What We Can't Prove

What is "faith" anyway? Is it a blind belief in something imaginary? Some people seem to think so. Do only gullible people have faith? Or does it go much deeper than that? This sermon examines what "faith" is. You may be surprised to find who has it!

What is faith? Have you ever stopped to think about that? We talk about “faith” all the time, but do we know what it really is? Lots of people have weighed in with their own answers to that question. Some answers are serious and thoughtful, while others… well, not so much. Mark Twain, for example, was of the opinion that “faith is believing what you know ain’t so.” I love Mark Twain’s insights; but on this issue, I think that he missed the mark. The book of Hebrews gives us a traditional answer: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” That sounds really good, but I’ve always thought that it’s a little hard to understand.

Maybe a more recent author can help us out. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, describes faith this way: “Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch.” A belief in what you can’t see or prove or touch… Yes, that’s faith, all right. And she goes on to comment: “Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith, and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be... a prudent insurance policy.”

I think Ms. Gilbert understands faith very well. Faith is what we believe in that we cannot see or touch or prove. You might be surprised to learn that Christians aren’t the only ones who have faith. Everyone has faith in something that they can’t see or touch or prove. Technically, that something is called a worldview. Most Americans believe in one of two opposing worldviews that they cannot prove.

Some people believe that the universe is the result of random chance. In the view of these folks, the universe doesn’t have a creator that guides it and sustains it. In this faith system, there isn’t any god – not the Christian God or any other god. And although we humans are a part of the universe, that universe doesn’t care about us one way or another. In fact, there is a very good possibility that the universe is against us! This is the worldview of an atheist. There is no God, no purpose, and no hope.

On the other hand, we Christians believe that God created the universe. God designed it and set it up, and is still active in it today. We are a part of God’s creation, and God loves us because we are. The creator of the universe is on our side! There is not only a God; that God loves us and makes us a part of a grand design. Although we don’t know what that design is, we are convinced that there is one. This is the worldview of a Christian. There is a God, a purpose, and a hope.

Now, it’s important to understand that no one can prove either worldview. No one can prove that God exists… but no one can prove that God doesn’t exist, either. And we can’t call on science to give us the answer. Science can’t help us with this question. Science can tell us all kinds of things, but it can’t tell us if God created the universe. It can’t tell us if miracles are real. And it certainly can’t tell us if God loves us! Science can’t prove either one of these two worldviews. Which one you believe, in the end, is a matter of faith. There are people who are brought up as Christians, but then decide that Christianity is all a bunch of hogwash; and they switch from one worldview to another. They are caught up in the fact that God can’t be proved; and they forget that God can’t be disproved, either.

So… why put our faith in the Christian worldview? Why decide that God exists, and that he loves us? Why not just flip a coin to decide what to put our faith in? It’s a good question. And the answer lies in our own experiences.

Have you ever stood outside on a starry night and gazed up into the Milky Way? Every one of those stars is a little sun, light years away from our earth. Some of that starlight has been traveling for millions of years to get from its origin to our eyes. Maybe you’ve even seen pictures of the universe that were taken by the Hubble telescope. There are great clouds of space dust that are shaped like horses. There are clusters of galaxies that look like giant eyes floating in the blackness of space. And I recently saw a photo of a dying star that looks like a fragile white butterfly. How in the world could anything that vast, that intricate, and that beautiful arise by chance? I personally don’t think that it could.

Maybe you’re having a bad day – the kind of day when nothing goes right and everything goes wrong. On that day, you can’t even find somebody to talk to. You call friend after friend on the phone, but no one has time for you. But then, you feel a Presence right next to you… a loving, reassuring Presence; and you know without understanding how that everything will be OK. Some people call it a hallucination. I prefer to call it the Spirit of Jesus who makes himself known when we need him the most.

Or maybe you’ve even sat by the bedside of a dying loved one, standing vigil until their very last breath has come and gone. And afterwards, through your profound grief, you experience what the New Testament calls the peace that passes all understanding. You aren’t worried for them. In fact, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will be reunited with them one day when your own life is over. Where does that kind of confidence come from? I think it’s the Holy Spirit working, the Comforter who never leaves us desolate.

Friends, the only explanation for those experiences is God – a God who created the universe, who stands by us in our hour of need, and who welcomes us home at the last. We can’t prove that God exists. But our experiences tell us that he does! And because of those experiences, I choose to put my faith in the God who inspired the collected writings of the Bible; the God who came to us as a human being in Jesus Christ; the God who comes to us still as the Holy Spirit.

Now, you might be thinking right now that your faith is a little thin! Don’t worry about that. Everybody feels that way now and then. Everyone has ups and downs in their faith. One day, we have no doubt at all that God exists; and the next… well, the next day we’re not so sure. Don’t worry about that, either. God knows that we’re human, and that we have questions and doubts. Doubts won’t kill your faith. They might even make it stronger! After all, if you can’t question your faith, then it’s not much good to you. Faith isn’t the absence of doubt. Faith is plugging on despite your doubts. You might even ask God to help you with those doubts. Remember the man who asked Jesus, “I believe! Help my unbelief”? Jesus didn’t condemn him. He helped him!

Faith is, in the end, the foundation of our lives. But it’s a leap in the dark, a step into uncertainty. God asks us to put our faith in him without a shred of proof. Will you do it?