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Message for April 12, 2015
John 20:19-31
The Role of Faith in our Lives…
Rob Miller, Pastor
You may have noticed that a few months ago we started using the phrase -- Living lives the Jesus way… by faith, hope, and love. We posted that phrase on our web page, in our bulletin, on our letterhead. We put it out there as a catch phrase to describe what it means for us to be a disciple-making church.
As I prayerfully considered those words, the more I realized that phrase describes our mission. We are to live our lives the Jesus way. That’s what disciples do.
That phrase also describes our vision – we want to see more and more people living their lives the Jesus way.
That phrase captures our values as well – we value a life of faith, and hope, and love.
That phrase is our strategic plan. We live lives the Jesus way – by faith, and hope, and love.
That’s it! That who we are and that what we are about.
As disciples of Jesus we are to live our lives like he did. I read somewhere that Jesus came not to be served but to serve and to give his life away (Mark 10:45). He gave his life away by sharing. We are to do the same. We are to serve by giving our lives away. That’s how Jesus’ disciples live their lives. It’s called radical generosity. To say it differently -- we are blessed by God to be a blessing to others. That’s because God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.
Jesus lived by faith in God alone and nothing and no one else.
Jesus lived by hope that the future would be better and brighter than the past by how we live our lives today.
Jesus lived by love for God and others every day.
Today we begin a three part series on living our lives the Jesus way by faith, hope, and love. Today we consider the role of faith in our lives. Next week we will consider the role of hope in our lives and the week after that, the role of love in our lives.
I Googled the words, “The role of faith in our lives” and I got nearly 40 million hits. Faith plays a huge role in our lives. In my search I came across a great acronym for faith. Full Assurance In The Heart
That’s a great way to consider the role of faith in our lives – full assurance in the heart.
I also came across a great story titled, “The House That Grace Built,” by pastor Ronald Dunn. I have no idea who Ronald Dunn is but I love the story he tells. As I read that story, I realized it’s a great metaphor for the role of faith in our lives.
The story goes something like this…
'Salvation is like a house built beside a busy highway. Like everyone else, I was born on that highway and was spending my life following it to its destination. At first the trip had been exciting and almost effortless, the constant flow of the crowd carried me along.
But the farther down the road I got, the more difficult things became; my original joy had dissipated and I noticed that my fellow travelers rarely laughed anymore and their occasional smiles seemed forced. The backpack I had been issued at the beginning of my journey had grown heavier every day, and I was now permanently stooped from its weight. Worst of all, I had been overtaken lately by an unexplainable fear of reaching the end of the highway'.
'One day my attention was drawn to the side of the highway to a magnificent house. Over its narrow front door a sign silently announced in bold red letters: 'Whosoever Will May Enter and Find Rest'. I don’t know how I knew it, but I realized that if I could reach the inside of this beautiful house I would be saved from the highway and its destination.
Pushing my way through the mass of indifferent travelers, I broke clear of the crowd and ran up the steps to the front door. But it was locked. Perhaps it's only stuck, I thought, and tried again. It refused to open. I was confused. Why would someone put up a sign inviting people in and then lock the door to keep them out? Not knowing what else to do (I refused to return to the highway), I pounded on the door, and shouted for someone on the inside to open it. I tried to pick the lock. I tried to break it down - but my efforts were useless'.
'Suddenly a voice spoke my name, and I turned around. It was the Builder of the House. He placed in my hand a key with one word carved on it: FAITH. Turning back to the door, I inserted the key in the lock, twisted it, and heard a reassuring click. The door swung open, and I stepped across the threshold. Immediately the backpack fell from off my shoulders, my back began to straighten like a wilting flower reaching for the sunlight, and from deep within me my soul breathed a sigh of relief as a deep sense of peace and well-being wrapped itself around me. The Builder of the House welcomed me to my new home, explaining that everything in the house was now mine to enjoy. This was the house that grace had built, and faith was the key to unlocking its door'.
This was the house that grace had built, and faith was the key to unlocking its door…
'Surveying my new surroundings, I saw that the House of Salvation was a house with many rooms and I was only in the foyer. Across the way was a door marked “Answered Prayer.” Next to it was another “Daily Victories,” and next to it, “Every Need Supplied.” The row of doors, each promising some spiritual blessing, stretched endlessly throughout the house. The discovery of these other rooms puzzled me, for I failed to mention that the foyer in which I stood was jammed with people. It seemed that everyone who entered the house stopped in the foyer, never advancing beyond it, as though the foyer was the entire house.’
'This was only little better than the highway. Couldn't they see that there was more to the House of Salvation than just the foyer? Surely the Builder intended every room to be occupied. Hadn't he said that everything in the house was ours to enjoy? I, for one, had no desire to spend my life standing in a foyer. This was my Father's house; I was his child, and everything he had was mine.
I went to the door marked “Answered Prayer,” grabbed the knob, and twisted. It was locked. I went to the next door, and the next, and the next. All were locked. But this time I didn't try to pick the lock or knock the door down. I remembered my encounter with the front door and knew I had a key for that. Although I had been in the house only a short time, I had somehow managed to accumulate a large number of other keys. Looking through my collection, I selected one tagged “Doing Your Best,” and tried it. It didn’t fit; neither did the one tagged “Religious Activities.” The key of “Sincerity” proved useless as well. Next I tried the key of “Tithing” (I was getting desperate); but it was as powerless as the others. I was beginning to understand why the foyer was so crowded'.
'And then I heard a familiar voice. It was the Builder of the House. 'Child', he said, 'do you remember the key I gave you to enter my house?'
'Yes, I remember'.
'What was it?'
'It was the key of Faith', I answered'.
‘Now listen’, the Builder said: 'The key of Faith is the master key that unlocks every door in the house'.
That’s the role of faith in our lives. Faith is the master key that unlocks the doors of life that would otherwise remain closed to us. You hold the key to an abundant life that Jesus offers. The key is faith.
This life that Jesus offers is a life that is ‘saved by grace through faith' for the purpose of doing good. We are saved from our old, sinful, self-centered ways to live not for ourselves but to live our lives the Jesus way, for others, as he did.
This life of salvation that we share in Christ Jesus begins in the waters of baptism. We come up out of the waters of baptism a new person, a child of God, a forgiven sinner to invest the rest of our lives not on the highway of life but in the house of the Lord -- growing into this new life that is lived by grace through faith for the purpose of doing good.
The grace part is God’s doing, the faith part is our doing… full assurance in the heart.
In our gospel reading for today the disciples were not living with the full assurance in their hearts. They were living not by faith but by fear – false evidence appearing real. They were without faith. Jesus was dead to them and had been dead for a week. BTW – when Jesus is dead to us so too is our faith. Rumor had it that Jesus had risen and was living again – yeah right!?!?
The disciples were gathered together in fear. They were afraid to do anything. They had locked the door and thrown away the key of faith.
So Jesus came and restored their faith. He brought peace to them and put their fears to rest. He also gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide their lives and he reminded them of the gift of forgiveness he gave to them to share.
A week later Jesus did the same thing for Thomas and restored his dead faith and then announced that blessed are those who have not seen him and yet have come to believe. Who have come to put their faith in him. That includes you and me.
This week I invite you to read through the Book of James and what he says about faith. Monday read chapter 1. Tuesday read chapter 2. Wednesday read chapter 3. Thursday read chapter 4. And Friday read chapter 5. Then email me what you are learning. I want to hear from you.
Final thought… You have been given the key of faith, don’t leave home without it. Amen.