Caught Between Faith and Feet

Caught Between Faith and Feet

 

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Abraham's faith 

 

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

11:2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

 

11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

 

11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

 

11:9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

 

11:10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

 

11:11 By faith, with Sarah's involvement, he received power of procreation even though he was too old, because he considered him faithful who had promised. 

 

11:12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."

 

11:13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth,

 

11:14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

 

11:15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.

 

11:16 But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

 

So, here is our sermon question for the day: Is faith a feeling, or is it something we do? If you listen to some of the things people say about it, one might come to believe faith is more of a feeling: “Can’t you just believe?”; “You just don’t have enough faith.”; “If you believe, God will meet your needs.” Faith, for some people, is apparently Dorothy, of “Wizard of Oz” fame, clicking her red shoes together and chanting, “There’s no place like home; there’s no place like home.” Just substitute “heaven” for “home,” here. 

 

CAN faith be a feeling? I suppose. During times of deep grief or other “soul testing,” imagining God’s presence as something like a divine hug or a strong hand, holding us up when we are too week to stand or walk on our own, would be types of “feeling” faith. When one’s eyes are filled with tears, it possibly is a faithful thing to imagine God leading us to a safe place, or believing that eventually, everything will work out. Paul was probably thinking this way when he wrote Romans 8:28: “For God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, and who are called according to God’s purpose.” It’s a favorite verse of many folk, and adorns many a refrigerator magnet or Bible book marker. This sentiment is a kind of “faith feeling,” encouraging the believer to trust in God, and expect that God will lead, guide, and act in even life’s “all things.” However, note the caveat at the end: “…who are called according to God’s purpose.” God is not a genie in the lamp, awakened by our “rubbing the lamp” (prayer?), and relegated to giving us three wishes just because we possess the lamp. No, God will “cause all things to work together for good” when the greater good benefitted is God’s larger plan for redeeming and reconciling humanity. While this is not to say that God doesn’t care about our personal and more mundane concerns, it IS to say that God’s working is apt to benefit the wider faith community, of which we are called to be a part. “God’s purpose” might not always be to fix our car when we are broke, or heal our aching back when it flares up, at least not as first on the runway. And I can say with some considerable degree of certainty (because I read my Bible and pay attention to the teachings of Jesus) that “God’s purpose” to which you are called has nothing to do with making you wealthy or giving you passage to the seats of power. Someone has said, “The one who wants to be great among you must become the servant of all,” and “The last shall be first.” 

 

Hebrews chapter 11 is often called the “faith chapter,” and for good reason. The text walks through some of the Bible history, pointing out what great people of faith DID because they believed God and sought to serve God and others. That poetic first verse often trips us up into believing it offers a magical “formula” for using our faith to heal, benefit, or even prosper because we are a “Christian.” Let’s look at it:

 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

“Assurance of things hoped for” sure sounds like a way to get what we want, or to at least have the “answer to prayer” we would welcome, but is it? What are the things hoped for, here? Maybe it’s a bit selfish to think these are things WE want, as opposed to the goals and dreams of God. God has stated numerous times what God “hopes for”: A world at peace, where the lion lies down with the lamb; people who welcome “the stranger” or the “foreigner” into their land and treat them like a citizen, even a sibling; that “none should perish,” and that the whole world might be reconciled to God. Jesus came not to side with those who followed him, but because “God so loved the world.” So again, maybe we would be in error to believe that “things hoped for” has anything to do with the kind of house or car I’d like to own, or how I wish my partner might treat me. There are possibly bigger fish to fry in this testament to faith in Hebrews 11. Is it totally wrong to grab any of this “hoped for” to petition God regarding our own needs? Not totally; in fact God SO loves the world that God has demonstrated a pretty broad compassion for the needs of individual humans, their families, and even in some cases, their nations. Again, though, even these benevolent actions on God’s part must funnel toward God’s larger goal of total human/divine reconciliation. 

 

“The conviction of things not seen” has its debatable meanings, for sure. To me, this sounds like a call to “walk the talk” of Christian discipleship, not a kind of “make a wish” romanticism. Now, I confess to having many of the spacy dreams of Jiminy Cricket, my favorite Disney character. “When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you.” The Bible does talk about God caring for the “desires of our hearts,” but it doesn’t go the “genie in the lamp” direction, but rather toward “ALL things working together,” which may mean for “ALL PEOPLE,” too, not just us. I still like my friend Mr. Cricket, and I do love the sappy hopes of his little song, but it’s Disney, and he’s a fictional character. For God, it DOES matter who we are—we are children of God! All of us! Remember the scene in the hilarious movie, “Bruce Almighty,” when he decides to answer everyone’s prayers in the affirmative? The world descends into chaos. Sorry, Jiminy, it just won’t work, but don’t stop singing!

 

Years ago, one of my teachers, Dr. Nan Foltz, used a phrase that has stuck with me. She told us pastors that when it comes to the effectiveness of our churches/ministries/pastoral care skills/theology, people will “vote with their feet” as to whether they approve. I was fortunate throughout my ministry that most of that “feet voting” was manifest by folk coming INTO the door of our faith community, not going OUT. There certainly were some who disapproved of any or even all of my handling as a preacher and leader, but most either felt we were doing the kind of job they could join, or they simply felt sorry for me! As I mentioned earlier, some that left might have used the “I’m not getting fed” line, and as one married to a dietitian, I have learned that our best and most healthy “diet” is not necessarily going to make the menu of some folk. The question is, are YOU willing to “vote with your feet” to be a part of the kind of faith journey God and the Bible call us to, especially in this “faith chapter” of Hebrews?

 

Note that patience was certainly a trait of these great people in the faith “hall of fame.” Abraham and Sarah, had they had the patience of most folk today, would have voted to chuck God’s promises of a beach full of ancestors. As it was, even THEIR patience ran thin, and the Hagar/Ishmael plan was hatched. While it made sense on paper, or at the time, as some might say, it DID leave the world with a perpetual civil/religious war between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac. Just a small “glitch,” I’m sure…? I just read a sad commentary from a female colleague this week concerning the disaffiliation that occurred among the people called Methodists (speaking of Ishmael and Isaac!). She was lamenting the fact that the “new” order of the Global Methodist Church allows churches to pick their own pastors, and while the GMC has not yet “outlawed” female clergy, many churches are “voting with their feet” in opposition to them, by just not inviting women to be their pastoral leaders. The colleague I mentioned is either being discharged from the church she is currently serving, or had applied for consideration by another, and was told they did not want a woman pastor. This kind of voting with feet is NOT something that should be happening in the Body of Christ. Didn’t someone write that: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus? And isn’t the Book of Acts riddled with great women of the faith in key leadership roles, as well as those mentioned in the many and various greetings in Paul’s epistles? Oh, and how about this “faith chapter” in Hebrews? Yes, friends, there are countless women in our lineage of people who “walked the talk” and led the church through the ages. Why, in 2025, would people who dare to call themselves Christ followers shun the women God has gifted and called into servant ministry as pastors? Huh? I feel so sorry for my friend, for she has demonstrated a LONG history of competent and gifted Christian ministry as an Elder in the United Methodist Church, only now to be experiencing rejection in the splinter church. 

 

So, to summarize, faith is not just something we believe. It may start with that; in fact we call it a profession or confession of faith, don’t we? But then, at least according to the Bible, the teachings of Jesus, Paul, and according to the rich historical heritage of the Body of Christ, it becomes something we LIVE, led by the values of these examples and teachings. When we chose to “tune” it to something WE like, it ceases to be a faith walk and becomes our private “spiritual” gymnasium. That image comes to mind because my wife and I go pretty regularly to an “Anytime Fitness” gym on the edge of our plan. There are two kinds of people populating that gym most mornings: those who have clearly been trained to follow a prescribed regimen based on sound rules of fitness and that uses the machines and weights available at this particular gym; and those who are doing their “own thing,” which seems to involve hogging a favorite machine, often to just read their phone, or chat with another loiterer. Dara used to try to teach her Penn State nutrition and health students that, when they accounted for their own “gym time,” they should count only the time they actually spent working out, not the periods they just occupied space. “I spent a whole hour at the gym today” ain’t bragging rights when three-quarters of that was scrolling Facebook or Instagram. Now, apply this concept to living out our Christian discipleship, and it may explain why the church is struggling, splitting, and underfunded, today. This is what I’m calling the dilemma between “faith and feet.” 

 

At the risk of belaboring an obvious point and “preaching to the choir,” as they say, I would like to point us in the direction of Jesus Christ. So, God shows up on earth, and after beginning his ministry, he has three years before the great disaffiliation sends him to the cross. What does he do? He offers himself to the “least, the last, and the lost,” as we might say. He hangs out with tax collectors and “sinners,” lepers, the poor, gentiles, and other marginalized groups, not only ministering to them, but advocating for them to be included in whatever the Divine is up to. He chooses his “inner circle” for these marginalized people. He refuses to us his obvious “power connection” to God to do anything but heal, feed, and release those held captive by demons. He never used it to either save himself or whack his enemies. Maybe this is the faith walk we might consider emulating? Or at least moving in the direction of? The next time you feel yourself caught in the paradox between faith and feet, why not just walk in the direction of Jesus? Amen? Amen.