Tag: obedience

Faith

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(Genesis 12:1-8)

What do we really need? In my last post/sermon, the answer was “a gift.” Anything that is going to make right our relationship with God that has been naturally shattered by our sin has to come from him, since we can’t earn it or fix it. It must be given. It must be received. It must be a gift, and it must be by grace. And it is.

But we need more than that. Why? Because, while salvation from God is entirely a gift, entirely by grace, and entirely through Jesus Christ, not everyone will benefit from it. Something else is needed. And, while we have a name for that “something,” you’ll notice we don’t see the word for it at all in our verses from Genesis 12. The word is “faith,” and you can search through Genesis 12:1-8 with a fine-tooth comb, but you won’t find it anywhere. The word “faith” isn’t even in our verses at all. 

But, while the word faith isn’t in our verses from Genesis, faith itself is very visible. We see what faith looks like. We see faith put into practice. We observe faith. So let us see it and celebrate it in Abram, and let us rejoice in it by reflecting it in our lives also, all while thanking God yet again for providing exactly what I need: faith.

What does God’s gift of faith do? Faith listens, it acts, and it is blessed.

Look at this gift in the life of Abram. Genesis 12 starts out with the words, “The Lord had said to Abram” (v.1). Here is the first point – rather obvious, I admit – yet without it, faith cannot exist. It has to hear the Lord speak. Abram didn’t have the Bible we do today. He didn’t have Scriptures to read, study, and digest in order to listen to God. God simply spoke to him directly. We can’t miss this easily overlooked point about faith. It listens. It hears. God speaks, and faith’s ears perk up to hear what God is saying. 

God doesn’t promise to speak to us directly, as he did to Abram. Nor does he need to. In fact, we ought to be relieved that he’s given us something more reliable to listen to than his direct voice: he’s given us his Word. That may sound backwards to some today, as a person might naturally presume that God speaking directly to me is more desirable than “settling” for his Word.

But if we bend our ears to some voice outside of the Word, how do we know it’s God’s? Are we sure it’s his, and how are we sure? Because we like what we hear? Because it validates what I’ve already made up my mind to do? How do we know it’s God’s voice and not our own voice? Or echoes from a movie we saw, a conversation we had, a speaker we listened to, or even the voice of the one who does his best to masquerade as an angel of light, Satan?

If I shared all of the times people told me that God directly spoke to them or told them to do something directly, and then compared all of those results, do you know what we’d have? Lots of confusion and chaos! And, God apparently changing his mind quite a bit and giving some pretty bad advice to some and new and improved guidance to others that the rest of us are not privileged to have!

On top of all of that, I realize how things like social media and all of our methods of communication have played games with my own memory (“Did I actually communicate with a person in real life, was I there, or am just remembering an update they shared online?”). That’s made it difficult at times to nail down reality within my own memory. Am I sure then, that I want to risk the uncertainty of God speaking to me directly and me mixing up the details?

Faith listens to what God says, and what God says is clearly laid out for us in Scripture. Let’s keep our ears tuned to the Bible and not look to or hope for other revelations. He hasn’t promised them.

For many of us, that’s where we’re stuck in our Christian life, right here at this step. This is where the growth needs to happen, by simply listening to God in his Word. I don’t know if anyone has ever written anything as profound as what I’m about to write, but… read your Bible.

Often. Daily. Frequently. More than you are.

That’s what faith does. It listens to God’s voice. Start there. If you haven’t done that yet, or don’t know how to start or how to get back on track reading the Bible, there’s no shame in acknowledging that, but… you should be ashamed of continuing to be OK with that if you do nothing to change it. No excuses. Because faith is inseparable from the Word. 

When faith grows, it moves on to the next step (while always continuing with the first: listening!). Faith listens and then acts. Following the blessing promised by God, take note of the short sentence that follows.“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (v.4a). He listened to what the Lord told him and went! See how listening informed the action Abram took? He didn’t just act in some form or fashion that he thought best, but went “as the Lord had told him.” Faith listened and then acted – as directed by God. 

Abram’s faith didn’t just stop there, either. Look at how else it acted each time he arrived at a new rest stop. When he arrived at the great tree of Moreh at Shechem, “he built an altar there to the Lord” (v.7b). Then, he arrived at the next stop, “with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord” (v.8).

Have you ever stopped to consider the effort that kind of worship required? We pat ourselves on the back for showing up at church on Sunday, but imagine the effort required in the construction project of building an altar every time you wanted to worship! And, at 75, Abram was no spring chicken! Abram’s faith acted, both in obedience to what God had commanded him to do, but also in the natural outflow of worship, reflective of a heart inclined toward God.

How does our faith look in this department? Where does it have opportunity to get put into action? Where does it obey? Where does it worship (not just on Sunday morning, but daily)? Again, for many of us, faith in action looks like the first step we already talked about – getting to know your Bible. That is a faith that is listening and acting. So start there. 

Others of you, though, are or ought to be more mature in your faith. God didn’t call you to faith to stay at the level of faith at which he called you, but to grow and mature. Faith doesn’t mature when faith doesn’t act. So ask yourself this tough question: where am I disobeying or disregarding God’s call to action for my faith that is keeping me from maturing? Wrestle with that question.

Then, as you uncover the answer – or rather, answers, plural – repent of them. When you’ve done that, turn to the gracious God whose love and forgiveness for you will never run out, and ask him to lead you on that path of a mature faith that acts.

Do you know where the confidence to carry out that practice comes from? It comes from the third thing that faith “does.” It’s blessed. When faith listens and acts, blessings follow, and low and behold, guess what happens when blessings follow? They prompt us to listen and act even more! It’s like some beautiful divine cycle that God had in mind. Listen, act, blessing, listen, act, blessing, etc. Do you think it’d be a good cycle to get your life on board with? I do! So does God. 

Hear again how God blessed Abram’s faith. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (v.2-3). Do you remember all of the achievements Abram had accomplished at this point to deserve such a gracious promise from God? Did you look at the preceding verses and chapters to see the record of Abram’s righteousness?

Oh, that’s right – there isn’t anything!

That’s because God was the initiator of this blessing. It wasn’t set into motion by Abram’s own obedience or righteousness. Rather, God promised it and prompted Abram’s own obedience and righteousness. 

That’s how it is with us, too, isn’t it? God doesn’t just promise to bless us when faith listens and acts, but he blesses us so that faith listens and acts in response. Yes, we’re sandwiched in blessings! God blesses us on the front end and the back end because that’s who he is. 

In fact, did you even know that this promise God gave Abram was about you? How did God bless all people on earth through Abram? Jesus, that’s how. Jesus would come from the great nation God promised Abram, and as his one divine descendant, all people would be blessed through the Savior, Jesus Christ. That’s you. Blessed by the gracious gift of salvation we talked about last Sunday – the gift that is exactly what you need. Blessed also by the faith to believe and receive that gift. Blessed to be called into the same family of faith as Abram and all believers ever since. Blessed to be washed in forgiveness through your baptism and fed and filled up with forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper. Blessed to have the blessing of the Bible dwell richly in our homes and lives. 

You have exactly what you need; you have faith. It receives the eternal benefits of everything Jesus did for you. But don’t shortchange it, as if that’s all faith was intended to do, to serve as the conduit by which we receive eternal life. No, it’s capable of much more, which is why God gifted it to you. God showed that to Abram, who listened, acted, and was blessed.

Will you let God show you what faith is capable of receiving from him? 

Substitute

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(Luke 2:41-52)

Sometimes we want a substitute; other times we need one. There are certain social situations when we wish we could simply hit the pause button and be replaced by a substitute to allow us to be anywhere but there. But there are also scenarios in which we simply cannot be two places at once. When work and family obligations collide, it would be nice to have a substitute so you could be two places at once. This morning, whether or not we want him, we see that Jesus is the Substitute we need. So far our Christmas series, “What Child is This?” has provided two answers: this child is the Prince of Peace and our Redeemer. The final answer provided in our series highlights that this child is also our Substitute.

You think time flies (wasn’t it just Thanksgiving???), how about jumping from infant to adolescent in one week! Just last weekend we were celebrating Jesus’ birth and here we find him twelve years old already. While it seems like quite a jump, the Bible doesn’t really cover much of Jesus’ life until he is baptized and begins his ministry around the age of 30. So this glimpse of twelve-year-old Jesus is a rare one.

And it’s interesting, isn’t it, that the one account we have of Jesus over that thirty-year period is Jesus sticking around at church long after the service was over? Of all of the curiosities and questions we might have about Jesus’ upbringing, his teenage years, and his twenties, God provides one account for us, and it is centered on worship and the Word. At the very least, we can conclude that gathering in God’s house for worship ought not to be an afterthought or treated as an optional leave-it-or-take-it element of the practice of one’s faith. At most, we could conclude that by covering just this one account of Jesus’ life over the span of 30 years, God is emphasizing the prominence and priority that public worship should be in the Christian’s life. 

There is a need for this conversation among Christians today. While I don’t question the intent behind the encouragement often provided for attending worship, I don’t know if the way we have tried to get there has always been the best. The one making the case for an increase in church attendance often points out that church attendance has been on the decline for decades now, and since that’s bad, we should correct that trend by going to church. Not only is such an argument ineffective, but it also fails to address that church attendance isn’t primarily a habit issue, but a heart issue.

Listen, a church on Sunday morning can be just as easily filled with empty people as it can with empty pews. These are the empty people Isaiah described: “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught’” (29:13). While we often imagine the church was much healthier in “the good ‘ole days,” which tend to be whatever we subjectively presume them to be in our own minds, the number of people worshipping on a Sunday morning is not the only metric for church health, and I would submit that it isn’t even the best one. 

As I said, we’re dealing with a heart issue, not a habit issue, and a heart issue is more difficult to treat than just measuring a metric. Many lament how Christianity is on the decline. It may appear that way based on church attendance, but what if not as much has changed as appears? What if it isn’t actually a reality that there are fewer Christians, but rather it just appears that way, as many more unbelievers/hypocrites used to hide in the church than outside it? So we lament those not in church, but how many in the past who were actually in church were simply doing so to meet an expected requirement or to be seen? Pride can work with either one – “look at what a fine Christian I am who worships regularly” or “look what a fine Christian I am who is so strong in his faith that I don’t need church attendance to showcase or prove my faith.” Pride can work with either scenario – being present without being present or being absent without being active.

But… shame on us if we are inclined to use that as justification for not worshiping weekly. There is a real need to emphasize corporate worship in an individualized church culture. A personal relationship with Jesus doesn’t mean that’s the only personal relationship I have with the body of Christ. To belong to the body of Christ is to belong to more than just Christ, the head, but also the whole body! And where more than anywhere else does the body stay connected to the other parts and Christ, the head? When we gather for worship.

Trying to change behavior by increasing worship attendance fails to address the real issue – the heart. Only Jesus does that. Look at how Jesus did that in our account this morning. After his mother expressed her dismay at his behavior, his response – a question of his own – explained his behavior perfectly: “‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’” (v.49). He was honestly surprised. He had to be in his Father’s house. Let’s understand that in two ways. 

We talk that way when trying to convince someone else of something. “You have to try this food at this restaurant.” “You have to listen to this song by this artist.” “You have to get this gadget or that device.” When we convey that level of passion to someone else we are stressing that how much it has meant to us personally. We feel so strongly about it that we want someone else to have the same positive experience with it. Jesus felt so passionately about being in his Father’s house that he had to be there.

But he also literally had to be there. Remember that God created us to love and worship him with pure holy hearts. Yet ever since worship first went wrong when Adam and Eve cast aside God’s command and ate from the tree, not one human heart has ever been able on even a single occasion to worship God in purity and holiness. Even our best worship is but worthless waste before God! Sin stains our worship! If even attending worship regularly in the first place, we are so easily distracted, disinterested, and disengaged when in God’s house. That’s if we’re attending regularly and not believing whatever lie it is that tells us there’s something better going on Sunday morning than gathering with God’s people around God’s Word to glorify God together. So Jesus literally had to be in the Temple to meet God’s demand that pure and holy hearts love and worship him. 

Even more astounding is that rather than being the One worshipping, Jesus had every right to be the One worshipped! He ought to be the object of worship, not the one offering up his worship. The One the wise men journeyed great lengths to worship in person with precious gifts was the same twelve-year-old boy offering up his worship in the temple courts. The One who would make the ultimate sacrifice on Good Friday deserving of ultimate praise and worship is the same One humbly offering up his worship among the adult spiritual leaders of his day. 

Into a me-centered world came a Father-focused Substitute. We make public worship about us; He made it about his Father. Our lives are an act of worshiping according to our own will; his perfect life was an act of worshiping according to his Father’s will. Where we casually dismiss the Third Commandment’s call for weekly worship, Jesus embraced and kept it perfectly. What we don’t even have the will to carry out perfectly, Jesus not only had the will, but also the obedience to carry out perfectly. We needed One who could put the Father first at all times, including love for his Word and worship, and we have One who met that demand. We have Jesus. Holy Jesus. Perfect Jesus. Substitute Jesus. 

Notice that his perfect obedience to his heavenly Father also expressed itself in obedience to his earthly father and mother. “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them” (v.51). When we see Jesus as he came to be seen – as our Substitute – we appreciate even more his perfect record of obedience. He was not born into our world for some short-sighted purpose like setting an example for us to follow – that is too small a thing! Instead, he came to achieve what we could not, cannot, on even our greatest days. He came to obey as a Substitute for those who disobey. He came to live in righteousness to be our righteousness. He came to be the purity and holiness required for entrance into heaven. He came to be the perfect child we could not, loving God’s Word and worship in ways we cannot. 

Children, follow suit. Do not disregard your parents’ commands, whether by defiance or indifference. That applies to the home and it applies to the church. You do not yet know what is best for you, so God has given you parents to guide you. When it is time for church each Sunday morning, do not burden or exasperate your parents with your stubborn whining, but be a joy and blessing to them, so that worship might be a joy and blessing to both you and them.

It’s that time of year again when goals and resolutions are on our radars. What’s easier when it comes to hitting the mark with goals – hitting the goal or maintaining it? Suppose you’ve wanted to organize the garage for years. But whenever you think about it you get overwhelmed because you don’t know where to start. Truth is, you’re not just talking about one goal, but a project requiring many steps to achieve that goal. Organizing the garage includes sorting through stuff, then determining which stuff you’re going to keep, what’s going to Goodwill, and what’s getting pitched. It likely includes determining whether or not you need shelving or bins to store things more efficiently. It will obviously include a good measure of cleaning, too. So it’s quite a project that you’re talking about!

But wouldn’t it be so much easier if an expert organizer came and did it for you? Wouldn’t it be so much more enjoyable if all you had to do was maintain a garage that has already been sorted and organized and cleaned for you? That would be much less overwhelming! You might even be energized and excited to keep it the way it is after someone else already did the hard work – and did an exceptional job at that!  

Jesus has done just that for you. He had more than a resolution on his mind; he had your righteousness, and he came with his perfect obedience to tidy up your disorganized, disobedient life. He did all of the work for you as your Substitute. He kept God’s law. He was the “good Christian” we could never amount to. He treasured Word and worship with an honest and sincere heart. He already did the hard work for you, and an exceptional job at that! Now the burden of having to be like Jesus has been replaced by the joyful freedom of wanting to be like him, with no strings attached. He met his Father’s demand of holiness, leaving us to enjoy the blessing of walking in his footsteps. What Child is This? This Prince of Peace is your Redeemer and Substitute. May the blessing of his perfect obedience bring blessings through your guilt-free obedience in the new year!