human beings who have come to accept God as God not as some mythical concept. Accepting Jesus Christ as the director for life’s daily steps and sensing the Holy Spirit. When faith is real in a person you can sense it in them and even see their faith through their actions even though faith itself cannot be seen. Of course, it truly matters what we have faith in … because that decision of ours … that life choice can have immense consequences. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in paraphrasing the Bible’s chapter we call Hebrews tried to provide clarity as to what faith is when he said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” The great historical faith leader, Thomas Aquinas, said, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
Just how do you explain faith … your faith … to a friend or a family member? How would you explain your faith to a total stranger, or would you even be willing to try? How has your faith changed you? Are you willing to step forward in faith even when you don’t see the whole staircase or do you hold back afraid to allow faith be real in your life … never interacting in life utilizing your faith or what you call your faith, Is faith the essence of your life that you walk each day through?
If you hold back … if you don’t have even a simple story of faith that you can share then perhaps just maybe … what you call your faith is something else. Truthfully, God not only wants us to live like we have faith in God and in Jesus Christ… God wants us to act like we do and not hide from it. I think the clarity of Jesus’ last words before He ascended into heaven were reminders … GO MAKE DISCIPLES … LOVE GOD … LOVE YOUR NEIGHBORS; live the lessons of the faithful.
It is clear throughout Scriptures that God has offered humanity a choice to either be amongst the faithful or to drift away regardless of all the evidence for God’s reality that a simple walk-through nature should provide to us.
It is interesting that God does not require us to go through some complicated process to become the faithful … to be those rescued … to be amongst those who will see the Kingdom of God but at the same time we are reminded by Jesus “I assure you that whoever does not welcome God’s kingdom like a child will NEVER enter it.”
Don’t you love the energy and loving hearts of little children who have not been molded into skepticism? If you are a grandparent, you definitely know that feeling … the other day Daxxy was talking non-stop on the phone with me about Pokémon and how I needed Shiny’s and other things. His laughter and his joy showcased unlimitless love. I experienced that when the five-year-old twins Natalie and Derek spotted me and rushed to hug me … to say they loved me through their actions. These little ones had confidence and faith in loving me. Jesus says we need to remember those childhood days and act like children because their faith has not been darkened by greed, desires, and the world’s insistence that we align with worldly things.
In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus offers several moments of clarity about the need to change when we have faith. Making that God choice … making the Jesus’ personal decision … Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Perhaps the key remarks from this moment in Jesus’ life, which Mark also records in his Gospel is this … “for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul.” The choice … faith, which is taking the steps forward into the unknown because we believe but are aligned with God … with Christ … or choosing the world’s ways but hesitating to embrace God’s love and God’s reality.
“Faith is the reality of what we hope for … the proof of what we don’t see.” We don’t know who wrote this essential letter from the New Testament that some attribute to Paul but if you are searching for a solid 11 pages of the Bible to read that just might give you some “faith” thoughts Hebrews is a good choice and it leads right into the book authored by James who is considered by be Jesus’ step brother. Actually, if you can find a nice comfortable chair for some backyard or porch reading that can connect you with the faith that you have in your heart Hebrews and James are excellent sources for inspiration and direction.
Hebrews begins with the connecting of the dots of faith that we as Christians need to consider once we have accepted the reality that God is definitely God and worthy of our praise as the song goes. James goes a bit further when discussing faith. I know that I have often referenced James because it was an important FAITH LESSON preached to me by my pastor growing up … Pastor Lewis who was a quiet man often talked with me after I had become a pastor about the book of James.
It is in James that we, the people who believe in Jesus, are directly told by Jesus’ stepbrother the lessons he learned from Jesus. I should say the truth that he learned from Jesus because as we heard this morning in our Gospel lesson Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid because your Father delights in giving you the kingdom.” A reminder that there is a celebration each time someone truly comes to know God and Christ.
Jesus continued, “Where your treasure is … there your heart will be too. Be DRESSED for SERVICE and KEEP YOUR LAMPS LIT. Happy are those servants whom the master finds waiting up when he arrives.”
James shares this about faith … a reminder that we need on this August Sunday when there is so much turmoil … when many of us have witnessed friends and even family members rejecting Jesus’ teaching to love all of our neighbors … Jesus’ lessons that we must take care of the least amongst us, which means feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, and welcoming the strangers in our midst. James spent his growing up years living with Jesus and then watched Jesus ministry … he knew that Jesus went to the cross … died but on Easter the world discovered that the Son of God had survived HE IS RISEN <<HE IS RISEN INDEED>> … that friends is a reassurance of faith I love to hear here in this church.
James after reflecting on God’s call to love your neighbor as yourself and the call of people of true faith to show mercy stating clearly that “mercy overrules judgment” goes on to say this about faith:
“Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear. Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead.”
And, on this Sunday morning … I am going to be embraced with faithful love by Daxxy. His love and energy will be non-stop and he is not afraid to say he loves me. God wants us to enter God’s kingdom as a child filled with love and living without any guilt that some power in the world or some friend’s disdain matters more than God and Christ.
Martin Luther said, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so such and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” AMEN