A few years ago, a movie entitled “Shelter” was filmed at ELPC. Last week, I saw the movie and I found the premise difficult to follow. However, finally very close to the end the message became clear. The movie was about an itinerant preacher, who fancied himself a faith healer. He happened upon a village that was in the midst of a flu epidemic. The faith healer implored the people to not vaccinate their children or themselves, but to trust in God. The villagers’ children were all dying, but neither the faith healer nor his children were infected by the flu virus. Imagine the peoples’ anger and outrage when they found out the preacher and his children had been vaccinated and that no faith on his part was involved – in fact the faith healer was completely faithless. The villagers moved to kill the preacher and at his death he was cursed to roam the earth and to shelter the souls of those who died while in a state of faithlessness.
If we’re honest, we can admit that there are times when our faith has wavered and been tested. It’s not always easy to love our neighbors, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, or fight for justice and peace. Sometimes we do grow weary in well doing. Our faith is tested when tragedies occur and we question where God is and like the father in Mark when he asked by Jesus whether he believes, our answer is “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
The recipients of the Book of Hebrews were people of God on the verge of faithlessness. “They were exhausted; they were tired – tired of serving the world, tired of worship, tired of being characterized as peculiar, and tired of spiritual struggles, They were losing their confidence, worn down and worn out, tired of walking the Christian walk and they were considering falling away from their faith.” (Thomas G. Long, Interpretations, Hebrews. John Knox Press, Louisville, KY: 1997, 3)
The writer of Hebrews chose not to placate the tired people of God, encouraging and cheering them on by suggesting they engage in team building exercises or conflict resolution techniques or rewriting their mission statement. Instead, the writer decides to delve into the nature and significance of what it means to be the children of God, followers of Jesus Christ, to be people of faith, action and belief.
The writer defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” However, a more faithful translation of that verse might read, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” “Faith as assurance possesses what God has promised for the future; it is a realization that we can put our trust in God – if God’s done something before, then God can do it again. Faith as conviction denotes the ability of the faithful to discern realities that are not visible to the natural eye. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “What can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:18)
Everything we believe concerning God is based on faith. We believe in what some people would characterize as unbelievable: that God created heaven and earth out of nothing; that God protected, provided and allowed the persecution of the chosen people of the Old Testament, all while promising them a land that flowed with milk and honey; and that God’s Son lived, died, was buried and was resurrected on the third day that we might be reconciled back to God and he now sits at the right hand of God making intercessions on our behalf. These principles are the foundation of our faith; a faith that is sheltered by Jesus Christ, a faith that endures even when we are faithless, a faith that goes beyond human understanding or thought.
Beloved of God, our faith does not create the reality of the things we hope for, any more that our faith is proof of things not seen. Let me say that again, our faith does not create the reality of the things we hope for, nor is our faith proof of the things we cannot see. That is so, because our faith is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and his righteousness. Our faith is Christ-sheltered.
The writer of Hebrews thought it prudent to jog the memories of the people by sighting examples of faith, those whose lives defied the laws of nature and mankind:
- He spoke of those who were deemed righteous: Abel, Enoch, Noah, the Israelites who encircled Jericho until the walls fell down; and Rahab the Gentile, woman of ill repute who in spite of her own peril, hid the Hebrew spies.
- He spoke of those who journeyed obediently in faith: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob; the people who passed through the Red Sea in route to the Promised Land and others who obediently wandered in the deserts and mountains.
- He spoke of those who were tested and purified by suffering: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses; women who considered that God was able to raise the dead; and those who were tortured and refused to accept release.
It’s difficult to comprehend that after being faithful, all of those named did not receive what was promised, it might be considered the ultimate bait and switch. Tertullian said: The Christian “knows that on earth they have a pilgrimage but that their dignity is in heaven.”
I once heard someone say that if they come to the end of their life and find there is no heaven, they will be extremely disappointed, because they could have had a lot more fun while down here on earth. That brother was not living faithfully. As Christians, we are not called to lives of misery, sadness, toil and ceaseless labor, lives of endless rules and regulations; but we are called to lives of loving kindness, mercy, joy, peace, justice, laughter and thankfulness. Beloved, in this world, we will encounter trouble that’s a given, but we are to take heart, and be glad because Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33), and shelters our faith.
When we recognize our faith is Christ-sheltered we live abundantly and respond by:
- Taking the Word of God as truth, no matter how unlikely, humanly foolish or ridiculous we seem to the world;
- We walk patiently with God, working and watching in anticipation even when nothing seems to be happening;
- We look beyond our immediate circumstances, beyond what we know, beyond what see or understand;
- We give God our best and most precious possession, our lives – ready to lead a life of adventure and reckless wonder, a life that may take us far away from home, to unfamiliar lands, or people;
In the movie I referenced earlier, the faithless preacher sheltered the souls of people who died in a state of unbelief. Those faithless, restless, tortured souls were doomed to wander the earth without purpose through all eternity.
As the children of God, our souls are sheltered by the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, and the only one qualified to atone for our sins and protect us during our times of faithlessness, so that in this life and the next, there is no restless, eternal wandering, for we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).
Beloved of God, our faith is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness, we dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid rock we stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand. We are sheltered by the righteousness and faith of Christ so:
- When we grow weary, we are lifted up on wings like eagles
- When we are in despair, our joy is the in the Lord
- When doubt creeps in, we have a blessed assurance
- And when we reach the end of our days, we are ushered into the very presence of God, the one with whom we walk, worship and adore, because our faith is safe, secured and sheltered by Christ.
AMEN