"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." -- Hebrews 11:1

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, 'move from here to there' and it will move."

 

         There seem to be three pathways that people take to personal faith in Christ. Some people come to Christ primarily through an experience of grace. In this way the emotions are prominent. One feels the love of God, one experiences joy, forgiveness, peace. There is an inner assurance after a time of turmoil.

         The second way to faith is through the discovery of the truth of Christ. This comes more through the mind and reason. People come to faith by studying the scripture, or by conversations with a believer that lead to persuasion. This approach leads to peace and often a steady faith that holds well over time.

         The third path to faith is doing the will of God. Some people find God through the hands and feet. They come to understand the love of God when they see love expressed to people in need. I have heard of unbelievers who go with a church group on a mission trip and are so moved by the experience that they come to faith. Raymond Brown writes, "Faith does not merely agree with God's Word, but acts on it." Doing God's will draws us to Christ.

         I think we would agree that these three are not separate or exclusive of each other. In fact, all faith probably comes from some combination of the three. There must be some reason for us to believe, some experience of God's love, some practical expression of God's love for the world that draws us to Christ.

         My own coming to faith was a combination of all three. First, at Bible camp, an experience of God's love and a time of commitment to Christ in response to an invitation. Out of that experience of grace I began to read the Bible more. In the years following I have had a number of experiences with Christ which have been very emotional, where I have felt God's presence and care.

         The second part of my coming to faith was what I described two weeks ago, a resolution of intellectual doubts and confusion, a kind of resting in the truth of Christ. Out of that came a sense of inner peace that led me to want to serve Christ. Then in experiences of doing the will of God I came to believe in Christ more firmly and know his faithfulness. But that came in a surprising way for me.

         Just after college I started to serve as a youth minister at a church in Naugatuck, Connecticut. I had no idea what I was doing. They were without a pastor at the time, and when I began I had one week of seminary under my belt.

         My first big project for the Lord was a complete failure. There was a great deal of talk those days about how good it would be to recycle materials and not throw everything away. So I got the idea of collecting pop cans with the youth group and bringing them to a recycling center and at the same time doing a study on Creation and the care of the earth. We filled the parsonage garage with cans, so we were quite successful in the collecting stage. But when the new pastor arrived, the trustees told me it was time to move the cans along. That is when I found out that I was just a few years ahead of the reality of recycling centers, and there was no place yet ready to receive cans. So one Saturday morning I borrowed Sylvia Hammer's big station wagon and took many trips to the dump. I began my service of God with a failure.

         The disciples of Jesus also failed in one of their first attempts to do God's will. While Jesus was away, the disciples tried to meet the request of a man whose son was possessed by a demon. They thought they could cast it out, but they were unsuccessful. The man then went to Jesus, who rebuked the demon and healed the boy.

         The disciples were puzzled by their failure. They asked Jesus why they failed. What they experienced was actually quite typical of our first attempts to do God's will. Normally we fail. We are frightened by failure. But it is failure that brings us to faith in Christ. When the disciples asked Jesus why they could not drive out the demon, he said it was because they had "little faith." Then he told them they would need faith as a mustard seed. That is confusing, because a mustard seed is very small too. What did he mean?

         The word "little faith" is found a number of times in the Gospels, and it is connected to worry, fear and doubt.

• In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the people to trust God to provide for them, for "he will much more clothe you, o you of little faith. So do not worry . . ."
• In chapter 8, he says, during a storm, "O you of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he calmed the wind and the waves.
• In chapter 14, he meets the disciples one night on the water, as the wind is against them. Peter walks to him on the water, but he becomes afraid when he sees the wind. "Lord, save me!" And Jesus said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt."

         So "little faith" is really a lack of faith, a reliance on self, that turns to worry, fear and doubt in life's storms. That is where a lot of folks are right now. The financial storms have shaken what had seemed to be a steady foundation, and in such times our "little faith" seems to evaporate.

         Isn't it interesting that Jesus calls the disciples, and us, not to great, bold faith, but to faith like a tiny mustard seed? What is the difference? Mustard-seed faith is effective faith. It is not a commodity, but it is a relationship. It is confidence in God through the difficult time, because God is the one who promises to be with us. "Little Faith" is relying on our own strength and calling it "faith." Mustard-seed faith is acting in God's strength, because we know the one in whom we have believed. He is able.

         What is it then, that moves us from the "little faith" of self-reliance, to mustard-seed faith, to serving God in a way that draws us to believe in Christ? The first thing is making a commitment to get involved in a ministry that gets you involved directly with serving people, face to face, by the power of God. Some years ago, a young theology student from Colombia lived with us while he was learning English. Eventually he met his goals and earned a Ph.D. in theology, and now he and his wife live in Chile where he is a missionary with the Free Methodist Church. A year or so ago they were traveling in the United States, raising support from churches. This is what he wrote one day,

         "When we were in Texas we wrote about our experiences in border towns. We wrote about the injustice of the system and about the need to so love to those people who are seeking the opportunity for a better life. Sadly, the further north we drove the less affected by it I seemed to be. Isn't that usually the case, the farther you remove yourself from injustice, the less it hurts you personally and the more likely you are to do nothing. Unless the people are real to you, you don't feel any urgency for action."

         "Unless the people are real to you . . ." I have found that when we get involved in ministry, and people become real to us, that is when Jesus becomes real to us as well. It is so easy to believe in an imaginary Jesus. We distort the Gospel to make Jesus fit our needs and our desires. But when people in need become real to you, that is when Jesus becomes real.

         The other lesson we learn through mustard-seed faith is to be willing to wait, to persevere. Faith is not "instant" or in a hurry. It is when you are willing to learn from Jesus that you discover he is faithful to you. Our initial failures can become successes if we do not give up too quickly.

         Douglas Hall writes in his book "Why Christian?":

         "What is faith?

         "It is faith in, not faith that.

         "It is trust, not certitude.

         "It is love that leads to acts of compassion."

The invitation today is for you to commit yourself to doing the will of God, to finding a way in which you can work with God and in God's power. Then you will meet Jesus, and learn from him.

         Amen.