Continuing by Faith*

By faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham and Sarah . . .

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth . . . they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, by faith Isaac, by faith Jacob, by faith Joseph, by faith Moses' parents, by faith Moses, by faith the people passed through the Red Sea, by faith the walls of Jericho fell, by faith the prostitute Rahab . . . was not killed . . .

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

By faith, fifty years ago, a group of Christians began a congregation . . . may we continue by faith, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith . . .

*from Hebrews 11: 3-40 and 12: 2

Decaffeinated Faith

Most of you know I drink espresso in amounts that are probably unwise. As far as I can tell, the caffeine doesn’t bother me so much. However, if my wife were to ingest as much as I do, she might not sleep for days. Occasionally I have mixed up the coffee at our house and given her a cappuccino with caffeine, and she lies awake that night for hours. Marnie doesn’t decide to be wired when she drinks my coffee; the coffee makes her wired. In other words, it’s not her will; it’s the will of the coffee. Any resulting flurry of activity that results is from the coffee in her system. God’s spirit living in us does something to us . . . something far more powerful than caffeine.

When James tells us “Faith without works is dead,” he is, in effect, saying, “If we have REAL faith pumping through our systems, that faith produces good works.” To will ourselves into working harder is comparable to a person deciding to be energized by caffeine. No one “decides” that; it just happens. If it does not happen, perhaps we need to re-examine our caffeine source. (Not a perfect analogy. Caffeine doesn’t affect everyone, but the Spirit of God does.)

One extra sneaky way Satan works is to prompt people to get annoyed and discouraged when phony faith doesn’t affect their lives. He loves that because then they pitch the faith in the trash and say, “That was all a lie anyway!” Remember the lying pharmacist we talked about Sunday? He removed all the power from the drugs, and people taking the useless cancer meds died.

Everyday people like you and I are clueless as to whether coffee is really caffeinated or if drugs are potent. So how can we know if faith is real? Only scientists and chemists could give a report on substance properties . . . yet God is kind. He doesn’t ask us to seek theological experts to determine real faith; he builds it into our systems. James reminds us of that: “If good works are being produced, then we have a real faith.” (Remember this is very different from “If you work real hard, you have real faith.”) Perhaps it’s time to have an honest conversation with God and admit if our faith has been based on some intellectual decision, or fear of hell, or something other than a desire to be transformed by his will and his spirit.

With all that said, if you are like me, your good works are sorely lacking. That’s why we turn to God and say, “Lord, I know you are in me, and I know you have saved me; now, make me more aware of any work you have for me to do.” Pray it daily. Pray it hourly. He will answer.

Mark