Where Is Your Faith?

Did you know that "faith" is not a list of beliefs, but the basis of the way that we live our lives? If you want to know more, this sermon will get you started.

Suppose someone asked you to explain “faith.” What would you say? Take a moment to consider that. Is faith a set of beliefs? Is your faith the total of the facts that you learned in Sunday school? If that’s the case, then I could summarize my own faith in a statement of faith like the Apostles’ Creed. I had to memorize the Apostles’ Creed before I could be confirmed into church membership. Our own United Church of Christ doesn’t emphasize creeds; but I’ll bet that some of you know the Apostles’ Creed anyway. It starts, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord…” and goes on to summarize Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It ends like this: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church (meaning “the universal church”), the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” The Apostles’ Creed is a good little summary of what most Christians believe. But is a set of beliefs about Jesus really faith in Jesus?

According to the New Testament, “faith” is not just a set of beliefs that we tick off like items on a grocery list. The Greek word that is usually translated as “faith” actually means trust. Now, trust certainly begins with believing something; but it doesn’t end there. Trust is the confidence that we can absolutely rely on someone. If we say that we have “faith” in Jesus Christ, we are going way beyond what we believe about the facts of his life, death, and resurrection. “Faith” in Jesus is trusting that his actions will be consistent with his words, and then living as though we believe it. Here’s what I mean. Some of you may have participated in a “trust fall” at one time or another during your life. They often take place in team-building settings like church camp. In a trust fall, someone is asked to fall backwards into the arms of a group of friends who have promised to catch her. Now, believing that those friends could catch you is one thing; but believing that they will catch you is another thing altogether. Believing in their teamwork and strength is just that – belief. Actually falling backwards while trusting that they will catch you is faith.

So, what about our faith in Jesus? Do we really trust that he will do what he says he will do for us – or do we just believe a lot of facts about him? Most of the time, I suspect that our trust in him – our faith – is a lot weaker than we think it is. The disciples thought that they trusted in Jesus. After all, they had seen many miraculous healings while they were following him. They had seen him do what he claimed to be able to do time and time again. But then, they got in a boat; and all of a sudden, things were different. In the story we heard this morning, (Luke 8:22-25), their boat was taking on water like a leaky sieve; and all the while, Jesus was snoring away in the back of the boat like a baby in a cradle. Finally, the disciples were so scared that they rudely shook him awake. After he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, he stopped the storm with just a few words. I can almost hear him frowning over the bow of the boat and saying, “Oh, cool it! Settle down!” And, of course, the storm did just that. The winds stopped and the sea became calm. Then Jesus turned to his disciples. “Where is your faith?” he asked them. The Message Bible translates his question, “Don’t you trust me?” That’s the heart of it, right there. “Don’t you trust me?” It was his question to his disciples; and he asks us the very same question today.

Last week, my sermon considered Jesus’ advice to us about worrying. I said then that we could calm our worrying if we did three things: pray, get help from others, and then do what we can about the worrisome situation. But there’s something else that we need to do; and it’s the hardest part of all. We need to have faith in Jesus. We need to trust him to work in the situation on our behalf. In the words of the song from the animated movie Frozen, we need to “Let It Go!” Let it go! If we truly have faith in Jesus, we’ll trust that he’ll help us out. But there’s an issue deeper than whether we worry or not; and it involves our behavior. If we trust in Jesus – and we all say that we do – then we will live the way that he wants us to live. And let’s not kid ourselves: not very many of us do. It’s not that we don’t know how to live that way. We all know what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount. We will be happy by being humble, by yearning for righteousness, by showing mercy, and by being peacemakers. But those things are very hard to do because we’re afraid of what will happen if we live the way that Jesus asks us to live! We’re afraid that Jesus won’t catch us if we fall over backward while we’re living the way that he wants us to live.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say that you are employed in a small business. One day, your boss announces that you will no longer sell your product to a minority group. It doesn’t really matter what that group is; it could be people of color, or gay couples, or Muslims. The point is that your business is going to discriminate against someone. Oh, you’re not going to advertise it openly. But if someone of that minority wants to buy your goods or services… well, you just won’t be able to handle their order. So what do you do? If you have real faith in Jesus, you will object. But that comes with risks, doesn’t it? You might get fired. Your friends might not associate with you anymore. Your standing in the community might take a nose dive. But you know that discrimination against any of God’s children is wrong. Will you risk losing finances, friends, and status? More to the point, do you trust in Jesus to stand with you whatever happens; or do you play it safe and say nothing? That’s the kind of situation where Jesus’ question “Do you trust me?” starts to pinch.

Do we trust Jesus enough to follow him wherever he might go? Do we trust him to catch us in his arms when we fall backwards? Do we insist on living like the world says we should – as prideful, violent, judgmental people who think that they have to control everything around them to be safe; or do we trust Jesus’ assurance that living as humble, merciful, peaceful, righteous people will fill our lives with joy? “Where is your faith?” Jesus asks us. “Do you trust me?” As we watch him walk towards the cross during this Lenten season, it might be the most important question that he asks us.