Faith (2nd Corinthians 5:1-10)
Sermon for Milledgeville UMC
Faith (2nd
Corinthians 5:1-10)
You
may have heard the old joke about a hiker who slipped and fell off a steep
mountain cliff. He managed to grab a tree root hanging out. He cried out for
help. But he was alone. He kept calling for help, but no one was coming. His
arm grew tired. So he prayed. “God, please save me or I’m going to die.” A
voice said, “Let go!” He said, “What?” The voice again urged him, “Let go! I’ll
catch you!” He hung there desperate, but then called back, “Is there anybody
else up there?”
Today
we are talking Faith.
Geroge
Michael had a #1 hit song called Faith in 1987. It even made the Songs of the
Century list compiled Recording Industry Association of America. Faith is 322
on a list of 365 songs selected from the 20th century. That’s high
praise. The song is about love and attraction. He’s turning down a one-night
stand and holding out for a love that’s real. He’s got to have faith that
there’s something more, a true love, coming.
What
is faith? The bible actually gives us a definition.
Faith
is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. (Hebrews
11:1, NET)
Faith
is being sure, convinced that what is believed and hoped for is true. We trust
even though we do not see God’s promises fully realized. Faith is being sure,
it’s going to happen just as God promised.
What
do we hope for? I think of the old hymn When We All Get to Heaven.
(Eliza E. Hewitt 1898)
Onward
to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we'll behold.
Soon the pearly gates will open;
we shall tread the streets of gold.
When
we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory!
We
hope for resurrection and welcome into our eternal home.
2nd
Corinthians 5 has one of my favorite descriptions of Christian hope.
“We
know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is
dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands,
that is eternal in the heavens.” (2Co 5:1)
Notice
that Paul uses a tent to describe our bodies. Tents are temporary. I remember
tearing down tents after camping. We swept them clean of debris and let them
dry in the sun before rolling them up and storing them away. I was always
grateful to get home to my own bedroom. Resurrection is an upgrade from a
temporary tent to an eternal house made by God. I wonder what the warranty is
like?
Faith
is being convinced that you will be welcomed to your eternal home with the
words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
We
are somewhat separated from the Lord in these tents, these mortal bodies. It
requires trust to follow our compass heading to heaven. Paul says we walk by
faith, not by sight.
We
walk by faith in the world, at home, at work and school. We walk by faith in
the grocery store and Walmart. We walk by faith everywhere we go.
How
do we walk by faith? Faith is…
knowing
where you’re going.
showing
Who you’re owing.
going
where the Spirit’s blowing.
Walking
by Faith means knowing where you’re going.
Heaven
is where we are going.
Richard
Foster, author of Streams of Living Water wrote, "The goal of the
Christian life is not simply to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into
us!"
Faith
isn’t simply about the happy-ever-after. Faith is about getting heaven into us.
Faith is a relationship. When you are a friend of Jesus, He will transform your
life. Walking by faith, you begin to think like Jesus, sound like Jesus, and
act like Jesus.
Faith
is knowing where you’re going. We are going with Jesus toward heaven and heaven
is coming into us as we walk by faith each day. Pray, study the Bible, meditate
on Jesus, and serve others in love, and you become a heaven-filled person who
embodies Jesus.
Faith
is showing Who you’re owing.
Paul
tells us that we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. (2Co 5:10)
We owe our very lives to Jesus. We have a court appearance to make at the end.
I will stand before the Sinless Judge for the good and the evil I’ve done. I
entrust myself the mercy of the One who died for me. I owe Him my life.
James
Dobson, Founder of Focus on the Family, said that God will ask you three
questions when you stand in the Judgement. 1) Who did you love? 2) Who loved
you? 3) What did you do for Christ?
I
don’t know how he knew that, but how would you answer those questions? Prepare
for judgment by living a life that is showing who you’re owing. Live a life
worthy of Jesus. You know who You owe. Make it count.
Paul
told the Church in his first letter, “…your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit who is in you… you are not your own. For you were bought at a price.
Therefore, glorify God with your body. (1Co 6:19-20)
These
fleshy mortal bodies we inhabit do not belong to us. There were purchased,
redeemed, by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We once were in slavery to the
power of sin, and the cravings of the flesh. Jesus paid the redemption price
with His own life to set us free.
Paul
discusses freedom in Christ in his letter to the Galatians.
…do
not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through
love serve one another… live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the
desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the
Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh… (Gal
5:13, 16-17)
Paul
says to make it our goal to please Jesus, the Righteous Judge. Show Who you
owe! Jesus makes it possible to stand before God without blemish by washing us
clean of all guilt in His precious blood. Since you are free in Christ, live in
the Spirit of Christ.
Faith
is going where the Spirit’s blowing.
Walking
by faith involves spirituality. Faith is not just believing the promises of
God. It’s not just living in obedient gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice. Faith
means nurturing our friendship with God through spiritual practices like
prayer, meditation, fasting, journaling and reflection.
When
we serve at Shalom House, go into it with the eyes of your heart open. Ask
yourself,
· How will I walk by
faith today?
· How will I let
heaven into my heart?
· How does Jesus
want to transform me?
· How ready am I to
listen to the Spirit’s guidance?
Pray,
serve and reflect. See what fruit spiritual preparation will yield for you and
those you serve.
Faith
is going where the Spirit is blowing. Jesus said that’s how it is to be born
again. We can’t see where the wind comes from or where it’s going. So it is
with the Spirit. (John 3:7-8) The Spirit moves us toward a future that we
cannot yet see. To follow the guidance of the Spirit is to walk by faith and
not by sight. You have to trust your guide.
When
you get on a jet airliner,
you have to trust the pilots to get you to your destination safely. You are
putting your life in their hands. We trust they know how to fly the plane and
can meet any and all problems in flight. You have trust that the airline
mechanics have triple-checked the condition of the plane and performed the
necessary preventative maintenance. In the same way, to go where the Spirit
blows is to trust your guide. You must trust that the Lord has your best in
mind when the way gets difficult. You must trust that the Lord knows what is
needed. Follow the wind of the Spirit.
There’s
a story of a mother shopping for groceries. She stood in the diary section, and
she had a strong urge to buy 2
gallons of milk. She only needed one. She obeyed the nudge and bought
two gallons.
On
her way home she felt guided to drive down a street she usually would not take.
Following the mysterious inclination, she turned down the street and was guided
to stop at a certain home. A voice told her to go to the door. The home was
modest, to say the least.
She
felt like a fool going up to a stranger’s home. But she went ahead and knocked
holding a gallon of milk in her arm. The door opened. A small woman opened the
door. Her eyes went wide when she saw the milk. She grabbed the jug and went
running into the kitchen speaking excitedly in Spanish and weeping! Inside the
house, the mother could hear a very hungry baby crying. She realized that God
had just used her to answer a desperate prayer.
Faith
is knowing where you’re going – Heaven beyond/within
Faith
is showing Who you’re owing – Live a life worthy of Christ
Faith
goes where the Spirit blows. We walk by faith not by sight.
Walk
by faith, not by sight. Do what disciples do.
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