The Rev. Neale L. Miller

Sermon for August 19, 2007

Texts: Isaiah 5:1-7/Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Title: “But, What Makes it Run”

              It should come as no surprise to you that faith is a major focus of Scripture, the word appearing by one count 375 times.  People are commended for their faith, Jesus rewarding the faith of the maimed or the ill with miraculous healing. Faith, according to Jesus, can move mountains. The disciples are repeatedly chided in the gospels for their lack of faith. The word, “faith,” crops up in many different contexts. Yet, for the many times it appears in Scripture, little effort is made to define the word. Perhaps it was felt that definition was really unnecessary, Paul declaring in his letter to the Romans, “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is the word of faith that we proclaim).   

              Paul, as Jesus before him, asserts that we are able to respond to life situations by faith because the capacity to do so was given to us at birth, indeed, even before birth, at conception. While that fact is universally acknowledged in Scripture, the letter to the Hebrews is among the few places in Scripture where the term faith is actually defined.

             Not really a letter at all, think of Hebrews as a sermon written for a very specific purpose. Though debate continues as to the possible recipients of the letter, one thing is clear.  The recipients of the letter were people who suffered persecution from non-believers, the author of Hebrews attempting to brace them that they might weather the storm. The Hebrews are challenged to believe that their faith, a faith that resided in a roll-call of the heroes of faith, would be an enduring source of strength for them, as it had been for the faithful who lived before them.    

            “Faith [quote the opening verse of Hebrews chapter eleven] is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” “Assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  To paraphrase, faith might be said to be the assurance that one’s hope is validated [substantiated] by the conviction that what is not seen is just as real to one’s senses as what can actually be seen.

              What is the distinguishing feature that links those named in the roll call of faith that Hebrews presents?  Rahab, Gideon, David, and the prophets are celebrated by the author of Hebrews as people whose faith in the unseen God was so well established and steadfast that nothing could make them waver in the midst of great challenges. Their hope was based on the conviction that God, whether seen, or unseen, was inseparably part of their day in and day out experience.

              “By faith [the author of Hebrews confidently declares] we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.”  The issue of “intelligent design,” the position that people of faith maintain on the subject of creation, puts us at odds with those who embrace the opinion that creation can be explained entirely on scientific terms.

               “By faith” we acknowledge that God whom we meet in Scripture not only created all that is, but is active still, though unseen, in the day to day experiences through which life and history are evolving.  “By faith,” we acknowledge that despite all the wrong turns history has taken with wars and other outrages, life is subject to an order and a design of God’s creating. Faith allows us to hold on and hold out in the face of all adversity. No easy task.

                The roll call of the faithful that Hebrews identifies, and the list read in our lesson was only a partial one, were, according to Hebrews, united in the conviction that their first allegiance belonged to God alone, and were resolute and determined to maintain their faith in God even if it meant suffering at the hand of God’s enemies.

                God moves in mysterious ways to fulfill his holy purposes, and none is more mysterious than how he arouses faith in the human heart to believe in him and in his holy purposes amid events that stubbornly attack the grounds for belief. That God equips us to explore divine realms is evidenced by the fact that we are here, I to speak in God’s name, and you and I to challenge ourselves, and each other, to understand how God is using us, and the circumstances surrounding us, to fulfill his holy purposes.

                Our very being here this morning is at some very basic level an act of faith, that this church is here, and has been in existence since 1911, is the byproduct of faith spanning generations.  Yet while the existence of faith in gatherings like this one is assumed, many of us really struggle to own it.  What does it mean to act from our religious faith? When were you last called upon to make an important faith-based decision? 

                Let us turn again to the definition: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is not remote in our everyday experience.  For instance, I live by faith when it comes to our apartment’s air conditioning.  I have faith, I am assured, that our air conditioning unit will be functioning when I arrive home after this worship service. I maintain that conviction despite knowing very little about how the unit works, or about how vulnerable its moving parts might be to wear and tear over time.  I live by faith when it comes to my car.  I am assured that the engine will start when I turn the key, and that the various systems that must cooperate to move the machine will be functional.  I maintain that conviction despite knowing very little about what must occur under the hood to get me from one place to another.  I have faith that decisions made by the various workmen who have strung the electrical wire in this building, did the plumbing, and hung the drywall are good decisions, and that the work they have completed meets the standards of their professions.  I maintain that conviction despite having little knowledge of the particular trades. My faith in the apartment’s air conditioning, the car, and the decisions of the workmen, who are restoring our building, might be undermined by some event down the road, but on even given day I don’t approach the apartment or the car mentally preparing myself for a problem.  I maintain faith that the air-conditioning and the car will function just as well tomorrow as they did today.

                I have faith, the assurance of things hoped for.  I maintain the assurance that the air conditioning at home will continue to work, the car will continue to start and perform on the highway, and that the work being done by the workmen in this building will stand the test of time.  I have faith because, though I have only a passable knowledge of what makes my air conditioning, car, and electricity “run,” what I don’t know or don’t see doesn’t worry  me.  I have faith because I trust those who built and maintain the car, the air conditioning, and the electrical wiring, to have adhered to professional standards in fulfilling their assignments.

                What makes it run?  What’s under the hood?  Those details don’t interest me, not, at least, until the “check engine” light comes on.  I take my place at the wheel accepting on faith that the car will take me where I need to go. 

                 It is quite remarkable when you think about it, that my faith in all those unseen parts in the engine and drive train is more secure, at least on one level, than my faith in the abiding promises of God who created me. Yet when considered on another level it is not that remarkable at all. You see, each time I start the engine of the car and drive off, my confidence that it will start the next is reinforced. The performance of the car, or the air conditioning, becomes predictable.  The “assurance of things hoped for,” that the engine will start when I turn the key, reinforces the conviction that those things I do not see, the carburetor, oil pump, and pistons will perform as they are supposed to.

               The predictability that we see in automobiles and air conditioning, at least most of the time is not to be duplicated in our life under God. Faith in God is always assailed by doubt.  Even as we stand in awe at the miracle of a new life emerging from the womb, a sign of hope and new possibilities, we are sobered and dismayed by the news that yet another suicide bomber has chosen to destroy life.

                Faith, “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  Hebrews asserts that persons of faith can accomplish amazing things.  Yet day to day our faith in God’s providence must contend with realities that undermine the principles that Christ taught, and the convictions our creeds and confessions of faith articulate.

                The letter to the Hebrews makes no attempt to take up the existential questions that those realities prompt, but rather is written to encourage and brace a community of Christians who face the daily menace of persecution.  The strategy the author of Hebrews employs is what could accurately be described as the “cloud of witnesses” strategy.  As we earlier discovered, the letter to the Hebrews wants to impress its audience with the mighty things faith can accomplish, using celebrated figures in Israel’s history to drive home the message.

                  If Abraham, Moses, Rahab, and David stood the test, the author of Hebrews declares, so could the recipients of his letter. The Hebrews were to “run with perseverance.”  The race imagery was frequently employed by Paul and others in the ancient world as a device to summon effort.  “Run with perseverance…looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Emulate Jesus, declares the author of Hebrews.  Jesus overcame the shame of the cross and is seated at the right hand of God.

               “Run with perseverance.” The object out ahead is Jesus, but as you run, Hebrews declares, know that there is a whole cheering section, a cloud of witnesses, made up of Abraham, Moses, Rahab, David, and the prophets lining the race course to root you home.

                Faith represents numerous challenges with which you and I must individually deal, but at the same time faith emerges and is reinforced in community, among the cloud of witnesses.

                The faith community of which you are a part, Lakeview Presbyterian Church, has been given a great challenge, a challenge to “run with perseverance.”  We “run,” not in our case against a backdrop of persecution, but we run with perseverance to reestablish our identity in this new Lakeview.  We “run” with a cheering section of witnesses too numerous to acknowledge individually. 

              The time, talent and treasure of friends from New Hampshire to California, Wisconsin to Texas, are invested in this ministry.  It is faith in what God can do through ministries like ours that has inspired great generosity in people across our church.  People in our national church, people in the synod and presbytery, and people in local churches across this nation, believe in what we are doing here, believe so strongly that they took up special offerings, held garage sales, and special dinners to raise funds to rebuild this church.  Youth held fundraisers to support our youth programming. An anonymous donor in a Milwaukee church sent us a check for eighteen thousand dollars, delivered by a family of four, father and mother, two sons, who used the boys’ spring break to travel down here to help in the recovery effort. 

                My wish would be that each of you could be present to read the correspondence we have received, heard the sincere affirmations of support for our ministry I have heard, since the storm.  What you have heard when visiting delegations from other churches visited us, or read from the correspondence they have sent, is but the smallest portion of what the larger faith community has made available to us. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who are eagerly urging us on.   

                 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  As good a definition of the subject as might be found, but exactly how faith arises in your life and my, how it survives, or why it doesn’t, aren’t questions we can answer with any amount of certitude.  Nor does the letter to the Hebrews take up the challenge; instead it celebrates what the senses can perceive, people of faith alive in a community of mutual support, teammates cheering each other on to the goal of the heavenly calling.

                 A cloud of witnesses stands cheering us on. People across the church have invested their time, talent, and treasure, their prayers in us. Our calling as recipients is not to repay them, but to persevere with them as a congregation dedicated to fulfilling the high calling of Christ our reigning savior.         

PRAYER

                We gather, O Lord, as people of faith who are challenged by events occurring in our daily lives to demonstrate what our faith means for us. Grant that our faith may mature and grow out of what we experience.  Grant that as faith matures and grows we may be for each other true companions in our Christian walk, freely sharing the hopes, dreams, and insights that our faith inspires. Even as we pray for maturity of faith we pray for those who struggle to believe, as well as people who have had experiences that discourage belief altogether.

                Support the disaffected, the discouraged, and the grieving in their struggle to surmount adversity. May those who experience isolation and abandonment, O God, find the strength to persevere through their dark passage.

                 O Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, it is to your example we look in living our lives under God. Our brother, through baptism and the word, we acknowledge before you that we have strayed.  We spend our time and energy in vain attempts to find meaning and purpose apart from you.  Our minds are consumed with the details of life, as we sacrifice opportunities to explore its essential meaning. The days, months, and years pass by and we are none the wiser, advanced in years we are but adolescents in maturity. Shed your light upon our path, O Christ, that we may find our way home.

                Lord, you have called us to be stewards of creation, but the ability of the seas, the land, and the atmosphere to cleanse themselves from the abuse to which we have exposed them are now depleted. Even as the severity of our environmental crisis is being more widely acknowledged, the will to make changes that might address the crisis is slow to develop.  Abide, O Lord, with those who are attempting to mobilize support for corrective action, even as you prepare individual citizens to accept the costs such action might impose.

                 Lord, we appeal to you on behalf of those who suffer as a result of war this day.  The casualty list continues to mount as the murderous plots of terrorists unfold.  Exhausted by the reports of yet another bombing, kidnapping, and murder, we pray for those who bear the brunt of the insanity. Humanity has developed bigger and better methods to perfect killing, but in strategies to guarantee peace advancement does not come. Have mercy on our suffering world, even as you console the despairing who mourn the tragedies that war has caused.

                   We pray your blessing, Father, on students and teachers returning to the classroom.  May a common purpose motivate those who teach and those who are taught, that progress in the classroom might lead to progress in the skills that make for an enriching and godly life.

                  Be with the church, O God, that in our ministry and mission we may bring light to the world.  May unity dissolve the barriers that factionalism builds. We pray that denominational or parochial concerns not divide the body of Christ. Be with this congregation, O Lord, in our efforts to build community and minister to this community. Teach us liberality in using the resources we have been provided that we may freely give of ourselves as we have freely received. May the way we represent ourselves to the world be consistent with what Jesus taught, O God, and may the hospitality of the church make all feel welcome and at home. 

                 We pray these things in the strong name of Jesus our savior…