Sermon Title: Faith Made Simple
Sermon Text: Philippians 3:7-14
Sermon Date: February 21, 2010
Scripture
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! 12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
MESSAGE
In Greek mythology, the Sphinx sat outside of Thebes and asked this riddle of all travelers who passed by. If the traveler failed to solve the riddle, then the Sphinx killed him/her. And if the traveler answered the riddle correctly, then the Sphinx would destroy herself. The riddle:
What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?
Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx destroyed herself.
The solution: A man, who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age.
Of course morning, noon, and night are metaphors for the times in a man's (person's) life. Such metaphors are common in riddles. (There were two Thebes, apparently this Thebes was the one in Greece. And this Sphinx was apparently not the one at Giza, in Egypt.) (wikianswers.com)
Our faith journeys are much like this riddle. As a child we learn about our parents’ faith. As young people, our faith becomes our own and, if we are lucky, we are in an environment that encourages us to ask questions and pursue answers. As we grow even older, it can become something that offers us great comfort, something to fall back on.
In preparation for this week’s sermon I went to Facebook to do some research.
Facebook is a virtual community where “friends” gather and talk about things, play games, meet new people and share ideas and have discussions.
For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, I’ll call on my “friend” Rod to bring up my profile page on my Facebook page.
Look at the elements:
1. profile picture – me in Padua Italy
2. my status line – whatever I want to say, usually done to provoke answers.
3. info about me that I am willing to share
4. who my friends are
5. discussions!
On Monday I posted this as my status line: Peg Nowling is
I can rarely answer these type of questions but "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" is definitely mine - "Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth...strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow" - growing up I had a youth leader severely injured (including brain damage) in a car accident. Back at church a year later, even though she could hardly talk or walk, I watched her mouth the words to this hymn as the organ played. Has always stuck with me! [Thanks for the holy memory on a Monday morning]
SHARE OTHERS HERE.
Some dislike virtual communities like Facebook, but I love how I can connect with Debbie Kelsey in Italy or you in Lafayette. I stay in touch with friends all around the world, via this virtual community called Facebook. And it is fun. I love it.
You see, connecting with people has changed. When this church was built the pastor could drop in on people at will. Today people are either not home or uncomfortable with me just dropping in. I need to call first. And if you are in the younger set, you’d just as soon we meet at Panera’s for coffee instead.
I have enlightening conversations with people via email and telephone calls. No longer is the expectation that every meaningful conversation must be face to face.
Sometime ago I had an email from a man in Indianapolis who wanted to ask some faith questions. For several days we went back and forth about my understanding of God, Jesus and being a woman in ministry. Then he was gone. I was there for “a time such as this,” just like Esther. It happens.
Religious faith, if seen honestly and openly, is simply our belief in God. It is about trusting God to be present in our lives, regardless of our flaws and faults, regardless of our doubts and questions, regardless of anything, quite frankly. However, our faith journey is something that opens the door for more intimacy. More engagement. More silence. (Remember that I asked you last week to spend some time in silence with God…..to have more intimacy with God. To enhance your faith journey. I hope you did so.)
Paul says that we become righteous through our faith in God. We should stay in the race and not bail out; we should let go of the things that haunt us and let God bring holiness into our lives. We should live by faith, love by faith and desire for our faith journeys to grow and deepen as we go from four legs to two legs to three legs. As we grow in years, we should grow in God too. And while we can have questions and great discussions about the ways of God, we shouldn’t let those get in the way of having pure faith, absolute trust in God.
Don’t make faith harder than it needs to be. Don’t put so many strings on having faith that the strings get in the way of finding the gift of grace that comes with faith. Faith is believing in God and accepting that God believes in you.
No one confused me more in seminary than the great Swiss-German theologian Karl Barth who wrote some of the most complex and complicated theology out there. Many years ago Dr. Barth delivered one of the closing lectures of his life at the University of Chicago Divinity School. At the end of the lecture, the president of the seminary told the audience that Dr. Barth was not well and was very tired, and though he thought Dr. Barth would like to open for questions, he probably could not handle the strain. Then he said, "Therefore, I'll ask just one question on behalf of all of us." He turned to Barth and asked, "Of all the theological insights you have ever had, which do you consider to be the greatest of them all?"
This was a remarkable question to ask a man who had written tens of thousands of pages of some of the most sophisticated theology ever put on paper. The students sat with pads and pencils ready. They wanted to jot down the premier insight of the greatest theologian of their time.
Karl Barth closed his eyes and though for a while. then he smiled, opened his eyes, and said to the young seminarians, "The greatest theological insight that I have ever had is this: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!" (http://sivinkit.net/archives/000643.html)
If it was good enough for Karl Barth, it is good enough for us. Let’s sing as our invitational hymn “Jesus Loves Me.”