©Thomas B. Cundiff
Hebrews 11: 1-7
Ephesians 2: 8
Hebrews 11: 1-7
The Meaning of Faith
11Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen. 2Indeed, by faith our ancestors received
approval. 3By faith 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 Examples of Abel, Enoch, and Noah
4 By faith Abel offered to God a
more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he
received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he
died, but through his faith he still speaks. 5By faith Enoch
was taken so that he did not experience death; and ‘he was not found, because
God had taken him.’ For it was attested before he was taken away that ‘he had
pleased God.’ 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, for
whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who seek him. 7By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen,
respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned
the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with
faith.
Ephesians 2: 8
8For by grace
you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God—
I.
FAITH
Of all
the times I have read Hebrews 11 in reflecting on the meaning of faith, I have
never, until this past week, took time to look at the number of times the word
“faith” is used not as a doctrine but a state of mind and heart – particularly
in placing faith in some of the key biblical leaders we have come to trust and
admire through the years. It’s like the
faith we place in a spouse – or any close family member. It is the kind of faith we place in God. We trust that God will take care of us. For scripture defines faith “….as the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen.”
While faith
isn’t by itself a doctrine of the church, it is faith that surrounds all we
believe about God in Christ with what we experience in our hearts; the trust we place in the testimony of those
we love; the testimony of those who have
gone before us placing their lives in the hands of God. For faith, like love, is something we cannot
see or prove in a laboratory. Faith is
and love are both of the mind and heart. And as Paul teaches throughout his career of
writing letters: It is faith and love
that brings us to hope – hope in God and hope in humankind – and hope in the
future.
Faith is
the term used at the beginning of a total of eighteen sentences in this one
chapter – Hebrews Chapter 11 – alone! This
epistle gives a chronological account of examples in which women and men were
led toward and by God through faith….
To take a
moment to rattle off some of these examples….rather quickly. I encourage you to go back and read this entire
chapter 11 on your own:
Verse 3 By
faith we understand God’s Word, made of things not visible. Faith is nurtured through something we can
hear, examples that are tangible, God’s Word that is real and available for all
of us to read…..
Verse 4 By
faith Abel offered God a more acceptable sacrifice than that of his brother
Cain;
Verse 5 By
faith Enoch, referencing back to the beginning of Genesis (Genesis 5, 21) and
the mythical father of Methuselah, who walked with God for over 300 years,
perhaps giving birth to what it means to have faith in God;
Verse 7 By
faith Noah warned by God about the impending flood—we all know the story of
Noah and his faith that brought him through that flood….
Verse 8 By faith Abraham set out on his rather
tumultuous journey;
Verse 9 By faith Abraham staid for a time in
the land that had been promised;
Verse 11 By
faith Abraham received the power of procreation at quite an old age to his
beloved Sarah;
Verse 17 By faith Abraham was put to the test in
offering Isaac as a sacrifice to God;
Verse 20 By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the
future on Jacob and Esau
Verse 21 By faith Jacob blessed the sons of
Joseph;
Verse 22 By
faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentions the Exodus….and gives instructions as to how he should be buried;
And we
can go on….we get to the “by faith” verses that tell of Moses and his story…...
Verse 23 By faith Moses hidden by his parents
Verse 24 By faith Moses as he was growing giving us the law of and
commandments.
These
examples go on through the end of chapter 11 – beautiful literature, profound
scripture that defines faith and gives wonderful, historical examples of men and
women who in chapter 12 are described as the “clouds of witnesses” to whom we
place our trust. These historical stories
from scripture have evolved through the years to become the ancient doctrines
we follow to this day in the church….which leads to this first point:
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT FAITH!
II.
Getting
to the Doctrines—and the Doctrine of Jesus Christ
The
doctrines of the church are the precepts or tenets of faith – the codes of
belief – the hooks in which we define who we are as disciples of Jesus
Christ. The first of these hooks,
described last week in detail, is Jesus Christ himself.
Through faith, we are called to center our lives in the living Christ.
Through faith, we are called to center our lives in the living Christ.
We are
here because of Jesus. Granted we may sometimes
forget why we are here. We get caught up
in “church business” and lot of
emotion is tied to the work we do in the church. Ultimately this is not my church or your
church but Christ’s church. And our
call, as I shared as my sermon last week, is to be found in centering our lives
in the living Christ. Through Jesus we define
our worship, our identity as Christians in identifying the work of mission we
will do in the world. As Christians we devote
our lives in exploring what it means to center everything, through faith, in our Lord Jesus – and this is my second
point:
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT JESUS.
Which
leads to the doctrine of Scripture, my third point. We know Jesus through God’s Holy and Sacred
words found in the bible.
Consider
your ordination vows – for a good number of you are elders or deacons. The question is asked; “Do you
/ do we accept in faith the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to
be, by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in
the Church universal and God’s Word to you.”[1]
From the Westminster
Shorter Catechism we affirm that “the
bible is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God.” (BC
7.002)
Scholars
have identified 66 separate books or manuscripts that have become part of this
sacred compilation of books, recorded historical events, wonderful literature,
songs and poetry, stories from cultures of many people, kings and prophets and
apostles inspired by God. All in this
one sacred and Holy book of faith – the Holy Bible.
Putting
all of this into my own words and the foundational belief of the Presbyterian
Church: The Bible is the holy and sacred and inspired Word of God.
First
point, we cannot be the church without faith.
Second point, we cannot be the church without Jesus. Third point:
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT THIS BOOK, THE BIBLE!
IV. The Doctrine of Salvation
The
fourth point is the Doctrine of Salvation: What does it mean that God provides for us,
sustains life,…saves us from brokenness and sin…the ”Amazing Grace” that saves
us even from ourselves! Through Jesus
Christ, God saves us through the cross…reconciled to God through Christ’s death
and resurrection.
It’s
important to spend a few moments with this Doctrine of Salvation because many
churches don’t like to talk about sin.
Sin is outside the comfort zone for many. There
are churches that don’t have a prayer of confession in worship….I still hear
from people who say to me the main-line churches are dying because we talk too
much about sin. Well, friends, sin is
real. We cannot avoid what is real. I can’t even imagine true worship without
first admitting/confessing who I am / who we are – because we are not perfect.
The
doctrine of Salvation by Grace through
Faith is central to who we are as Presbyterians. This is a biblical concept grounded in
scripture read from Ephesians. “Salvation
by Grace through Faith” is the corner stone of the Protestant Reformation ….
which means simply, in breaking from 16th century Catholicism, “we cannot earn or purchase God’s favor, his
grace, his forgiving love.”[2]
Salvation
is God’s free gift through grace.
“It means
God’s hand outstretched to us in love in Christ. And what faith means is our stretching out
our hand to accept God’s grace, to trust in God’s loving forgiveness rather
than in our own righteousness or good works.”
So all of
this from Ephesians 2:8, is a “gift from God.” My fourth point this morning,
WE CANNOT BE THE
CHURCH WITHOUT GOD’S SALVATION!
V. The Doctrine of
God.
One more
doctrine – obvious and perhaps the one that should on the top of the list…..The
Doctrine of God.
We are
created in the image of God. To look at
the Westminster
The
gospel of John tells us God is light…..in the beginning was the Word and the Word
was with God and the Word was and is God…..”
Wonderful connections between God and light and Word – and another
doctrine: God is known to us in three
ways, as Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the Trinity…..a subject I will save for another day.
God –
Yaweh – Elohim, Father – all names we give to all that ground us in faith. God
is the “wholly other” creator and sustainer, our “ground of being”. And the definition I like the most: God is the love that binds us together and
builds us up.
My fifth
point:
WE CANNOT BE THE
CHURCH WITHOUT GOD!
VI.
Conclusion
– go into the world with FAITH
These are
a few of the major doctrines—also called ORTHODOXIES—that distinguish us from other churches….as vibrant,
moving, energetic, organic – living body of Christ. In fact, another topic for another day is a
discussion on another important doctrine….the DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH!
Ultimately,
what I hope you will go away with today is a grasp of what it means to be “CHURCH”
-- in worship, grounded in scripture, acknowledging we are not perfect and that
God saves us by grace through faith.
May we
always be a people of faith who can honestly turn to God with everything,
anything that happens to us in life. May
we place before God our very lives.
May we
join in the company of saints, those mentioned in Hebrews 11, what it means to
have faith – regardless what befalls us in our lives. May this discussion on a few of the doctrines
of the church help us gain knowledge of what it means to truly be children of
God, educated servants of God, informed disciples of Jesus Christ.
To review
these five points once again:
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT FAITH!
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT JESUS!
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT THE BIBLE!
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT SALVATION!
WE CANNOT BE THE CHURCH WITHOUT GOD!
These are
the key, orthodox components of faith that help to define who we are as
Christ’s church. May we continue to help
us do the important and serious work of Jesus Christ in the world in which we
live.
Amen.
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