Photo by Jessica Perrault
Last night, I gave my first sermon to the youth. I talked about what is faith, and what faith in action looks like.
Faith is Going
- 1 Samuel 14.1-15 tells the story of Jonathan and his armor bearer leaving his fathers camp to go to the Philistines outpost. Once they arrive, they see the Philistines off in the distance. Jonathan says to his armor bearer, "We will cross over and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then we will stop and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up. That will be the Lord’s sign that he will help us defeat them.”
- Jonathan goes by faith. He doesn't sit around and just wait for something to happen. He could have easily sat back and hung out in his father's camp with the 600 other men. He could have had comfort and security. But he choose to act. It was only him and his armor bearer. Against 20 men. Who in their right mind would think of doing that?!
- He doesn't go blindly into it either. Once they arrive, they see the Philistines off in the distance. Jonathan then asks the LORD for a sign and tells his armor bearer. Once they go up to them, the LORD delivers them that sign.
- When the LORD give's them the sign, he obeys it, he goes and has confidence knowing they will defeat them. He doesn't second guess himself. He doesn't doubt or say, "Well I don't know if that was really a sign or not. How about you give me another." No, he sees it, and he takes it.
- Mark 12.41-44 is the story when Jesus is sitting by the collection box in the temple. All the rich come by and put in large amounts. Then a poor widow comes and gives 2 small coins. 2! But Jesus says to his disciples, "“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions.For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
- As the rich came, they only gave what was required, what was asked of them. But this poor widow comes, and gives all she has to live on. Similarly to Jonathan, she gives up any comfort and security she has by giving everything.
- In Matthew 19.16-30, Jesus encounters a rich man who asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds telling him to sell all his possessions and giving to the poor. This made the rich man sad, and he turned away because he had many possessions. Similarly, Jesus calls us to be willing to give all we have, not just our money or possessions, but our time and even our very lives, to follow Him.
- To sum it all up, faith is action. Hebrews 11 is a great example of this. Verse after verse, examples are given of people acting out on faith, even when things seem impossible or hard to do. Story after story you see people having faith and acting on God's call to them, by going and giving, everything they have to glorify Him.
- Hebrews 11.6 says, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him" It's not enough to just say you believe in God. James 2.19 says, "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.* Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror." Basically, James is writing, so what if you believe? Demons believe that but they aren't followers of God. So what are you doing that sets you apart from them?
How are you showing your faith?