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Sunday Sermons
Sermon: 10-7-07, Pentecost season
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: “Living By Faith”
Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Theme: faith leads to faithfulness
Introduction
Living by faith. It sounds like a good sermon title, doesn’t it? It’s something we’d expect to hear about in a Lutheran church on Sunday morning, right? After all, Martin Luther forcefully reminded us of sola fides – faith alone: We are saved from sin and death by God’s grace alone, through faith alone. That’s good Lutheran theology!
But, transforming good theology into good practice is a bit more complicated! It’s an ancient calling, and we hear it again in today’s OT lesson (Habakkuk 2): “…the righteous live by their faith.” (Habbakuk prophesied during a time of Covenant rejection, corruption and spiritual apathy in Israel – late 7th cent. – just before the invasion of the Babylonians and Exile in Babylon)
Point
According to my Red Calendar Book, last week we had two commemorations that serve as examples of what it means to live by faith: Francis of Assisi and Theodor Fliedner.
Saint Francis of Assisi, a 12th and 13th century renewer of the Church, was the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans. He is known as the patron saint of animals, birds, and the environment, and it’s customary for churches to commemorate his life on October 4. Francis was one of seven children and baptized as Giovanni di Bernardone in honor of Saint John the Baptist, in the hope he would grow to be a great religious leader. His father, however, did not want his son to be a man of the Church. But, Francis was rebellious toward his father’s business and pursuit of wealth, instead becoming focused on ministering to the poor. It is said that when he was asked if he was thinking of marrying, he answered, “Yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen” – meaning his “lady poverty“, as he used to say. Francis spent much time in lonely places, and he began to care for lepers.
As the story goes, Francis eventually heard a sermon that changed his life, based on Matthew 10:9, in which Christ tells his followers that they should go forth and proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven was upon them, that they should take no money with them, not even a walking stick or shoes for the road. Francis was inspired to devote himself completely to a life of poverty. Other companions joined him, and the community lived as “lesser brothers,” yet Francis chose never to be ordained a priest.
Francis’s attitude towards the natural world was conventionally Christian. He believed that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of the sin of man. He preached about the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God and the duty to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of God’s creation and as creatures ourselves.
Theodor Fliedner, a 19th century renewer of society, is also commemorated on October 4th. Fliedner was a Lutheran pastor in Germany and founder of Lutheran deaconess training. Following the model of the deacons of the early Christian Church, Fliedner developed a plan to train young women to care for the needy and sick. To do this, he needed to create an institute where the women could learn theology and nursing skills, and he opened a hospital and deaconess training center in 1836. By the time of his death in 1864, there were 30 motherhouses and 1,600 deaconesses worldwide. By the middle of the 20th century, there were over 35,000 deaconesses serving in parishes, schools, hospitals, and prisons throughout the world.
A sign of the international respect Fliedner gained is that his most famous student was a crusading health care reformer from England by the name of Florence Nightingale.
The prophet Habakkuk said long ago: “…the righteous live by their faith.” And so we celebrate the examples of St. Francis, Theodor Fliedner, and many others, as we also live by faith today.
Problem
But, living by faith is a daily, inconsistent, and often a sloppy experience. Sometimes we are unfaithful. Sometimes, the full reality of our confession crushes us: we know that we have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed.
About a week ago, when I was in Russia, our group was in a van driving to the airport. In the middle of a massive Moscow traffic jam, we were crossing a bridge over what looked like a large river. But, Pastor Alexandr Raeder informed me that it was not a river, but instead, it was the Moscow Canal, constructed by Soviet gulag prisoners during the Stalin era, from 1932-1937. He told me that thousands prisoners died during construction of the Moscow Canal, and he referred to it as a river of blood. Christians suffered greatly during the Communist regime in Russia, yet the Church survived and has continued as a living testimony to what it means to live by faith.
Power
Many centuries after the prophet Habakkuk, the Christian apostle, Paul, took the notion of living by faith much farther. The prophet spoke of ethical behavior that was pleasing to God. But Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans (1:16-17): “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Yes, living in a right and good relationship with God means putting our faith, confidence, and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And that faith leads to faithfulness, a life of God-pleasing behavior where we seek to serve our neighbor in Jesus’ name.
Today’s Gospel – Luke 17 – gives us a great example of what that means. In v.5 we read that the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” But, why did they make that urgent request? To understand that, we have to go back to v.1-4, where Jesus said: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
Forgiveness, especially repeated forgiveness, is tough to do, and it requires faith, and faithfulness. And so the disciples made their urgent appeal to Jesus: “Increase our faith!”
May that be our fervent prayer, too! “Increase our faith!”
Conclusion
So, please join me in prayer…
In the midst of our doubts, Lord, “Increase our faith!”
When we have opportunities to witness to your love, Lord, “Increase our faith!”
When fear weighs us down, Lord, “Increase our faith!”
When we succumb to apathy, Lord, “Increase our faith!”
When we are faithful, Lord, “Increase our faith!” Amen.
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