To this point in Paul’s letter to the Roman Church, Paul has stressed faith as the way -- the only way -- to salvation. To counter any arguments from Jewish Christians in the congregation, Paul used the example of Abraham as one who was made right with God -- justified -- by faith.
In our study of this life changing book we’d better stop here and examine the word and the concept of faith. In Hebrew, faith, or maw haw, means to question or hesitate. Certainly this is not the faith of Abraham. While he did have many questions and at from time-to-time wondered when the God’s promise would happen, I don’t think we can say that he hesitated in his faith in God. Certainly he did hesitate when God called him out of Ur, the land of his father, to found a new nation. Scripture records that Abram, as he was known then, picked up everything he had, sheep, cattle, tents, a nephew, and his wife Sari, and began a trek to a land unknown to him. What a great act of the word we are defining -- faith -- this was.
Let’s look at the word “faith” as Paul uses it in the Greek language, a language which Paul used and the language in which the epistle to the Roman church was written. In Greek, faith is pis tis and means a conviction in the truthfulness of God.
This is the kind of faith Paul’s Abraham had. A conviction in the truthfulness of God. This faith - this conviction - is what God recognized when he, “credited his faith to him as righteousness.”
Let’s continue to examine the word faith. In the newspaper business reporters are trained to ask a number of questions. Among them are, “Who, what, why, when, where, and how.” If we apply the skills of a newspaper reporter to the question of faith what will we find? If we ask the question, “Who?” who will we find? Who has faith? Oddly enough, the answer to that question may very well be, “Everyone has faith.”
Everyone has faith in something. Even a lack of faith denotes a kind of faith. We hear much said of faith. Some people have “little faith,” and we feel sorry for them. Some folks have “a desperate faith,” and we pray for them. Some people have a “different faith,” and we fear them. Some people have “strong faith,” and we admire them. Perhaps one of the best attempts to define faith, what it is and who has it, comes from The Communicator’s Commentary, written by Dr. Stuart Briscoe. He writes, “The object of faith is what really matters, more than anything else. Some people who had strong faith in thin ice never lived to tell the tale but died by faith. Others who had weak faith in thick ice were as safe as if they stood on concrete.” Note Brisco’s response. He writes, “The object of faith is what really matters, more than anything else.” He is telling us that one of the answers to the “Who.” question is God.
In whom do we have faith? It is the Almighty God, the God of Heaven and Earth. The God who spoke the universe and this earth into being. Whether we have faith is not the question. The question really should be, “In whom do have faith?”
Next we have to ask, “Why have faith?” Why did Abraham have faith - faith in God? What happened that Abraham, would have faith. You see, Abraham was not a Jew, at least not a Jew as we think of Jews today. Abraham was a Chaldean, a descendant of Shem, who was the son of Noah. Was Noah a Jew? Not as we think of the Jew of the old testament. Abram, or later Abraham, as God re-named him, did become the father of the Jew and as Paul explains, also the father of all who believe by faith - that’s us. For it was Abraham who first believed God by faith or at least the first to have has faith in God credited as righteousness.
But back to the question: Why did Abraham believe God? Perhaps it was because of God’s promise: “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Gen. 12:2,3.
Scripture continues with an account of great faith: “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him ...” What great faith Abram had. He left behind all those who were important to him, except his nephew and his wife. This 75-year-old man picked up, packed up, and followed God. Just a few verses later we find Abram in the land of the Canaanites. There a remarkable occurrence happened and perhaps this is why Abram believed, why Abram had faith, “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’” Well now, Abram saw the Lord. You might say, “If I saw the Lord, I’d have faith like Abram’s too.” We too, would like to see the Lord, but before we use Abram’s encounter with God as the reason for Abram’s faith, let’s remember what our Lord Jesus told Thomas, the doubter, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.” Jn. 20:29 There’s no doubt that Abram followed God by faith, by promise and by vision. Why did Abram have faith in God - faith powerful enough to bring about his salvation? Abram listened, watched and prayed and through his senses he found faith. He used his eyes, his ears and his heart to find faith in God’s promises. You see faith is not blind faith. Faith, the kind of faith that Abraham possessed was intelligent faith. Abraham knew in whom he put his trust.
Look again at this morning’s text - “ ... in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”
Abraham knew in whom he believed. A God powerful enough to make something out of nothing. To make the father of all nations, of all peoples who by faith believe, from a 75-year-old man and a barren wife. Abraham knew when God called him that the natural chances of his ever becoming a biological father were very slim, at best. But, he trusted that the God who told him he would be a father was not lying. He trusted God. Why should we believe in God and the promises of salvation he’s made to us?
Well, for one thing, we have the scriptures. We have a written record of God and the promises he’s made: A record of promises made and promises kept by a God who loves us very much. For many of us, we have another reason. While perhaps not as powerfully as Abraham, some Christians and some in this congregation have had direct contact with Almighty God. Some here, I believe, have heard, and continue to hear, God’s voice and have come to believe that God is as real now as he was in Abraham’s day. And we come in contact with these people all the time. What they do is called witnessing. Just a few short weeks ago we did not know if we’d have a place to hold services and if you would have a place to call home. We prayed, we believed in our Loving Father and here we are. This should have been our last Sabbath day together. God intervened and here we are still praising God who heard our prayers and answered them.
You see, it is important that we understand in whom we believe, in whom we place our trust. Blind faith can get us killed. Thin ice is thin ice. Trusting in thin ice is never a good idea. Trusting in God is always a good idea. Lets continue with our interviewing technique and ask another question: “When should we have faith?”
Faith is not a matter of “when,” faith is a matter of completeness. Faith isn’t something we turn on and off, like a switch. Faith is a lifestyle. Faith is something we live each day. The word “When” indicates a time - “When did faith happen?” or “When did you have faith?” Of course there was a time “when” our faith began and, unfortunately for some, a time “when” faith ends, but for the Abraham Christian, faith is. Our faith should be an always faith. We find faith in the beginning, a gift of God, and we are still exercising our faith muscles when we are called home. Is this unrealistic? I don’t think so. I think once we find faith, once God calls us to faith, it is our responsibility to exercise it. Like a muscle, the more faith is exercised the stronger, or more powerful, it becomes. Look back on your life and think of all the experiences you’ve had when faith, and only faith, got you through. Remember this, everything you’ve done, everything that has happened to you has brought you to this place in time - to holiness. God has a plan and a process for seeing that the plan happens. Faith in God, his son Jesus Christ, and his plan for our lives is absolutely necessary to get us through each day with joy and peace.Faith isn’t a “when”, it is a now. Each day we rise and our faith is with us. Each day, when faced with trials, our faith is with us. Each day, when trouble bends us double, faith is with us. Faith and only faith gets us through the tough time and faith makes the good times shine like polished gold.Faith isn’t a when: Faith is a now.
“How,” is a question that we all ponder. “How” did this happen” “How” could my wife, my husband, does this to me? When we ask the “How” question about faith we are lead back to God’s Holy Word. “How” do I acquire the kind of faith that Abraham had? And, my friends, this question is the toughest question of them all. How did I, how did you, come to faith? Faith comes to us. When I came to realize that I couldn’t do it all, when I understood that I didn’t have to do it all, that’s when faith came to me. Faith is a little like love. If you chase it, you’ll never catch it. Faith comes when we open our minds and our hearts to God’s leading. Faith comes when we can’t go any further. any longer. You see, God loves us so much that he aches to help us. All he is waiting for is us to call his name. He gave us free-will, the freedom to choose him or reject him. He doesn’t meddle in our lives. He waits patiently for those he has chosen to call out his name. Faith will come when we most need it, but then we must recognize the gift. We must reach out with both hands and take hold of the most precious gift God can give.
We must accept Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son as our only means of salvation. When we do this, faith comes. And when faith comes we must not let it escape our grasp.
Scripture tells us that faith is a result of hearing God’s word. Have you every wondered why that happens? I believe that God talks to us through the scriptures. His Holy Book is alive with His thoughts and lessons. Faith comes through hearing the Word and the Word becomes part of us. The faith each of us has must not be squandered. It must be kept close to our hearts and it must be exercised. Exercising faith produces more faith, stronger, tougher, mountain-moving faith. This is the kind of faith that Abraham possessed. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him. “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” Abraham was an old man. Twenty five year had passed since Abram heard God’s promise of being the father of many nations. Twenty-five long years of living in the desert, and yet Abram believed. He exercised his faith, believing that God was God and could make something from nothing.
Remember the blind man that Jesus healed? “Once I was blind, but now I see,” he said, when asked how his sight had been restored. Abram may have thought something similar. Once my fathering days were behind me, but now I have a son. Abraham knew in whom he believed. Not blind faith, but faith tested in the desert of old age. Faith built with the exercise of living.
Paul writes the Roman church concerning Abraham, “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Abraham looked back on his life and saw where God’s hand had provided and in doing this he exercised his faith and his was strengthened. This exercising is something we must all do if we are to have Abraham-like faith.
As we face the problems of today and then tomorrow we have only to cry out the name of Jesus and He will be with us. He made that promise and we can, like Abraham, believe the promises of God. When we’ve fought the good fight and the time to go home arrives we all can look toward the light and know that Jesus waits for us. Faith is our salvation. Amen.
