11 Pentecost 07 Proper 14

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

During a flight between New York and Chicago, the captain made this announcement over the plane’s intercom: “Our number four engine has just been shut off because of mechanical trouble. There is nothing to worry about, however, we can still finish the flight with just three engines, and besides, you will be reassured to know that we have four bishops on board.” An 86-year-old lady called the flight attendant and said, “Would you please tell the captain that I would rather have four engines and three bishops?”

Like this elderly passenger, most Americans probably place more value in security than in faith, but without faith society would collapse, life would fold up, fear would rise up, and the people would give up.

Recently we have been hearing about the tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis. We were surprised that a bridge of this size could just collapse. However, I read an article a number of years ago which said that there are some 150 bridge collapses each year and that one-fifth of our half-million bridges are deficient for carrying vehicles,. Without faith, Americans would be afraid even to drive their cars.

In an age when knowledge and reason reign supreme, faith may be conceived as an obsolete faculty of the human mind. However, knowledge and reason cannot solve the moral dilemmas of humanity nor provide the meaning of human existence. I read parts of a book by Phil Donohue a number of years ago entitled, The Human Animal. While I disagreed with many of his conclusions, I did appreciate a quote he had in the book from a professor Langdon Gilkey form the University of Chicago. Gilkey said, “The function of the religious traditions in every culture has been to achieve some kind of basic…understanding of the human. Who am I? What am I here for? What should I do? What fulfills me? Scientists who think science has answered these questions are mistaken.”

In the Bodleian Library at Oxford, there is a significant document containing these words: “It is impossible for the Word of God as written in the book of nature and God’s Word written, the Holy Scripture, to contradict one another.” This remarkable declaration was signed by 800 foremost scientists, British University professors, and research experts. Albert Einstein once said, “Science and religion are not merely compatible, they are complementary.”

Yes, there is room for both knowledge and faith. Without faith, we cannot fully enjoy and appreciate the blessings of life.

While sightseeing the western states on a bus tour, a cynical old man criticized the beauty of every natural monument – the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, etc. Finally, the bus driver, who could stand it no longer, turned and said, “Listen, mister, if you haven’t got it on the inside, you can’t see it on the outside!” Faith is the inner eye which enables us to see the beauty in nature and in people; it enables us to see the rainbow of hope in the midst of life’s storms.

Someone has offered this erroneous definition of faith: “The ability to believe in something without evidence.” Faith is always based upon evidence although it may not be in the form of scientific data. God’s handiwork in creation, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the miracles and growth of the first century Church, and the change that it produced in the hearts of converted men and women are all bits of evidence that God does exist and that He intervenes in the lives of people.

In our second lesson from Hebrews 11 we see what is sometimes referred to as the “Faith chapter,” or the “Hall of Faith.” This passage identifies several characteristics of true faith:

1. FAITH SEES THE INVISIBLE. A young man lost both eyes in an explosion in World War II. When a British entertainer attempted to comfort him, the soldier said, “It doesn’t really matter, I’m going to be a minister some day, and you don’t have to have eyes to see God.” When the Russian Cosmonaut Gherman Titov returned from space he said, “I looked for God but I didn’t see him.” However, when American astronaut James McDivitt returned, his statement was vastly different, “ I did not see God looking into my space cabin window…but I could recognize His work in the stars…” Unlike the Russian Cosmonaut, McDivitt possessed the inner eye of faith.

2. FAITH HEARS THE INAUDIBLE. There are over 9000 radio signals in the metroplex, but without the aid of radio equipment, the words and music go undetected by us. There are not what are called HD stations that are in detectible by regular radio stations, but require a special HD radio. Likewise, faith is the faculty that enables us to sense God’s direction and reassurance. It is what the Bible calls that “still small voice” that faith allows us to hear.

3. FAITH BELIEVESS THE INCREDIBLE. Many say, “I just cannot believe in things like miracles, or in Heaven or eternity. I can’t believe in the story of creation.” Hebrews 11 answers, “By faith we understand that the world was created by the Word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.” Later on in the reading today we hear these words, “God has prepared for us a city.” Faith realizes we are not of this world by have a city waiting for us when we die.

4. FAITH THINKS THE UNTHINKABLE. While doubters and pessimists are declaring, “It’s impossible, it can never be done,” the person of faith is thinking of ways to accomplish what the cynics refuse to consider. Some would say, “It is impossible for St. Anne’s to grow.” The people of faith say, “With God, nothing is impossible.”

5. FAITH ACCOMPLISHES THE IMPOSSIBLE. After faith thinks the unthinkable, it accomplishes the impossible. According to Charles Haddon Spurgeon, God delights in impossibilities: “One man says, ‘I will do as much as I can. Any fool can do that. He that believes in Christ does what he cannot do, attempts the impossible, and performs it.” And of course, it was Jesus who said, “…if you have faith as a grain of mustard see…nothing shall be impossible unto you.

6. FAITH INHERITS THE INDESTRUCTIBLE. In our gospel lesson today we read that only treasurers stored in Heaven are protected from rust, moths, thieves, inflation and taxes. It is faith manifested through our acts of service that inherits these eternal and indestructible rewards. You may not realize it but Christians are by far the most generous givers percentage wise of any group of people. Why? Because our faith motivates us to want to serve our Lord by serving others with our time, talent and treasure.

Faith is an aptitude which can increase in strength and improve in quality when properly exercised. The greatest faith one can achieve is the ability to believe when God’s voice is silent and His hand is still. A victim of the German holocaust scratched these words into the crumbling wall of his broken before his death: “I believe in the sun – even when it does not shine; I believe in love – even when it is not shown; I believe in God – even when he does not speak.”

You might say to me, “I believe what you are saying about faith, but what I want to know is , how can I get more faith?” You will be glad to know that the Bible tells us how to have more faith.

Romans 10 tells us that “faith comes by hearing the message of God.” We first must believe that God is real, that Jesus is alive and that he is still speaking to us today. The main way God speaks to us is through his written word. That means that as we, as the Prayer Book says, “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the scriptures then we will find that faith begins to rise within us. We can also read the accounts of the great saints of faith listed in Hebrews 11.

As we get God’s word into us He begins to speak to us in ways that cause faith to rise. For example, when Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about your life,” we can find that because we know he is alive, that he cares about us and has a plan for our life, then we can actually stop worrying. Romans 8 reminds us that “all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.”

If we have faith in God and in his Word then when we read “Do not be anxious,” we can actually stop worrying because we know that God cares for us and will lead us.

Many people today are worried about what is going to happen to the Episcopal Church – will be still be a part of the Anglican Communion? Will this diocese be a part of the Episcopal Church? How will all of this affect St. Anne’s church? Will we be able to grow?

The message today is to have faith in God. I am not asking you to have faith in faith, but faith in God who loves us with an everlasting love and through whom we can accomplish what we cannot see, hear the inaudible, and do what seems incredible, unthinkable, and impossible.