FAITH IS AN ACTION WORD

Faith is the assurance of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Faith is seeing what we believe. It is knowing that the very best things in the world- like love, forgiveness, honor, and shalom- cannot be seen, studied, or measured. Faith is living AS IF God’s promises are true, even if they may never be true for you. Faith is seeing things through the lens of God’s Word and the eyes of God’s Son.

The Christian journey is walked by faith and it cannot be walked without it. It has nothing much to do with catechisms and even less to do with denominations. It has nothing to do with perfection and it is not defined by church titles or attendance. It is simply this: Christians believe that God’s Word is true and they live AS IF it is true for them. Christians, then, are called to embrace God’s people in all of their shapes and colors because there is no male or female, no black or white, no gay or straight… in Christ. Christians, for no other reason than they are Christians, must forgive and forgive, to the point of appearing foolish, because they know themselves to have been forgiven. If they are living as if God’s promises are true, Christians will draw large and permeable circles of grace… because their Lord does, and Christians will have a special place in their hearts for those who are vulnerable because God has a special place in His heart for widows, orphans, foreigners, and those who are shut-in, shut-away, shut-up, and/or shut-down.

If they are living by faith, Christians will be generous  because they know where their treasure is stored. In short, faith is part believing, part trusting in our beliefs, and part living in ways that show the world who we are betting our lives on. Faith solidifies our hope, but it is NOT magical, pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking. Faith is not pretending that things are okay. It is not denying the pain and the struggles that are common to all of us. Faith is living AS IF God is present in the midst of a storm or in the heat of a battle.

People of faith are not assured a perfect and pain-free life, nor are they assured of fame and comfort. Faith will not relieve the pain we feel when a loved one dies or the fear that fills us when danger seems near, but it will assure us that God is with us because God has promised that He will be. Faith will not stop our tears from falling when love and loss demand it, but it will assure us that God’s heart is breaking with ours and that our broken world is in God’s hands. It is faith, believing in a place called heaven that we have never seen, that assures us that our loved ones are home when they die. People of faith see the world’s pain and sin just as plainly as anyone else does. They see injustice and discrimination. They hear the cries and they feel the rumblings of a world that is unsettled. They don’t deny it, BUT they don’t surrender to it either… because they believe that God is with us in the storm and that this world is in His hands.

People of faith do not give up in despair. They don’t live in denial, but they don’t sit on the laurels either. They don’t simply gather and sing Kum by Yah because faith is a way of living. It demands action or, as James noted, it is dead. Christians are called to action! We are called to get involved in a world that needs both justice and mercy. We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, preach good news to the poor, share their resources others, walk with those who are walking alone, pick up those who have fallen, love one another so obviously that it bears witness to the world, and drag despots off of their thrones… because Jesus Christ is their Lord.

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Christians are not perfect. They are not sinless. They don't have all the answers. They are not better than other people. They are simply those who live as if God can be trusted. Christians have problems, sometimes serious problems. They despair, sin, and doubt. They give in to the world’s demands. They even hide their faith and they are tempted to live as if money, power, or pleasure is Lord. This is all true… but if they are mature, they believe in things that they cannot see and live as if God’s promises are true!

I was with Jeff Arduser just before he died and I can tell you that he was certain that he would soon be with Christ- and this assurance gave him the freedom to talk to his family about their faith journeys. When Coy Bullard was dying, he told me that he was looking forward to it because he could see his Mary and his Lord, standing together and waiting for him. He saw this so intensely, so plainly, that he was almost reaching out. When I last visited Will Miner on his hospice bed, he said, “We will meet again!” These were his last words to me and he wasn’t kidding!

Faith is not something for which we are tested- it is something we live out. It is something that affects what we do and say and how we prioritize our lives. It gives us the courage to carry our own crosses and the empathy to heal and empower others as we follow Christ along the way. Amen!.