Abc - The Building Blocks Of Faith - Awareness #2 Series

Today we continue a 12 week series entitled, The ABC’s of faith. The larger idea is based on the idea that we learn over time through an exploration process of success and failure. Everything we come to know and understand is built over time on the foundation of trial and error.

We learned last week, the wooden blocks we have all played with were an idea in 1594, a practical concept 100 years after that, and only then it it would take another 175 years to be mass produced as the blocks we know and love from Brooklyn, New York.

Additionally, we learned the foundation of our faith are solid when we become aware that:

The pursuit of the tangible - people, places and things - will never satisfy.

The powers of this world are led by the evil one and his schemes to diminish the importance of living for the eternal.

The cure for the meaningless life is a life in a commitment to Jesus that offers a similar generosity to that of the Father who sent the Son, who sent the Holy Spirit, who sent you. It’s living a life of generosity towards God and others. We gain by giving. We find by losing. The good life according to Jesus is to say, “Yes, I may be broken, but I am being healed...not by stuff, but by the Spirit of God. Yes, I am grieving, but I trust God to supply my needs according to his glorious riches.”

As an aware Christian, we are equipped with the cure to a meaningless life.

So why, with 3 billion people on the planet, who claim to be aware of Jesus enough to claim to be his followers, do so many feel hopeless?

There must be a crack in the Christian foundation.

Did you know that every Center building has had water issues? It’s true.

When Diane and I moved into Itasca, the basement had two dehumidifiers running 24/7. I thought it might be because of the musty smell and all the stuff former renters left in the house - a couple of toilets, pipes, wood and assorted paints. We would soon come to find out it was because of the seepage in and around the foundation. It had been this way for some time according to a former trustee. She shared the constant aggravation of thinking they had solved the water problem only to discover new issues. The problem wasn’t just the rain, it was the age of the building, the neglect over years by the tenants along with the lack of planning by trustees to do regular maintenance. All the buildings had water issues.

In the same way, I’d like to make you aware of what leads to cracks in our personal faith foundations. Jesus' spoke a famous parable at the end of his sermon on the mount (Matt 7:25-27) about this. He talks about building a house on a rock foundation versus sand one. It provides us with an excellent reference for the words of Jesus. He said, “the rains came…” He didn’t say “if” it rains. It’s a life truth that hard times will come. If we do not prepare, water seeps into our basements, the foundations shift,the building will begin to crumble and over time, our spiritual houses can be compromised by the storms of life and our neglect.

The earlier reading from Judges highlights the problem with self sufficiency, self centeredness and misuse of God’s gifts. Samson was a warrior who subdued an entire army with a donkey’s jawbone as a weapon. He would become King and rule for twenty years. A period when his enemies would band together, to try and find a way to regain power. They would use portable power (money), a beautiful woman (sex) and Samson’s pride to get him to fall from grace.

While Samson succeeded in avoiding the devil’s scheme three times over 20 years, he ultimately gives in to his idol, the beautiful Delilah’s suggestion. Just like the words from the devil in the garden of Eden, Delilah convinced Samson that surely God wouldn’t turn his back on him if he violated his nazarite vow. A mistake he pays for with his strength and ironically, physically with his eyes. This is where we pick up the scripture, Judges 16:23

23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” 25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.