Pentecost 4 year
B Sermon Based on
Title slide
Faith that can move mountains. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have
that degree of faith…is it humanly possible
to have faith that strong…was Jesus trying to encourage his friends or make us
feel bad because our faith is so puny?
And what is faith anyway?
Probably if we’re going to talk about our faith at all …
if we’re ever going to encourage others to have faith…
we ought to know what it is…don’t you think? But I find most Christians get quite tongue tied…if they’re asked this
by a non-Christian friend.
Probably if we’re going to talk about our faith at all …
if we’re ever going to encourage others to have faith…
we ought to know what it is…don’t you think? But I find most Christians get quite tongue tied…if they’re asked this
by a non-Christian friend.
Hanging around café’s in Wanaka…this curly question
can come in many forms…
Is faith
something you have…or is it
something you do?
How do I get it…how do I do it …
What difference does it make? What’s the pay-off?
Are belief and faith different? Does it matter?
How do I get it…how do I do it …
What difference does it make? What’s the pay-off?
Are belief and faith different? Does it matter?
And do you really
take that stuff seriously…
about moving mountains?
about moving mountains?
Let’s say you’re sitting in a café somewhere in
Wanaka with a friend…they’re comfortable with the fact you’re a Christian …you’ve
known them a long time…long enough
to trust you …not to laugh at their spiritual questions…or reject them
They ask you ‘What is faith?’
How would you answer? What would you say?
Talk to your neighbour… [wait]
How would you answer? What would you say?
Talk to your neighbour… [wait]
Anybody want to
give it a go?
In a spiritually
thirsty community like ours…
these conversations aren’t rare…certainly in my job.
these conversations aren’t rare…certainly in my job.
Recently the
question came up when I was talking to my YAK group at Kai Whakapai…YAK means
Youth at Kai…
we were talking about baptism and confirmation…
about making a public confession of faith.
we were talking about baptism and confirmation…
about making a public confession of faith.
The question took
this form… ‘but Diane how do you know when you’re ready? What if you have doubts sometimes? Or when you’re praying
and you can’t tell if God is really there …or listening?’
It suddenly occurred to me that… no one had ever told these girls…what I discovered
quite by accident in my early
twenties at university faced with the strong assertions that if you can’t see
it or measure it… it doesn’t exist…I discovered that for an adult…
the Christian faith isn’t
Mountain
slide
a feeling you have about a set of ideas…
but a decision you make…a decision to trust
that God revealed Gods very self… in Jesus Christ.
but a decision you make…a decision to trust
that God revealed Gods very self… in Jesus Christ.
Of course you can
have lots of wonderful feelings
about God
but feelings are fickle things…they go up and down…
you can have a bad day with feelings…a day of doubt and fear… or frustration and impatience… anger and disappointment…
Were we to rely entirely…on having warm fuzzy feelings
about God all the time…our relationship with God would fall apart the first time something happened that doesn’t fit with what we want God to do or when we can’t sense the presence of God
It’s like marriage in a way…probably we’d never stay married… if we thought we had to feel romantic all the time…for the rest of our lives…but we decide to love…
Both love and faith are about making a decision really…
when you’re in something for the long haul…
neither love nor faith are going to provide nice feelings
by which you’re overwhelmed all the time.
but feelings are fickle things…they go up and down…
you can have a bad day with feelings…a day of doubt and fear… or frustration and impatience… anger and disappointment…
Were we to rely entirely…on having warm fuzzy feelings
about God all the time…our relationship with God would fall apart the first time something happened that doesn’t fit with what we want God to do or when we can’t sense the presence of God
It’s like marriage in a way…probably we’d never stay married… if we thought we had to feel romantic all the time…for the rest of our lives…but we decide to love…
Both love and faith are about making a decision really…
when you’re in something for the long haul…
neither love nor faith are going to provide nice feelings
by which you’re overwhelmed all the time.
Certainly not
the kind of love and faith
Jesus was living out… and dying for.
Jesus was living out… and dying for.
And in the Christian
community…we regard faith as a
mature decision don’t we…because when you’re a child
you just trust what your parents and teachers tell you is true
You don’t make a decision about it. But when you grow up and you’re confronted with many versions of what the truth looks like … you have to decide… which version to trust.
mature decision don’t we…because when you’re a child
you just trust what your parents and teachers tell you is true
You don’t make a decision about it. But when you grow up and you’re confronted with many versions of what the truth looks like … you have to decide… which version to trust.
But let’s see
what a decision to trust…
what faith….actually looks like in practise
what faith….actually looks like in practise
Imagine you’re standing on the bank of a lovely clean…warm slow moving river…with
a sandy bottom…you can see there are no rocks
or slimy moss logs
or taniwhas…lurking below the
surface…
you decide to step into the water…it feels good on your feet
you decide to step into the water…it feels good on your feet
…you imagine how good it would feel to get
in a little deeper …so you keep walking slowly…one step at a time…
toward the middle…gradually going deeper and deeper
on the firm but soft sand…
you like the feeling of the river flowing gently around you …you walk slowly in up to your knees…then to your waist …you decide to go still further out…so now you’re in up to your chest and then the tops of your shoulders…
you could almost float…
but to go any deeper…to actually float…
you have to do what?
toward the middle…gradually going deeper and deeper
on the firm but soft sand…
you like the feeling of the river flowing gently around you …you walk slowly in up to your knees…then to your waist …you decide to go still further out…so now you’re in up to your chest and then the tops of your shoulders…
you could almost float…
but to go any deeper…to actually float…
you have to do what?
Ask
To actually
float… to allow the river to carry
your weight…
you have to make a decision…to take your feet off the bottom
you have to make a decision…to take your feet off the bottom
And trust…
For your friend
in the café…
it may take many small steps… over many years…
to decide to turn their will and their life completely over to the God revealed in Jesus Christ…each step a decision to trust.
Like deciding to trust… there actually is a God…
but which God…what are the options…is there one God
or are there lots of gods…where do I find out…
whose view of God do I chose…and you say
well while your reading the Kuran and the sacred texts of Buddhism…why don’t you check out Jesus’ understanding of God…expressed in the Gospels?
And if they find Jesus understanding of God and what it means to serve God attractive… they could decide to become a Jesus’ follower…decide to view God the way Jesus did…
it may take many small steps… over many years…
to decide to turn their will and their life completely over to the God revealed in Jesus Christ…each step a decision to trust.
Like deciding to trust… there actually is a God…
but which God…what are the options…is there one God
or are there lots of gods…where do I find out…
whose view of God do I chose…and you say
well while your reading the Kuran and the sacred texts of Buddhism…why don’t you check out Jesus’ understanding of God…expressed in the Gospels?
And if they find Jesus understanding of God and what it means to serve God attractive… they could decide to become a Jesus’ follower…decide to view God the way Jesus did…
to view people
the way Jesus did…to trust God
the way Jesus did…even on the Cross.
the way Jesus did…even on the Cross.
And while you’re
discussing this your friend throws you another curly one…your friend says…but I thought you said Jesus was God…
And thank
goodness you’re prepared for that one too…
yeah that’s absolutely what we believe…that God was in Jesus revealing God’s very self…somehow… mysteriously…in the life and teaching of a human being…how is a mystery…
can you cope with a little mystery…
Can you decide to trust…to step out in faith…
without every question answered…
Can you decide to trust…that just as God revealed
his will and his purposes of in Jesus…
God is working out his purposes of love… today…
here at the ends of the earth…and in a world that seems
beyond redemption and out of control…with violence and greed and injustice
yeah that’s absolutely what we believe…that God was in Jesus revealing God’s very self…somehow… mysteriously…in the life and teaching of a human being…how is a mystery…
can you cope with a little mystery…
Can you decide to trust…to step out in faith…
without every question answered…
Can you decide to trust…that just as God revealed
his will and his purposes of in Jesus…
God is working out his purposes of love… today…
here at the ends of the earth…and in a world that seems
beyond redemption and out of control…with violence and greed and injustice
Can you decide to look for signs of hope… that signal
God working in your life and in the world…
Can you decide to get in on what God is doing…[pause]
God working in your life and in the world…
Can you decide to get in on what God is doing…[pause]
And so these
conversations go…but it does help to have thought it through…and maybe
practised a little…
don’t you think?
don’t you think?
Now back to that
mountain we were trying to move…
Before the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit… Jesus closest friends were frustrated and discouraged
because they thought faith was some magic power Jesus had which they wanted to get…
they wanted to know why they couldn’t drive out demons like Jesus did…but I think Jesus wanted them to understand faith very differently…I think Jesus wanted them to get that faith is about doing what you can and trusting God to work in God’s time and in God’s way…
Before the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit… Jesus closest friends were frustrated and discouraged
because they thought faith was some magic power Jesus had which they wanted to get…
they wanted to know why they couldn’t drive out demons like Jesus did…but I think Jesus wanted them to understand faith very differently…I think Jesus wanted them to get that faith is about doing what you can and trusting God to work in God’s time and in God’s way…
not about
working alone as some kind of
magician
So what could
Jesus really mean… when he talks about faith that can move mountains? When he
says
if you have
faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say
to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
What is Jesus talking about? He certainly didn’t try it out
on the nearest mountain to prove his point…
On a Christian blog recently I came across an
old Chinese proverb that goes,
"You can move a mountain one
stone at a time." It reminded
the blogger how Jesus tells his disciples about faith… enough to move mountains…
She remembered the many times she turned her back on a challenging situation because she didn’t think she could make a difference?
She remembered the many times she turned her back on a challenging situation because she didn’t think she could make a difference?
But what this
woman had forgotten all along…is that
when we take a step of faith… we are not alone…
we are stepping into the stream…of God’s love and power… [pause]
when we take a step of faith… we are not alone…
we are stepping into the stream…of God’s love and power… [pause]
God understands the
physics of the universe
God created the universe…
Jesus wasn’t ridiculing our puny faith because he never meant for us to tackle the entire mountain at once and all alone. Instead he urges us to take one step of faith at a time…one little mustard seed at a time…to move the stones we can…
God created the universe…
Jesus wasn’t ridiculing our puny faith because he never meant for us to tackle the entire mountain at once and all alone. Instead he urges us to take one step of faith at a time…one little mustard seed at a time…to move the stones we can…
One step of faith at a time…one day at a time…sometimes one minute at a time…trusting that God is working with us… flowing with us…toward the future God has promised. Where all creation is reconciled to God.
And once you make a step of faith…
whether the mountains you’re trying to move
are personal or universal…
whether its illness your tackling or global hunger…
Whether it’s bullying in the school ground …
or working for peace in the Middle East…
Every decision…
every action… you take in faith…
to work in harmony with God’s purposes of love…
every step…every stone every shovel full…
will make the mountain smaller…
to work in harmony with God’s purposes of love…
every step…every stone every shovel full…
will make the mountain smaller…
