Unwavering faith
Sermon preached in St Salvator's Chapel, St Andrews on Sunday, 15th November 2009 by Phyllis Thompson
Readings: Habukkuk 3: 17-19 Hebrews 10: 19-25
There is a tendency now to speak of faith communities - when Moslems get a mention in the news, or when we walk pass a Hindu temple or reflect on a Buddhist artefact.
One impact this has on us as Christians is the challenge to clarify our faith.
Habakkuk had a lot to say about faith. His book as we have it offers a wonderful description of what faith feels and looks like; how we grow faith; strategies for overcoming doubt and what faith can accomplish.
In Chapter 1 - Habakkuk reflection on the plight of his nation leads him into an emotional, intellectual and theological wobbly! Do you have these moments? What is this faith thing all about and he cries out to God - Where are you God? Why don't you do something to stop all the evil and wickedness around us?
Habakkuk, however, has the kind of relationship with his God where he could unburden himself to Him. Perhaps God was his first port-of-call or maybe his last point of reference - you know after he had checked the views of the 'intellectuals', the 'opinion formers' of his days.
In this chapter, we see him taking time out to ask God questions and hear God's answers to his questions.
In chapter 2 - Habakkuk's faith takes root - which comes about with three resolutions in 2v1:
I will stand my watch.
In today's speak - I will set aside time for prayer, conversations, reading, meditation, to study scriptures, fasting and praying. Prayer and fasting are disciplines that work. My own experience bears witness to this and I would encourage you to give this some further consideration.
I will watch and see what he will say to me.
I anticipate an answer - God still speaks today! Do you know His voice? ¿ that inner voice of the Spirit of God that speaks through the Bible, a sense of peace, Godly counsel, visions, dreams or through circumstances, nature and art for example.
I will respond to the challenges of his word,
Allow God to lead him into a confident life of faith - encapsulated in 2:4 - 'the just shall live by faith'
James 1v17 states that faith by itself is dead. Faith is more than feelings, good intentions and words. Faith is a lifestyle rooted in a Spiritled conviction and the supernatural ability to believe God without a doubt even in the midst of adversity.
In the final chapter, 3:17-19 Habakkuk illustrates unwavering faith:
'Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls-
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills. [NKJV]
Though times are hard/uncertain/not as I hoped, I will rejoice in the knowledge of my God who will bring about a new beginning, bring me into new places, lead me into a higher destiny.
Faith looks beyond the immediate and this is the challenge to you and me today.
God is concerned about our personal journeys of faith as much as he is about the journeys of our faith communities.
In 1997 or there about I was made redundant. Just at a time when I thought all was going well. The local papers had featured my work, government officials from overseas had paid us a visit to observe the way we worked, I had the respect and confidence of my staff. I was coasting! You cannot imagine the shock, disbelief, anger and fear that I experienced initially. However, I allowed my self to be encouraged with the words of the song 'We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure whilst the billows roll'. And I held on to Jeremiah 29v 11 which has become one of my life-text.
For I know the thoughts that I have toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Barack Obama popularised the term 'audacious hope' - daring, bold, confident hope.
What drives audacious hope? The writer of Hebrews 11 v1 tells us:
'Faith is the substance of hope!'
'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'
What I couldn't see but the eyes of faith could see are these:
- I received redundancy payment which enabled me to sort out my finances
- I was free to accept an invitation to go to Zimbabwe to work and have a holiday that summer.
- I was offered another job of comparable status in another college to start in that September!
- All of these provided significant stepping stones to where I am today in my practice of ministry.
Bob Gass, the writer of the daily devotional Word for Today, says, 'God's plans do not have expiry dates!' God is faithful. One of His gifts to us is unwavering faith. May each of our lives be a story of unwavering faith.
The Rev Phyllis Thompson
15 November 2009