JUST BY FAITH?

Ephesians 2: 8-10 (NKJV) tells us “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  

These verses seem to be at odds: Verse 8 says it is through faith we have been saved; while the last says we have been created to do good works. Which is it Jesus? Actually the answer should be clear – we do good works as the extension of the good work He performed by His workmanship of salvation and redemption!

Faith, it would seem is not just believing God but it is also having and sharing the love He has for His creation. We don’t live faith – we are to “be” faith.

The word “faith” is used 245 times in 229 verses in the NKJV Bible but amazingly only 2 times in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 32: 29 and Habakkuk 2: 4).

The Hebrew word is ‘emuwn (a-moon) and stands for trustworthiness. Both OT references indicate God talking about the trustworthiness of people (in people who have faith and mistrust of those who do not).

The NT Greek word generally used is “pistas” (pis-tis) and means “a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it.” It is the “joined with it” that means doing and not just having.

A nun who works for a local home health care agency was out making her rounds when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it there was a station just down the street. She walked to the station to borrow a can with enough gas to start the car and drive to the station for a fill up. 
       
The attendant regretfully told her that the only can he owned had just been loaned out, but if she would care to wait he was sure it would be back shortly. 
       
Since the nun was on the way to see a patient she decided not to wait and walked back to her car. After looking through her car for something to carry to the station to fill with gas, she spotted a bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, she carried it to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried it back to her car. 
       
As she was pouring the gas into the tank of her car two men walked by. One of them turned to the other and said: "Now that is what I call faith!"

Sometimes we think faith is a competitive event and try to determine who has more faith than someone else or worse yet, become intimidated by others who appear to have more faith than we do and subsequently do nothing. Most people don’t think they can move mountains or even have the faith of a mustard seed, having instead the faith of a ketchup seed.

Our focus scripture for today is Luke 17: 5-10: And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'?

Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' "

The word in this passage that catches my attention is “unprofitable” (“achreios” which is pronounced “a-cry-a”) and means useless and good for nothing!” We don’t want to be useless and good for nothing to God, do we? Building faith and putting it in practice makes us useful.

Because we are incapable of fully knowing other people, to some degree faith (trust) is an integral ingredient in all relationships. For example, a wife gets into a car with her husband driving, trusting him to drive safely, even though he often drives faster than she would on winter roads.

The wife trusts him to act in their best interest at all times. We all share information about ourselves with others, trusting they will not betray us with that knowledge.

We drive down the road, trusting those driving around us to follow the rules of the road. So, whether with strangers or with intimate friends and companions, because we cannot fully know others, trust is always a necessary component of our relationships.

If we cannot know our fellow finite human beings fully, how can we expect to fully know an infinite God? Even if He should desire to fully reveal Himself, it is impossible for us to fully know Him.

It is like trying to pour the ocean (seemingly infinite in quantity) into a quart-measuring jar (finite)... impossible! Nonetheless, even as we can have meaningful relationships with others that we have grown to trust because of our knowledge of them and of their character, so God has revealed enough about Himself through His creation (see Romans 1: 18-21), through His written Word, the Bible (2 Timothy 3: 16-17; 2 Peter 1: 16-21), and through His Son (John 14: 9), we can enter into a meaningful relationship with Him.

But this is only possible when the barrier of one's sin has been removed by trusting in Christ's person and work on the cross as payment for one's sin through faith.

In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte , North Carolina , invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggled with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, "We don't expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you." So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, "I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time Magazine as the 'Man of the Century.'

Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.

The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are.  We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.' Einstein nodded appreciatively. and the conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets.

As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are No problem. You don't need a ticket.  I'm sure you bought one.'

Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'"

Having said that, Billy Graham continued, "See the suit I'm wearing?  It's a brand new suit. My children, and my grandchildren are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion.

You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing. 
I want you to remember this: 'I not only know who I am... I also know where I'm going.'"

Faith.

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.  He had a sign which read: "I am blind. Please Help."  There were only a few coins in the hat.

When a man came walking by, he took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat.  Then he took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on the back.  He put the sign where it was, so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up.  A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. 

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were going.  The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?  What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.  I wrote: 'Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot see it.'"

Both signs told people the same thing... that the boy was blind.  But the first sign simply said the boy was blind.  The second sign told people they were extremely fortunate that they were not blind and the boy had faith in God’s creation. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

The Moral of the Story for us is a simple one: Have faith and trust in God by being thankful for what you have. Be creative and innovative in your faith. Think differently and positively and go outside your comfort zone to allow God to repay your faith and trust in Him.

When life gives you a reason to cry, show life that you have 100 reasons to smile.  Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. 

Prepare for the future without fear.

Keep the faith and drop the fear... just remember God is Near! Amen.