There was a tightrope walker, who did incredible aerial feats all over Paris. Many people were amazed as he did his amazing tightrope acts at tremendously scary heights. He became so accomplished at his art, that he began adding other tricks to his act: he would cross the tightrope, then he would do it blindfolded, then he would go across blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow! All to the amazement of those gathered to see him.
As you can imagine, word quickly spread. And it wasn’t long before an American promoter read about this tightrope walker! He couldn’t pass up the opportunity and quickly wrote to him saying, "Tightrope, I don’t believe you can do it, but I’m willing to make you an offer. For a very substantial sum of money, besides all your transportation fees, I would like to challenge you to do your act over Niagara Falls."
Now, Tightrope wrote back, "Sir, although I’ve never been to America and I’ve never seen the Falls, I’d love to come."
So, after a lot of promotion and setting the whole thing up, many people came to see the event. The tightrope walker was to start on the Canadian side and come to the American side. Drums roll, and he comes across the rope which is suspended over the treacherous part of the falls! Then he did it blindfolded – making it across easily. Then he comes back across blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow. The crowds go wild, as he comes down from the rope. At this point he turns to the promoter and says, "Well, Mr. Promoter, now do you believe I can do it?"
"Of course I do. I just saw you do it."
"Good," said the tightrope walker, "then you get in the wheel barrow."
Many of us say we believe, but do we have faith enough to get into the wheelbarrow and trust our entire lives to God?
Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. This sounds quite different from the beginning of the sermon when Jesus teaches: blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers, and blessed are those who are persecuted. Blessed are all of us when we live counter to the world’s ways and the ways of legalism – BUT if we say “Lord, Lord” and if we prophesy in the Lord’s name, but don’t have a life full of faith, Jesus will not recognize us as his own child!
That’s a pretty tough teaching. In fact, it’s probably one teaching of Christ that most of us would like to skip over in the gospel. Isn’t it? But, if we parallel this teaching to the story of the promoter and the tightrope walker - how many of us say “Lord, we believe” but we don’t have enough faith to get into the wheelbarrow?
Many Christians deeply want to trust Christ, but when the going gets tough, when we are called to live in a manner that is different than what we know; our faith falters. And we attempt to take our life back into our own hands. Faith is an easy way of life – as long as the sailing is smooth! But storms do come – illnesses, economic slumps, uncertainty for the futures – how we live through these storms in life is truly the mark of how full of faith we are.
If you noticed the sermon title for this morning, it is not Living Faithfully. Instead, the title is Living Faith Fully. In other words, this morning I want us to consider what it means to live not just faithfully – having a belief in Christ, being devoted to Christ, being loyal to Christ. But to really consider what life would look like if we lived a life FULL of FAITH. What would life be like if at every turn, at every fork in the road, we FULLY (without question or restraint) trusted in the Lord? What if we could FULLY follow wherever Christ led? What if we never wavered in our living righteously? That would really be living faith to its fullest!
Remember several weeks ago, on Good Shepherd Sunday, when during the children’s sermon we were seeing just how full God fills our cup with blessings? And we read from the 23rd Psalm, “my cup runs over”? Imagine how glorified Christ would be in our lives if our lives overflowed with faith! Paul writes: For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”
Righteous living is not living by a set of laws. Righteous living is not being a constant pillar in the church. Righteous living is not being able to quote scripture to win arguments. Righteous living is not about judging others or the number of people that have been converted by your message! No, righteous living is about getting into the wheelbarrow and trusting God to push you across the great divide. The righteous live by faith. (Now, through this faith filled living, we are called to live morally and ethically; through faith we are compelled to read, study and understand the scriptures; through faith we are empowered and enabled to share the gospel of Christ with all – but ultimately the mark of righteous living – the foundation of living according to God’s will – is living a life FULL of faith, depending not upon your own ways, taking no glory for yourself, trusting and resting solely in the hands of God your Creator.
So, how do we do this? How do we surrender our wills and our lives to the gospel? How do we empty ourselves of vanity and pride in order to be filled with faith – that we may live faith FULLY?
First, we need to believe that being filled with faith is a process. You don’t just wake up one morning and “poof” you’re filled with faith. Faith is much like building a house – you have to start with a good foundation. A faith filled life begins with knowing the basics. This is the foundation we begin building with our children when we teach them the basic Bible stories of people who trusted God – the stories of Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Moses and many other Biblical witnesses that show us that living a life of faith means having a deepening relationship with God before, during and after the flood. It means laughing when God first calls you, or just being in a state of udder disbelief – until God begins to work in your life. Faith filled living is relying on God in Egypt, the wilderness and in the promised land. What these foundational stories serve to teach us from our infancy in Christ is that God is our God in good and bad, from beginning to end. They also teach us that it is part of our life of faith to do crazy things – like build an ark in the middle of the desert, or to pack up our belongings and follow where God tells us to go. They teach us that we can have faith in God when we are surrounded by people of little or no faith. Joseph remained faith filled while in Egypt – and he was both punished and exalted for that faith.
These are the foundational understandings that we need to have when we begin to nurture faith in our own lives. We need to remember that faith is not an instant cure for all problems – but it is a healing salve. Faith doesn’t immediately solve all problems, but it gives us the strength to move through them. Like the wise and foolish builders in today’s gospel reading – a strong foundation didn’t keep the storm from happening , but it did keep the house from crumbling. Faith is our foundation – it doesn’t protect us from storms and problems and worries and cares, but it keeps us grounded when they happen.
I grew up in the church, attending Sunday school and worship, youth groups and church fellowships. But faith and trust in God never really made sense to me until my dad died. Because it was at that moment that I had nothing to rely on but the foundation that had been laid for me through the church when I was a child. I didn’t know the power of God in my life until the storm came and God was my shelter and my strong hold.
I grieve for the children of God who have not had such a foundation built for them! I grieve when I see brothers and sisters in the Lord turn from God, because their faith is superficial with a foundation built on shifting sand rather than upon the rock of salvation. We need to be reaching out to these people encouraging them in their faith, helping them to strengthen and deepen their foundation by reminding them of God’s history and past victories.
That’s the next thing that helps us live faith FULLY. To recognize that the God who brought the Israelites through the sea and led them through the wilderness, providing them with food, water and shelter for forty years – is the same God that is leading us in our lives today. Sometimes I think it would be much easier if God was as visible to us as he was to them – guiding us by a pillar of smoke or fire, but regardless, God is ever faithful to us. Remembering that God is active in your life at this minute, no matter what you are dealing with or going through - be it good, bad or indifferent – helps us to grow in our faith!
The other day Will Smith was on the Ellen Degeneres Show, and he made the comment that he believes there is no new problem in the world. Someone, somewhere, at sometime has dealt with the issue you are having in your life. Someone has struggled through the same parenting issues. Someone has struggled through the same health issues. Someone has had the same financial problems. He went on to say that since there are no new problems in the world, there is an answer somewhere for every problem. For us Christians, that answer is God!
Several years ago I lead a Disciple Bible Study group and one of the most comforting ideas that the groups picked up on was that there is no “new” problem in the world. Our issues – though separated by time, space and culture – can be boiled down to the same basic issues that the Biblical witnesses were struggling with. Health, family, finances, wars, famines, politics… there’s nothing new! And how comforting is it when in faith we know that God who helped our ancestors will also help us! Remembering God’s victories in others’ lives and recognizing God’s activity in our lives, helps us to grow in our faith.
Living faith to its fullest is understanding that from first to last, faith is ultimately all that we have. Day in and day out, faith is what gets us through. In the calm and in the storm, faith in God is our sure foundation. Living Faith Fully enables us to trust God in every aspect of our lives. Living Faith Fully enables us to do the work of God in the world. Living faith fully will guide the way we interact with each other, it will guide the way we will share the gospel, it will guide the way we reach out to all people.
It is not enough to say that we believe – we have to get into the wheelbarrow! We have to give our life to God 100%! Faith HAS to be evident in our daily lives. If tomorrow you woke up and every one of your possessions was gone – what would you have? Some would say they’d have nothing. Some would believe God had turned from them. But, hopefully, you would realize that you have all that you need – a relationship with God and a life lived in faith.
There are many pastors preaching a gospel of prosperity and material wealth and success that says if God loves you, then you will be rich. But, the truth of the Gospel of Christ says no such thing. As Paul reminds us: in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, as it is written: The righteous live by faith. The only reward we receive from faithful living is an increased faith with in return leads us to more faithful living and more faith. At the day of judgment, God is not going to look at your wealth to see if you have enough money to enter the country club of heaven. No, on that day, God is going to look at the measure of faith in your life, and where you placed your faith. Was it in God? Did your faith motivate you to live as God would have you live? Or was something else your motivator?
It’s not going to matter how many times you were in church. It’s not going to matter what you prophesied or what you did in the name of Christ. What will matter is your motivation for living. Your heart – your relationship with God – your faith.
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Amen.
