Delivered on Sunday 28 February, 2010
by Rev Dr John Evans
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35
Today in our journeying towards Easter through this season of Lent and at the same time journeying to the celebration marking the establishment our congregation 150 years ago, I want to consider the role and the place of faith. Faith, like the faith of Abraham, which became the great model for Paul in his letter to the Romans and we read about today. And the faith of our forebears here at Church of All Nations is also important.
However, first some history. Like many new congregations we began as an offshoot of another congregation – this time the Lonsdale St, Wesley Church. Our congregation first met on Easter Saturday, 1860 – 7 April – in William Jones’ shop on Lygon St, just north of Grattan Street. Already this land had been acquired, and it would not be long before the first brick church was built on this site – indeed next door to the church today, where the Can Centre now stands. To begin with we were just a part of the Melbourne West Circuit; however, in 1865 the first minister was assigned to the Carlton Wesleyan Church.
All of this is just by way of introduction to one of the most marvellous quotes that comes from the commemorative book that David, Paul and others have been working on. The first minister specifically for our congregation was the Reverend Ebenezer Taylor. The Carlton Jubilee Souvenir, celebrating 50 years here, said this of our friend Ebenezer:
“A man of simplicity and Godly sincerity, his few talents were so employed that he was much more useful than some ministers who have had many talents.”
Just in case you are a little worried here, old Ebenezer was dead when these comments were written.
“A man of simplicity and Godly sincerity, his few talents were so employed that he was much more useful than some ministers who have had many talents.”
Here was our first minister; not quite an auspicious description of one of our founders – however, through this man “with few talents”, although we assume with a deep faith (his Godly sincerity), we became established in those early years.
Abram, as he was then known, was called by God in a vision to found a new community of God’s people; to actually begin a family and through these descendants and their descendants, emerge as new nation. The only trouble was Abram was very old, his wife Sarai also was old and indeed had been barren. It would seem the Abram was a little like our friend Ebenezer, he lacked a little in the talent department; especially the talent department for establishing a mighty nation more numerous the stars.
Abram and Sarai however, had faith; Ebenezer also had faith (or as it was said “through simplicity and Godly sincerity”) at the beginning of our life together. Abraham had faith this promise would come to pass – and it did. Isaac was born. Indeed our writer suggests that this faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness by God”. Certainly the apostle Paul seized on this quote in our reading from Romans, to show in his argument that indeed what we believe, have faith in, is more significant than what we might do – especially in the keeping of religious law and ritual.
However, I jump ahead.
What is this thing called faith. F.A.I.T.H. Are we talking just about the faith, the Christian faith – what Christian say they believe – a body of principles and rules; and what may that have to do with my faith, what I actually believe. But what is faith anyway? Is faith opposite to doubt? Now we may all have doubts, nagging doubts – perhaps over the story that a man almost 100 and his wife of 90 could have a child. Sarah’s falling down in laughter would perhaps be our response too. So does doubt negate faith – or can there still be some underlying faith. Or is faith the opposite of reason . . . rationality, or science. Is faith something you have or you have to appeal to when you cannot seem to prove or establish something by any other means? Faith just fulls the gaps in our lives. And then we might say faith is not even filling the gaps – it is blind faith. There is no reliance at all on our senses or what we might experience.
Today I want to suggest that faith is really just another way of knowing. How do you know something – how do you know you know something? You might say, I know it because I see it or hear it with my own eyes or ears. But then I guess you have to trust, have faith in, your own eyes and ears that you are seeing or hearing correctly. Belief and faith pop up everywhere – and not just when we think of spiritual or religious matters. To use the contemporary example of climate change. Science we thought once was science – but it is clear for some they do not believe in climate science. In fact we use the word to describe them is sceptics. There are believers and non believers about all sorts of things – even science. Indeed everything in our life has an element of faith.
It may thus be helpful to ask a different sort of question. Why is it that you have faith in something? What is the purpose of faith? As I stand here I have faith in this lectern and its structure – it is not going to collapse when I lean on it. It is a reasonably grounded faith – I have leant on it before and it didn’t collapse, it looks substantial, sounds substantial. I have faith in the strength of this lectern. My faith leads me confidently to stand in front of you and address you . . . my faith leads to something – it leads to some action. You see, if I had no faith in this lectern, like someone during the night might have booby trapped it, or that it will collapse because of white ants – my lack of faith would lead me to behave very differently. I would become anxious, nervous – I think it would show. Literally would say I lacked confidence. . . an English word joing the Latin words – “with” and “faith”.
We see the importance of faith starkly when we say we have faith, or might use the word trust, in people. We have faith in, we trust, our children, or spouse or the pilot of the plane or our insulation installer to use a topical vocation. We trust our children – say as we pack them off to school or university or whatever, because we see no future in us treating our children just as little robots, always being under our control and direction; and us always having to check up on them. The goal actually is to have a relationship with them as an adult to and adult: in which you love them and they love you out of their own free will. If there is no faith or trust in each other, the relationship is different. It becomes hedged around with conditions (now come home by 11 pm or else); or it’s forged only out of grudging duty, or even worse, fear.
So what do we make of faith or trust in God? Perhaps it is that there are just the inexplicable things within this world of ours that lead you to feelings, and ideas, that must come from beyond yourself. The beauty of a sunrise or sunset; the heart melting smile of a child; the amazing strength, even beauty, of love between two people, or courage, or loyalty; or the haunting sound of a bird, or of a cello, or the sea, or perhaps it is the patterns within the chaos of life or so on. We who gather here are spiritual people – and have had surely had such moments – and those moments lead you to ponder, and indeed trust, to have faith, there is a God. … indeed a God of Abraham and Sarah and Isaac. And why would we have such a trust or faith in God? Well we would wish to have this trust or faith because it is seen to be a good thing of which you want to be a part of, you want to enjoy these things of which I have just spoken, or as the old catechism says – ‘you want to enjoy God forever”. We want to have, like with our children, faith in God, so there may be a relationship with God. Indeed at the beginning of our passage from Genesis – this relationship is described: God says “I am your shield, I am your reward – your reward will be very great”.
I suspect all of this is a bit abstract – waffly – but let us look back at what Genesis 15 said about Abraham’s faith, and what Paul in turn said of him and this faith. His faith in this relationship remained – even when it was revealed that it might take a strange turn, and he would be a father of a mighty nation. As Paul says of Abraham – in Romans 4 “he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead – for he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.” Abraham’s faith was trusting utterly. He believed the promise and power of God. Paul indeed says it is like our faith in Jesus himself. With Abraham – when there seemed no future for this ancient near eastern family, out of seeming death – there came life, descendants, and a future. This was faith – not in our ability, or our deeds, or our actions; but faith in that relationship that Abraham believed existed between himself and God. Faith leads to a shield and a reward – God in turn would be faithful to the vision Abraham had had. To briefly close the circle. Faith in Christ also establishes a relationship with God who offers life out of death, and offers us a future. A relationship of resurrection and new life, not death and emptiness.
Certainly for me, the alternative to faith, or trust in God through Christ, is difficult to contemplate. (What if I had not believed that I should see the good ness of the Lord in the land of the living! Psalm 27: 13) I am left alone; I am left to my own devices. Am I left with, for example just ceaseless activity, so that I may feel satisfied in who I am – because I only trust, or have faith in myself. I do not trust others – and if you remember what happened if I did not trust this lectern, I can develop anxiety, worry and the like. I lack confidence. Faith in a spiritual dimension to life becomes important.
So Paul concludes it is through our trust in God, our trust in God’s love and goodness, which brings about our relationship with God – and not our works or frenzied activity. This is our righteousness, our being right, our being justified, with God . . . words and concepts all with associated with having meaning in our life. Abraham believed God and that there could life out of death,. This was reckoned to him as righteousness.
Our friend Ebenezer it would seem had a simple faith – but not much in the talent or works department. It would seem faith sustained him – but such also became the basis of this congregation.
Faith – trust, belief is the basis of all our relationships. It is also the basis of our relationship with the divine – God. Faith is the bedrock of our lives, and faith in God is the bedrock for any congregation.
