August 7 2022
August 7th 2022
Old Testament: Genesis 15:1-8
Psalm: Psalm 33:12-22
Epistle: Hebrews 11:1-16
Gospel: Luke 12:22-34
Sermon Text: Hebrews 11 and Luke 12
Sermon Title: “By Faith”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“And Jesus said to His disciples, Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat; nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing”. (Luke 12:22-24) “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. (Luke 12:32) “Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. (Hebrews 11:1)
One of the circuit pastors told me recently of a fellow pastor, who when they are troubled or stressed by what is going on at their church or in their everyday lives, they go and visit one of their shut ins in order to cheer themselves up. This is so contrary to what most people think today. Most people avoid places like nursing homes, because they are seen as so depressing, and in many ways they are. But, they can also be places of great joy and encouragement, places where we see faith in Christ lived out in an otherwise bleak environment.
Visiting someone who is eager to hear the Word and receive the Sacrament is a reminder of what is most important. One of our shut ins here at St. Paul recently reminded me that no matter how many or how great the problems we face in this life; God’s gifts and grace given to us in Word and Sacrament are greater still. I went to visit to share the good news with them and they in turn shared it with me.
And as we heard last week in the parable of the Rich Fool and the warning against greed and coveting; there are much worse things than not having a lot of possessions or being sick or limited physically. For instance, lacking true faith in Christ is much worse than any of these things; or having God call you a fool for trusting in (making an idol of) your possessions and saying to you “this night your soul is required of you”. (Luke 12:20)
So, knowing that we are worried and fearful about many things in this life, (and the last several years have brought many of these fears out in the open) “Jesus said to His disciples, therefore, I tell you; do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on; for life is more than food and the body more than clothing”. (Luke 12:22-23) “For which of you by worrying can add one single hour to your span of life” (Matthew 6:27b)
Do you believe Jesus’ word this morning? Do you believe that God feeds the ravens and clothes the lilies in the field? (Luke 12:27-28) Do you believe that He “makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends the rain on the just and the unjust”? (Matthew 5:45b) Do you believe that “our Heavenly Father knows all that we need” (Luke 12:30) and that He will provide it for us?
Jesus is telling us these things are true and He never lies. He is calling us to repent of our anxiety and worry. He tells us His people, “seek first His kingdom and these things will be added unto you. Fear not little flock, It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. (Luke 12:31-32) As we just sang in the sermon hymn, “His seeming triumph o’er God’s saints, lasts but a little hour”.
Now, receiving the kingdom from Christ is not the same thing as having all of our worldly worries and fears resolved to our satisfaction; where we are all healthy, wealthy, and our lives are free from any worldly conflicts, hatred or violence. Rather, it is in the very midst of the troubles and uncertainties of this fallen/sinful world that Jesus tells us not to be anxious or worried.
He calls us to faith in Him, through the means of grace. Now, this faith is not about having a “positive attitude” towards life, or feeling good about oneself (what some call self-esteem); or having “our best life now” as some false teachers claim; (while selling millions of books at Walmart) rather it is about (as the Psalmist declared) trusting “in His holy name … that the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him”. (Psalm 33:21b, 18a)
It is about faith in Christ Jesus as our Savior from sin, death, and devil; as the writer of Hebrews declared, “Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction/evidence of things not seen”. (Hebrews 11:1) “Faith believes what it does not see, on the basis of God’s Word”. (K. Marquart, “The Saving Truth”, p. 125)
Regarding this verse, CFW Walther (the founder of our denomination) declared; (contrary to the spirit of his age and ours) “Our faith dare not be based on sight, feelings, or senses … pity the person who has become accustomed to regarding themselves as forgiven when they have pleasant feelings”. (Law and Gospel, p. 203)
As the hymn; “By Grace I’m Saved; Grace Free and Boundless” proclaims, “I cling to what my Savior taught; And trust it whether felt, or not”. Jesus also told Thomas”, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. (John 20:29) The Apostle Paul wrote “We walk by faith and not by sight”. (2nd Corinthians 5:7)
This is not some generic faith in a god of our own making. Faith must have an object and that object is Christ Jesus our Lord; (as He is taught in Holy Scripture). Faith itself is a gift of God as Paul wrote, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift … received by faith”. (Romans 3:23-25a) “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God”. (Ephesians 2:8)
Therefore, it is “by faith that we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible”. (Hebrews 11:3) Over and over in Genesis 1-2, “God said … let there be” and there was. “He commanded and they were created” (Psalm 148:5). “By the Word of the Lord, the heavens were made”. (Psalm 33:6a) “He spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm”. (Psalm 33:9)
All things were created by God out of nothing. Scripture teaches that it wasn’t until God spoke that things began to exist. The Apostle Paul wrote, “He calls into existence things that do not exist”. (Romans 4:17b) “By Him all things were created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible … all things were created through Him and for Him”. (Colossians 1:16) “For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen”. (Romans 11:36) The Apostle John also, “All things were made through Him”. (John 1:3a) We accept these Scriptural truths by faith.
It is “by this faith that the people (saints) of old received their commendation”. (Hebrews 11:2) (As we will see) They all died in the one true faith, believing in and waiting for the promised Christ whom they had not seen. “They were not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but (rather) of those who have faith and preserve their souls”. (Hebrews 10:39) Over the rest of the chapter, the author of Hebrews gives us countless examples of Old Testament saints who had such faith, beginning with Abel. He begins each example stating; “by faith”.
“By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than (his brother) Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks”. (Hebrews 11:4) It wasn’t that Abel was righteous in himself, by keeping the law of God purely, but rather that in faith, he looked forward to the Gospel promise, “which teaches that our spiritual offerings are acceptable to God through faith, for Christ’s sake”. (FC, SD, Article VI, par. 22) Luther put it quite directly, “The sacrifice of Abel was better, because he believed” and “good works cannot exist where unbelief dwells”.
Likewise, “by faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him. (to heaven without dying) Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God”. (Hebrews 11:5) But how did he please God? “By faith … for without faith it is impossible to please Him; for whoever would draw near to God, must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him”. (Hebrews 11:6)
Therefore, it is taught in our confessions, good works are “not pleasing to God, except in those who are justified on account of faith”. (Apology, Article IV, par. 362d) “Without true faith, human nature does not call upon God, accept anything from God, or bear the cross, but seeks and trust in human help”. (A C XX, par. 37) As Christ Himself said, “Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from Me, you can do nothing”. (John 15:5)
“By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this, he condemned the (unbelieving) world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith”. (Hebrews 11:7) Noah trusted God’s Word and promise, not knowing the future, preaching repentance for 120 years before the ark was closed up. Noah feared and trusted in the Lord more than he feared the reactions of the evil world around him.
“By faith, Abraham obeyed, when he was called out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, (by faith) not knowing where he was going. By faith, he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land … for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God”. (Hebrews 11:8-10) In faith, Abraham was looking forward to what Paul calls “the Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:36a) and John calls “the holy city, the new Jerusalem”. (Revelation 21:2a) Elsewhere, the writer of Hebrews also calls it “Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”. (Hebrews 12:22)
By faith, Sarah herself received the power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore”. (Hebrews 11:11-12) They had faith in God’s gracious promise, despite the fact that it must have seemed utterly impossible to them.
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus, make it clear that they are seeking a homeland”. (Hebrews 11:13-14) As the hymn writer stated, “I am but a stranger here. Heaven is my home”.
“If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have opportunity to return; but as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. For He has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:15-16) as Jesus promised, “I go to prepare a place for you … and I will come again to take you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also”. (John 14:2b-3)
Again, these saints of old were not commended because of their own righteousness, but because of the righteousness they received “by faith” in Christ, who by His all-atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world and His glorious bodily resurrection on the third day, won forgiveness of sins, life and salvation for all people.
We too have no righteousness of our own to bring before God by which to earn our salvation; we are indeed “poor, miserable sinners” as we confess each week; but through/by faith in the crucified and risen Christ, we have received His undeserved gifts of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Therefore, we will trust in Christ despite difficult outward circumstances, even when everything in our lives seems to be falling apart.
For, we believe His promise “that nothing in all creation; (not tribulation or distress, or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword; not even death) will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:39b) So, “Fear not, little flock, it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. (Luke 12:32) Amen. “The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting”. (Philippians 4:7)