August 29 Sermon

“How to live the life of a believer in a world of unbelievers.”
“Suiting up for battle in the full armor of God.”
“A locker room pep talk for the Christian who is getting ready to take the field.”
Pick your favorite metaphor, but this is the nature of our text. It is instruction for Christians who are attempting to live the Christian life in an unchristian world. There are challenges, temptations, false teachers with false teachings, a whole host of enemies, and we are out numbered & out gunned; but we need to be ready. We need to be prepared. Our text is intended to do just that, to prepare us, to get us ready for the testing and temptation we are certain to face and point us to the source of our faith and salvation. The goal is that we be ready and well prepared.
Our text begins with how we treat each other. 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. We are a family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and as a family we aught to love one another. There should be no outstanding arguments or issues. In the spirit of brotherly love we should confess our sins to each other and seek reconciliation, because this is what Jesus has done for us.
Our text goes on. It exhorts us to sexual purity. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be un-defiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. That message was fitting then, it is fitting now. You and I are bombarded by sexual images and language everywhere we go. TV, magazines, the Internet. It is continually before us. And marriage itself is to be honored and revered as a good gift and creation of God..
5 Keep your life free from love of money, our text says and be content with what you have, for the Lord has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” The world has never seen such prosperity and wealth. The average person lives in greater comfort and luxury than the wealthiest of previous generations. Yet still we complain about what we have or what we do not have. Instead of coveting or worry our text reminds us that God is the one who provides for us and cares us for. There is nothing for us to fear.
Love one another, remain pure from sexual sins, be content with what God has given. Words written in the 1st century that could have just as easily been written in the 21st century. Timely, appropriate, culturally relevant, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Today is Christian education Sunday. Today we are officially recognizing the start of another school year. Our teachers are dedicating themselves to the task we have called them here to do for us. We are pledging our support to them as they are teaching and training our children. And today is a wonderful day to stop and remember the importance of the work that we are asking them to do, the importance of our Lutheran School.
The world our children will inherit is far and away different from the world the you and I grew up in. The world has become in many ways much smaller. It is possible to travel all around the world and get anywhere or see anything. In addition communication is constant and instantaneous. Those of you with twitter accounts and facebook pages can keep tabs on the random activities of your high school friends who are now spread out around the country or even around the world. We have cell phones and pocket computers. We have 24/7 access to a world of information. We have 24/7 access to one another's most intimate thought and plans and emotions. Truly the world has become smaller.
In some ways this is a blessing. Faithfully Lutheran and Christian information is available to you at a moments notice. If you missed a part of the sermon this morning you can read what you missed on line by the time you get home this afternoon. If you leave town on vacation, you can access our worship, sermon texts, and bible verses from any where in the world. You can carry the Bible on your smart phone in multiple translations and even languages .
But also we must admit, in many ways this is a curse. While Christian have used this technology for the spread of the gospel, the devil has moved evil men to use the same technology for evil and sin. There is Cyber sex, cyber bullying, cyber stalking – modern advancements and technology have in many ways provided an unhealthy and destructive outlet for human sinfulness. It has become easier, more prolific. These days, the average age of the first exposure to sexually explicit materials is getting younger and younger. Meanwhile the “kids will be kids” teasing that used to stay in the playground now follows them home. It winds up on facebook pages and cell phone text messages. Peddlers of pornography deliberately establish websites to be attractive and accessible to kids hoping to lure in future customers. It is an evil world out there.
Its not just the Internet. The challenge of being a Christian is just as real in our flesh and blood world as well as our cyber world. While our text tells us to keep the marriage bed pure, people these days have become uncertain as to what marriage even is. Is it true love? Is it a piece of paper? Is it two people of undefined gender and preference? Or is it a commitment between a man and a woman at the command of God for the nurture and growth of children. We seem to have forgotten.
Or what about faith and religion. Our text tells us of a God who loved us so that he died for us to save us, a god who called each of us to faith and keeps us in that faith by feeding us with his body and blood. But we live in a world where people will say, “I like Jesus but cant stand the church.” “I'm a Christian but I don't believe in God.” or “I am spiritual, but not religious.” these statements don't even make sense but still even Christian bookstores and publishers stock materials that cater to these people.
The world has lost its way and if we are not careful we will get lost right along with it.
Again, the words of our text, Don't be lead astray by strange and diverse teachings. “Strange and diverse” sums it up. More than anything people these days need a good solid dose, a steady diet of truth. In a world filled with false ideas and false identities not to mention false prophets and false religions, we need the truth. To that end, we need the Word of God.
Christians need to constantly and continually be fed with the Word of God. We need to know it inside and out. We need to study it, hear it preached, read mark learn and inwardly digest it. It needs to be in our hearts and on our minds. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
In Psalms 119:105 we are taught to pray to the Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Verse 105 is one of the more familiar verses from the Psalms, especially chapter 119. But all of Chapter 119 teaches us about the value and the importance of this Word of God.
For example, verse 60 says, The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Verse 89 says Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
As we struggle with coveting and greed, the psalm teaches us to rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. (162)
As We desire to be made wise and to avoid the pitfalls of sin and the worlds destruction. Verse 67 says, Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. Verse 101 says I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
We need help and desire God's comfort, the psalm says (114) You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
We desire to be taught and to be made wise to tricks and the lies of Satan, Verse 169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! Verse 130 says The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to tie himself to God's promises that He has given in His Word. Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to be immersed in this Word. Clearly there is not greater weapon against the Devil and this evil world than the truth, the understanding, the hope, the comfort, the wealth, that is found in God's Word.
On this Christian education Sunday, on the Sunday that we begin another year of Lutheran Education at St Paul Chuckery, let us take note that the foundation of our education is that Word of God. It is a daily part of each child's routine, whether that be through memory work, chapel services, devotions, or class time, our students are daily receiving instruction in the truth of God's Word.
Psalm 119:81 says My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. This word of truth and hope and comfort and wealth is above all a Word of Salvation. It is a word that teaches us of the love of God revealed in Jesus, the Word made flesh, who came for the salvation of all people.
Let's face it, our children are sinners. Just as much as we are, our children are sinners. And this world is going to test them and try them, it is going to do its best to destroy them and through it all they are going to get dirty. Our own St Paul Chuckery kids will find themselves in all kinds of predicaments as they attempt to find their way through this evil world. More than anything, they need to know where to find salvation. They need to know that they can find redemption for their sins in the blood of Jesus that has been shed for them.
Our text gives to us the instruction that we need as believers in Christi to find our way in this unbelieving world. We need this instruction and we need to go back to this and be reminded of this each and every day because the wisdom and the truth of this word will keep us from the errors and the lies that are a part of this world. But more than that we need the word of God that is the power of God to salvation for those who believe.
Amen.

Pentecost 13

So are there just a few? When its all said and done and the numbers are tallied up and every person, every name is present and accounted for in the rolls of heaven, how many will there be?
This very question was asked of Jesus. Lord will number of those saved be few?
Our text provides us with the answer.
Turns out a lot of people will try to enter and not only that, a lot of people will assume they are already in, but in the end will not be able. That is what Jesus tells us. Many will seek to enter but will be left out.
It's like Noah and the Ark. Noah followed the Word of the Lord and built a big boat. Meanwhile, lots of people looked around, saw no water, and thought he had gone mad. But when the Lord commanded Noah to enter the Ark and the doors were shut, after the rain began to fall, every last one of them wanted to get in but it was too late and they perished. How many who were outside cried out to Noah, “Noah we were neighbors. Noah, I lent you my hammer. Noah we were friends.” But the Lord shut the doors and there was no opening them.
I a similar way, at the end many will say, “Lord open to us,” but Christ will respond “I do not know you.” Think of how terrible that will be when so many are shut out of heaven, when so many are resigned to destruction as God's judgment falls on them, not so much for their sin, which has been forgiven and paid for by Jesus, but because they have denied the Gospel, the ark of salvation and atonement built by Jesus himself.
What is frightening, is the fact that, according to the Lord's own words, there will be many who are locked out on the last day who thought they would be in.
Jesus warns us ahead of time. “They will begin to say”, he tells us, “Lord, we ate and drank at your table. And you taught in our streets.”
Couldn't that be you? You have eaten at the Lord's table, you have drunk from his cup of salvation. You have heard his teachings from your pulpit. Does that mean you believe it? Does that mean you have taken the way of the narrow door? There are many who sit in church on Sunday morning. And many of those will not be saved. What about you?
The truth of the matter is that there are so many things out in the world to distract us. Satan knows how foolish we are. Things of this world look so nice and inviting. Things of this world look like they are so much more fun. The flashing lights, the glitz and the glamor can all be so enticing.
Strive to enter through the narrow door, says Jesus. The narrow door. Wide is the way that leads to hell. Straight and smooth and popular and fun. There are lights and side shows and restaurants and coffee shops. There is entertainment and amusement and a delight for the senses. But that is not the door that leads to heaven. Strive to enter through the narrow door. That's where Jesus is heading.
Jesus in on the narrow path, headed toward the narrow door that leads to heaven. Our text reminds us that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Not for glitz and glamor. Rather Jesus is on his way to the cross. The narrow road leads to the narrow door. That narrow door is the cross and Jesus commands us to follow.
This is St Paul “Chuckery”. After moving out here 4 years ago I asked where the name “Chuckery” came from. Someone told me “Chuckery” was the reference to all the “chuck holes” in the road. Our little town is named for a difficult journey, a bumpy ride. That kind of serves as a good reminder for us that the road of the Christian is the road to the cross.
God calls his Christians to follow him along the narrow path toward the narrow door. And in a sense, that road is “chuckery”. It's marked with all kinds of chuck holes. But still we bounce along. Life throws us left and right and up and down as we bounce along the path. Still we suffer through. We follow where our Lord leads. We don't have lots of the world's goods, we don't get lots of publicity and fame. But still we bounce along. Down the narrow road, toward the narrow door. It's the road to the cross. It's the road of suffering. It's the road of Jesus.
Maybe your life follows that road. You have found that suffering. You have been tormented by Satan. You have been tempted to jump off that narrow, that chuckery road. God calls you to follow. In spite of all the bouncing and trouncing still to follow our Lord.
And as we go along this narrow, this chuckery road, we do what our Lord does. This is the road that our Lord traveled. He was on this “chuckery” road to the cross. He was on this chuckery road to Jerusalem. And as he made his way to the cross, he would stop from time to time. He would stop because he found people lying in the road. He found cast aways and cast offs. He found the sick and the lame. The lepers and the sinners. He found the blind and demon possessed. And each time he stopped. As he made his way down that narrow road on his way to cross he would stop to find people. And he helped them. He reached out to them because they were lost, because they were suffering, because they were in need and in pain and he helped them. Those with weak knees regained the strength in their legs. Those who were blind regained their sight. Those who had leprosy were cleansed and made whole. Those who had sickness; cancers, tumors, infections – they were healed. And those who were helpless and harassed by Satan were set free. As Jesus bounced along that chuckery road to the cross he would stop to help those who had need.
And so we follow Jesus and we do what he did. As the road takes us by those who are sick, those who have fallen, those who grieve and mourn, those who are broken and distraught and possessed by Satan, we provide them with the healing of Jesus. We bind up their wounds, we set them free from the chains of sin and the devil, we apply the healing salve and ointment of the Gospel. As Jesus stopped along the way, so do we.
And those broken and cast away lives that Jesus stopped to heal and restore, they would join him on his journey. They would follow him and become his disciples. The would become members of his group of followers. Each time Jesus stopped, he would add one more as he traveled along the narrow road.
But there were other times that he would stop. Yes he stopped for the sick and disabled, but he would also stop to teach. As his followers looked to put the ways of the world behind them, as they had questions and needed answers, they would ask. He would answer. As he saw the need to warn them or inform them of the troubles ahead. Or as he looked to describe the kingdom he would build and the life he would create, he would tell them parables. Jesus and his followers would stop to rest along the road and during that rest he would refresh them with his word.
Jesus does the same with us. Just as his group of cast offs and misfits would pause to hear him teach, so do we pause on our Chuckery road every Sunday to hear the words of Jesus. We hear his teaching. We hear Christian preaching. We hear the law. We hear the Gospel. We bring our questions to Bible Class and we learn. Traveling along this chuckery road we pause for the Words of Jesus. And he teaches us. He helps us to learn and to grow. He feeds not just our bodies but he nourishes our souls.
And at the end of that road, when it was all said and done, the narrow path lead to the cross, where Jesus suffered and died, where he paid for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. The narrow road, the chuckery road, was the cross road.
Today, our church, St Paul Chuckery, also sits at a cross-road. Our road, is also a narrow road, a road that leads where Jesus has gone, a road that leads to the cross. We take up our cross as Jesus commands us to do and we hold it high. Here at ST Paul Chuckery we preach Christ and him crucified for sinners, for the blind and the lame and sick and the suffering who Jesus has stopped to heal along the way.
But there is a literal cross-roads. St Route 38 lies just out those doors, go south a quarter mile and you come to St Rt 161. We are quite literally at a cross roads. We are located where the roads cross. And so that is what we do; we carry the cross at the cross roads.
Guess where those roads lead. Rt 38 leads up past Fairbanks to Marysville through some farm land. You go south down 38 and you will find yourself in London. And then there's 161. You take that east you get to Plain City, to Dublin and Columbus, you take it west and you get to Irwin on your way down to Mechanicsburg or Urbana and all kinds of cities and towns in between. Those are your cities. And they are your towns. You live in them. You work in them. You go there to do your business. You have friends there. You buy your groceries, eat at their restaurants, purchase your farm implements, get your oil changed, and guess what? That guy who changes your oil, that girl who rings up your groceries, who sits in your adjacent cubicle, who brings you your coffee – that person is broken and bleeding. That person is bound up by Satan. That person needs you to stop and set her free, to bind up his wounds, introduce him to Jesus.
You have come to the cross. Now go out to the crossroads and bring back that girl, that man, that friend, that co-worker. Bring him to the cross. Bring her to cross. Because someone brought you.
The road to the cross is a narrow road. It is a chuckery road and it is not an easy road. It is a road that is lined with people who are suffering and in pain and in need of the help of Jesus. And so we follow Jesus. We follow him to the cross. We follow him on the crossroads. And as we make our way we stop to help and we receive from him the invitation to heaven.

Amen.

Sermon for August 15, 2010

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Kyrie Eleison. Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.
These are God's Words. We pray them in worship. These are the words used by the faithful in scripture when they came to the Lord in need of Help.
In the Psalms, “Hear the voice of my cries for mercy” (Psalm 28.2)
In the Gospels, those who were sick, blind, demon possessed, and just generally in need, they would come find Jesus and cry out to him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Kyrie Eleison. Christe El eison, Kyrie Eleison.
Today, we pray this prayer. Jesus Son of David, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us because we need your help. We are suffering and we don't know what to do.
Our Lord tells us that we are the Body of Christ. And when one member of his body suffers, every member suffers along with it. As a body, as the Body of the Lord in this place we are suffering... because a member of our body is suffering... because a family from our family is suffering... and we suffer along with them.
This past Wednesday a member of our family was killed suddenly in a tragic accident . Debbie was a friend of ours, a classmate, maybe even a blood relative, but more than that she was our sister in Jesus. Jesus called her and us to be Christians together. Jesus called us all to be Christians here in this community. We knew her and loved her and cared for her. Likewise we know her husband, her children. We love them and care for them. To see them suffer with this horrible loss causes us to suffer. We are, after all, members together of Christ's Body.
It's just like your body. When you stub your little toe, you limp. Your whole body limps because even this smallest member of the body suffers. When any member of Christ's body here at St Paul Chuckery suffers, we all suffer together.
Yet our little community here is not alone in our suffering. We are not the only ones and this is not the only reason. Debbie was traveling with her friend, Lynn Whattly. And while Lynn might not have been a member our church she had many connections here, many friends and loved ones. Many who are grieving her loss, together with the loss of Debbie. This grief stretches far, into many homes and into many communities.
But let us remember that we are members of Christ's Body. And Christ says that when one member suffers the whole body suffers, and that means that Christ who is our head also suffers. Remember, we are not the only ones. Christ is a part of this body too. And he suffers with us. He is not far away, detached or removed and therefore not caring or understanding our grief. He is very much a part of it. He suffers right along side us, even with groans too deep for words to express. He knows our hearts are heavy. He knows our sorrow is great. He knows it because he feels it too. Our God, the God to whom we pray and in whom we place our hope feels this sorrow together with us.
And so Jesus, our same-suffering Head, invites us to pray to Him “Lord Have mercy” He invites us to call out to him for help. And he will answer that prayer.
He answers this prayer with faith. What a wonderful answer. What a comforting gift.
After all, our Lord tells us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the assurance of things not yet seen.” Faith is the assurance given by God that even when things seem at their worst, he is near and he has provided the help we need that will accomplish our salvation. This is a good gift.

Sometimes we think that having faith means being strong, being able to hold on and hold it together, even when things get tough. But sometimes our suffering and grief brings us to our knees and for those times, such a faith seems more like a task master and a bully than a friend or a comfort. We feel like God is commanding us to trust him, like he is daring us not to.

When we are faced with tragedies like this we are always faced with questions we can't answer. Why? Why her? Why now? Why not someone else? We don't know why. God hasn't given us the answers and we would drive ourselves crazy trying to find them.
And at times like this it often seems that faith can turn in to a bully, or a task master commanding us to believe, commanding us to trust, when believing and trusting seem so difficult. Sometimes faith doesn't seem like it's much help. After all, what kind of a faith is it, if it leaves you hollow and empty when you really need it? What kind of a God is the Lord if he abandons you when you need him most and only responds by saying “Trust me. That should be enough.” That doesn't help much, does it?
Suffering is real. Grief is real. And it challenges us and it causes us to struggle. But that does not mean that God has left us in the lurch. Faith is not blind. Faith does not hold on to nothing. Faith is assurance it is confidence in God, who is our Lord, who is our Savior, and who is our friend. Faith is being sure that the God who is nearby hears our prayers and responds to our prayers and that he has greater things in store for us.
Look at our Hebrews text. Abraham. Isaac. Moses. God didn't send any one of them off on their own and coldly require of them that they follow him blindly. He gave them his Word. And His Promise. God is a god of his Word. He is a God who always makes good on his promises.
We are used to people who don't keep their promises. We think of politicians who tell you what you want to hear, or shifty salesmen who shine up the good and hides away the bad so that you don't find out you bought a lemon until you are a few miles down the road. This is not how God works and this is not what God does.
When God gives us faith, he gives to us all of the promises of His Word. His word is filled with promises. And God always keeps his promises. God promises that He loves us. God promises never to leave us or forsake us. God promises that when we are suffering, when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death he will comfort us with his rod and his staff. He promises us that our sins have been forgiven. He promises that for the sake of His Son Jesus he will bring us to heaven. He promises us that even if we die, we shall live. He promises that on the last day he will raise up all those who have died in Christ to live with him in everlasting glory. God has given to us all of these promises. Faith means we can return to these promises and still hold on to them even in the face of tragedy and know that God has not reneged, he hasn't taken his promises away nor has he turned a blind eye to our suffering. Faith means we know these promises to be true and we can hold on to every one of them even in our grief.
Faith in God and in His Word also means that we know what God is up to. We don't know every detail and we don't have every explanation to everything that happens, but we know where things are headed.
We know this world is broken. Faith teaches us that this world is filled with sin so that it behaves like that lemon sold to you by the car salesman. In spite of all his promises of what great car she was supposed to be, she isn't. Her wheels don't turn just right. Her ignition key lets out a cloud of smoke. Her climate control system leaves something to be desired.
And our God and Lord wouldn't have us stuck here like this. He would have us with him in heaven where we will be before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple;
where he will shelter us with his presence. So that we never hunger or thirst any more, so that even the sun doesn't burn but only gives warmth and light. So that he can be our Good Shepherd who leads us to drink from cool streams. So that he can set before us a banquet table with an eternal feast.
A few moments ago we quoted that scripture passage from 1 Corinthians 12 where our Lord tells us that when one member of the body suffers the whole body suffers with it. We forgot the second half of that passage. It says, when one member rejoices, the whole body rejoices together with it. At this moment there are many who are suffering. Suffering with grief and sadness, from this situation, perhaps from another. But there are also those who are rejoicing. Two in fact, who are rejoicing right now. Their joy, the cause of their joy actually began at the same moment as our grief. Wednesday afternoon. They went to be with Jesus. They are before his throne, under his care, he has cleared their eyes of every tear and he has set for them a seat at his banquet table. They are rejoicing in heaven.
And, since when one member rejoices the whole body rejoices, Christ who is our head is rejoicing. Indeed, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. He is delighting to see them before his throne and seated at his table. He is delighted to see their joy. He himself is over joyed to be with them and speak with them face to face and to get them reacquainted with past friends, to introduce them to new ones. Heaven is abuzz with celebration.
The day is coming when we will join that celebration and our joy will be as full and complete as theirs.
In the mean time we pray. “Lord Have Mercy.” “Lord we need help.” These days are more for us than we can handle. But you have given us exactly what we need.

Amen.

Pentecost 11 - Hebrews 11

People love their heroes and Buckeye fans are certainly no exception. There are plenty of names that live on as significant parts of the local lore and history. Those who have significant contributions and sizable accomplishments, who have been key players during past seasons of success. Names like Archie Griffin, Eddie George, Chris Spielman and of course Woody Hayes. Without a doubt, my simple list is sorely lacking and each of you could fill it in with many more Buckeye Hall of Fame-ers.

Point is, these names stand out. There are, after all, lots of players on lots of teams. Some good, some great, and a lot who just go out and fill their roles. But those who make the hall of fame, the guys who get talked about for years to come, they have done something special. They are champions. And therefore, they are heroes.

Our Epistle text for today is from Hebrews 11. And many people think of this chapter in a similar sort of way. It is a list of famous names from the Old Testament. We have Abel, whose gave the more acceptable sacrifice. There's Enoch who was taken up to heaven without seeing death, Noah who built the ark, Abraham, who followed the call of the Lord. Sarah, who gave birth even in her old age.

People who know the bible know these names. We learned them here in School. We learned them in Sunday School. We have heard stories about them since before we can remember. We often think of these people as heroes of the faith. The Ohio State Buckeyes has its hall of fame with its heroes who accomplished a lot and stood out above the crowd. We think of this list in the same way. Heroes. A “who's who” list. People who we should all look up to and strive to be like.

And why do we think of them in this way?

Because we haven't read the text closely enough.

Way too often, we read these verses and come away thinking “I need to be more like these guys. They had their act together.” and when we do we have missed the point. Because each one of the names on this list is no hero. They are not noted for their own accomplishments. They are no better than you or me.

They are sinners. Just like we are. The more you read the Old Testament texts the more obvious this becomes. God's Word clearly demonstrates and records the many errors and failings of these people whom we have here on this list as examples of faith. So it isn't the people. It isn't who they are and what they have done. It isn't even their faith or their practice and exercise of it; how firmly or resolutely they believed. It's not them at all.

It is God! What He has done through Christ in them that sets them apart. But not from you and me. Faith sets them apart together with you and me. Just as they received faith and are numbered in heaven among the faithful because of God's grace and because of God's favor, in the exact same way, you are set apart to be numbered and named as a hero in Heaven's hall of fame together with them. All because of what God in Christ has done in you.

Our text tells us that faith “is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.”

Have we truly understood what these verses mean? Have we truly understood the nature of the faith that Hebrews has in mind? Often we do not. Often our understanding of faith is influenced by influences other than the Word of God.

Shortly after President Obama was elected into office I had a young man tell me that our new president would help fix the problems in our nation and that he had faith that this would happen. “You just gotta believe.” he told me. For him “faith” and “believe” were synonyms for having a positive attitude or outlook on life or on a particular situation.

Things will get better. You've just gotta believe.

You can handle it, you've just gotta believe.

You can do it, you've just gotta believe.

If that is all faith is, than it isn't worth anything.

Take for example my friend who had faith that the president would fix America. Faith is only as good as its object. Faith is only as good as the thing that it's holding on to. It doesn't matter who the president might be, and it doesn't matter how sincerely you believe, there is no one alive who could step into that office and fix the country simply because you or anyone else believed he could. Rock solid faith needs a rock solid object. The only thing in this world that fits that bill, the only thing that you can count on to come through for you 100% of the time, is the promise of God that he has hidden in His Word.

The same can be said for those who tell us that we've just got to believe in ourselves. It's one thing when a coach tells a softball-star-in-training to believe in herself so that she steps into the batters box with confidence. But what about when she steps into the doctors office with cancer? Will that same confidence do her any good? What about when she steps into a broken marriage? Or a lost income? Or worse, will that same confidence that helped her hit a softball help her to overcome sin? Will it help her when she stands before Christ on the last day?

No. Faith is only as good as it's object. And faith in yourself will only get you so far. In the end you need faith in Jesus. You need faith in the one who could do it and who did. You need faith in the one who was powerful to overcome sickness and disease and who healed people left and right. In the end you need someone who is powerful to forgive sinners and who offers that forgiveness to all who believe.

Faith is only as good as it's object. And when the object of faith is Jesus, it's a faith that can't miss.

Hebrews 11 is a record of those people who had faith in Jesus. Our text tells us they believed from afar. From a long distance. God had given them the promise that Jesus would come and they believed in that promise. They took that promise to the bank. They were willing to stake their life and their eternity on the work that would be done by the One God would send. They believed the promise, and God counted it to them as righteousness.

They are listed, not because of their own accomplishments, but because of the accomplishments of Jesus.

Look at Abraham. He was nobody special. He accomplished nothing great. Nothing noteworthy. He was a pagan man who worshiped pagan gods. Until the Lord gave him a new Lord to worship. Even then, he didn't behave any better or any different than he used to. He was just as big a sinner as he was before God called him. You find that out when you read Genesis.

God promised Abraham a son. Abraham had to wait. He got tired of waiting so he took Hagar, his wife's slave girl, as a concubine and had a child with her. Ishmael. But then after a few years, God fulfilled his promise and gave as son to Abraham and Sarah, so Abraham sent Hagar his concubine and Ishmael his son into the desert to fend for themselves.

Ask yourself, does a righteous man do that? Does a good man do that? Does a man who is living his life God's way and patterning his life after God's principles do that? No! Such a thing is unconscionable even for a pagan! Abraham was a sinner.

Or what about Noah. Sure he obeyed God's word and built an ark. Sure he built an altar to God when it was all said and done, but then went out and got so drunk that he stumbled around his tent naked and passed out. His son had to come in and cover up his shame. Noah was no better than Abraham. He was no better than Abel, no Better than Sarah, no better than Enoch, no better than me, no better than you. We are all sinners.

Faith is only as good as its object. It's only as good as the thing you have faith IN. We need faith in Jesus.

When we read Hebrews 11 the word faith is always the word that stands out. “By faith Abraham, by faith Sarah... By faith Enoch...” what we miss is another word that is tucked away in there. Here our text translates that word as “Commended”. “By faith the people of old received their commendation.” “Through faith Abel was commended as righteous.” “Before Enoch was taken he was commended as having pleased God.”

That word that shows up here as “commended” is that same word that elsewhere can be translated as witness or testimony. Again, usually when we think of witness, usually when we think of testimony, we think of it as something we do. But not here. Here it is something that God does for Abraham, that God does for Enoch, that God does for Abel. God testifies on their behalf that they are righteous. That they are pleasing to him. They were great because God said so.

Now, before we mentioned the heralded accomplishments of past Buckeye greats. Guys like Archie Griffin and Woody Hayes and Eddie George. Guys who proved that they were a cut above because of all their accomplishments. Now suppose in the Buckeye hall of fame, in the hallowed halls where they keep the trophies and photographs of past teams and players, suppose one of the coaches decided that he wanted to place a gigantic photograph of his own son who played pee wee football. The kid never played for the Buckeyes, let alone accomplished anything on the football field. In fact, even when he did play on his pee wee team he sat on the bench and never made it into a game. Would a kid like that deserve to have his picture there with all the greatest players ever to wear the uniform? Of course not. Everyone who walked by would know that he was there because his dad pulled a few strings. We might even find it offensive. We might feel that it would diminish the accomplishments of those who did deserve to be there. Yet that is exactly what God has done for us.

We are sinners. We haven't done anything great. Our faith is weak. Our sins are many. Our hearts falter. Our will fails. We just can't do it. So God does it for us. God for us in Christ Jesus has won a place of honor. He has made us to be heroes and saints and children and heirs. All of our weakness, every sin we have committed, every temptation we have succumbed to. Every last guilt and shame has all been taken away. It has been counted to Jesus and we have been counted righteous. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Noah believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Enoch believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Paul believed God and it is counted to him as righteousness. You believed God and it is counted to you as righteousness. God does it all. He does the work. He gives the credit to us. He testifies, he gives witness for us that our sins are forgiven. We are commended to God as pleasing and righteous.

Amen.