I. Faith, Unity, and Joy 00:02

… strengthen our hearts, and that we would receive everything that you have for us this morning. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Every year around this time, and even in December leading up to January, I start thinking about and asking God, “God, what is 2024 going to be?” And he doesn’t like to tell me a lot, generally. He speaks words that are focusing words. It’s not like voodoo magic prediction stuff. It’s like, “These are the things I have for you to focus on in this year.” And so I’d been praying, and I felt like I got a couple of words, and so I brought it to the rector’s council. And sure enough, as we shared, Father Powell had gotten two of the same words.

Ultimately, I’m here today to share with you some of what we have been hearing from the Lord about 2024: some things to focus on, some things to hold on to in this season, in this time, as the church, as Saint Michael’s. I think these words are very specifically for us. I think there’s an element of this that has to do with the transition that we’re going through, as Father Powell becomes the rector, as Bishop Kessler retires from that role. It’s going to be a really fun year here, but there’s going to be a lot going on and a lot to do. And so these words, I think, are encouraging. They’re guiding. They’re preparing us for what God has for us in this season.

And those three words that we got were faith, unity, and joy. Today we’re going to start with part one, mountain-moving faith. We’re going to walk through some of this, because, I mean, books have been written on all of these things. So we’re going to just dive in and see what God has for us this morning. And I hope that you’re encouraged. I hope that this gives you some orientation as you look at your life, as you look at your job, as you look at your family: what are things that I can hold near and dear to my heart as I walk throughout this?

And I guarantee you that if we as a church, and in our families, practice greater faith, greater unity, and greater joy this year, we’re going to see God show up in very important and special ways. Trust me when I say this: God is for Saint Michael’s Church in this season. He is for each and every one of you sitting in your pews. Every mountain that you’re facing, every trial… you look at 2024, you look at this season, or maybe you just look at today or tomorrow or the next day, and you’re like, “Man, I don’t know what to do about this.” God is here. He is for you, and he has your salvation. He has the answer to your problem. And as we look towards this year, I think one of the great tools, one of the great things that he wants to shape in us… he wants to make us a people of faith, of unity, and of joy.

II. Have Faith in God 02:16

And so we’re going to start with faith, like I talked about, here today. Let’s go ahead and go to one of my favorite passages. In fact, it’s the verse that God brought to mind when I thought of faith. It’s in Mark 11, beginning in verse 22:

22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Mark 11.22–23

Now, we know that. There’s the other passage that says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, “Be moved and cast into the sea,” and it would be done. But the context of this passage is really interesting to me. What happens is Jesus is on his way into Jerusalem. We’re getting closer to the time in the story where they’re going to crucify him, and he begins to prophesy against Jerusalem and the religious system that has been set up and how they have lived their lives, basically calling them fruitless, barren, and saying that the vineyard that God had planted in Jerusalem would be given to another who would care for it and return its fruits, predicting the rise of Christianity out of Judaism.

And so when you look at this story, what happened is he’s on his way into Jerusalem, and he walks up to a fig tree, and there’s no fruit on the fig tree. And all the disciples go, “Doesn’t he know that it’s not the season for figs?” And the person who designed the entire universe is sitting there thinking, “That’s not the point.” But he looks at this fig tree and he curses it. He basically curses it and says, “You’ll be barren.” And all the disciples are like, “Oh man, that’s unfair. That poor fig tree.” But Jesus was getting at a point that was deeper than that. He was using the fig tree, as the prophets had throughout the Old Testament, as a picture of Israel, and calling Israel barren. And all of the other passages that Jesus uses as parables, when he talks about the barren vines or the barren trees, and how you have to cut them back and throw the useless branches to the fire: all of those images are contained in this.

But after they do their ministry in Jerusalem and they walk back out, the disciples see that fig tree that was healthy when they walked in, and it’s withered in a day. It’s completely rotted. And they’re like, “What?” And Jesus is like, “Guys, guys, didn’t you see me feed four thousand people? Didn’t you see me calm the storms?” These are the stories that lead up to this story, the great miracles of Jesus, and their minds are blown about the fig tree. And so this is Jesus’ response: “Have faith in God.”

What’s he saying? He’s saying, “If you had faith in God, you would have expected the fig tree to be barren, because I said so.” So he’s calling their attention, and he’s trying to teach them what faith really means. And so when he says you could tell this mountain to go into the sea, you could almost feel that Jesus is giving them something like, “I want you to understand this. I’m going to use hyperbole here. I’m going to use some exaggeration here to get your attention. I’m going to give you an image so absurd, to show you the reality of what faith can do.”

And to this day, we know faith has done far greater things than throw mountains into the sea. People have been raised from the dead. Dead hearts have come alive. People who were destined for eternity in hell have been saved by the power of Jesus and have gone to heaven. We have seen the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak. And he wanted them to know that it wasn’t about him. Now, this is a little complicated here, because of course everything’s about Jesus. But what he wanted them to know is, “The reason the fig tree is barren is because I have faith in my heavenly Father.” Because, you know, Jesus isn’t walking around like Superman with all these abilities, just like, zap, zap, zap, zap: “You see, you speak, you do this.” No. When he became in the form of man, he emptied himself of his God attributes, that he could be human like we are human, all of that, so that we could be human like he was human, all of that, to invite us to have the same faith.

He didn’t say, “If you’re Jesus Christ, the Son of God, you can tell the mountain to move.” He said, “If you have faith like Jesus did, you can tell the mountain to move.” And so when we talk about faith, the reason he’s emphasizing this is because he’s inviting them to live on earth the way he lives, to walk in faith, knowing that God will provide.

All the disciples had faith that God existed. What they were being challenged to believe, just like us, is that God would act in that moment with his power. Everyone in this room knows, “Yeah, God exists. He created the whole world.” And yet we don’t believe that he will act in our lives. We’re shocked when he does miracles. Yeah, well, he created everything that is, and he loves you dearly, and he’s for you. He’s going to move on your behalf. We should have faith that not only believes for miracles but looks for miracles: “God, where are you moving that I don’t see?” That’s faith.

So when we talk about these things, the challenge is not “Do you believe in God?” but “Do you believe God?” Because God has said that he will move. He has promised his Holy Spirit. He has promised his life-giving abundance. Do you believe him? Believing in God… it says in another passage, even the demons believe in God, and they fear and tremble (James 2.19). But believing God, trusting his word: that is faith.

III. Speak, Lord, for Your Servant Hears 09:18

Our Old Testament lesson was about developing the faith of one of the hero prophets, Samuel, one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, in 1 Samuel 3 (1 Sam 3.1–10). As we read through this passage, he’s a young boy who has been dedicated to the temple because his mother received a promise about him. I’m not going to get into that whole story; it’s a great story. He’s chosen to serve God in a time when, it’s said in our Scripture, the word of God was rare. There was no general revelation. It was a barren time. In fact, more than that, the passage before shows us it was an evil time, where the people who were ministering in the temple were taking advantage of the Israelites. It was atrocious what was going on. And yet God was focused on this one young boy, Samuel, who’s living in God’s temple with Eli the priest.

And what happens? Of course you know the story. He’s sleeping, and he hears his name. So he runs to Eli and says, “Hey, I’m here. What’s up? How can I help? I heard you call me.” And Eli’s like, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” And then he gets back up and says, “No, I heard it again. You called me.” And he sends him back. And the third time: “I heard it again. You called me.” And Eli’s like, “Oh, that might be God.” The word of the Lord was rare in that time. Even the priest in the temple had to send the kid to bed three times before he thought, “Maybe God is involved.”

And so in this case, we think about this, and that’s actually how God structures our lives and our growth. We know that as children, the way that we learn to hear the voice of God is through the voice of our parents. And so Samuel’s been entrusted to his father, Eli the priest. It’s not his biological father, but he has taken the role of his father. And the reason why he thought God’s voice sounded like Eli’s is because he was paying attention. God teaches us how to hear God through the authority that he places in our life, from children, and even, I will argue, through today.

Do you think that you could ignore the authority God’s placed in your life and be sensitive to God’s leadership? I think a lot of us fall into the same trap that our kids might fall into. I know for a fact that me as a twelve-year-old boy probably would have just rolled over and gone to sleep, even if I heard my father calling me. Imagine if that was Samuel’s response. “Samuel.” “Ah, no, I don’t want to do it.” Go back to sleep. Second time: “Samuel.” “I’m just… I’m going to sleep.” “Samuel.” And then he misses what God does. But he did, this young kid. I’m imagining he’s like twelve years old, from the context; he’s somewhere between ten and twelve. And imagine if that young kid had been a disobedient son. He wouldn’t have heard the voice of God in the same way. We ignore the authority God’s put in our life and expect that we’ll be sensitive to his voice. He trains us to hear him through the authority he puts in our life.

And then Eli finally realizes that God is speaking, and he gives him the perfect response. When you hear the voice, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears” (1 Sam 3.9). I love that response. That’s the response we should all have towards God, because it says three things. It says, “You are the Lord. You are God.” And this “Lord,” I mean, it’s Yahweh. It’s like the King of all… it’s God’s name. “You are who you are. I am your servant.” So you’ve established some things. I think sometimes we approach God like, “God, why aren’t you doing this thing for me?” Or we could say, “God, I am your servant.” And then lastly it says, “Speak. I am listening.” It postures him correctly before the Lord.

The faith and the obedience that is being developed in Samuel in this story is the same faith and the obedience that later will lead him to anoint King David, even though there’s a murderous tyrant on the throne who’s already angry at Samuel for saying, “The kingdom’s been taken from you.” But no, he knew, because he paid attention since he was a young boy to the voice of the Lord. He knew to follow that voice, even though God eventually is going to tell him to do things that could get him killed.

IV. Faith Comes from Hearing 13:48

So God in this story is developing his faith, which is linked directly to his obedience, and that’s the next thing I want to talk about. Somewhere in the Bible it says this. It’s actually in Romans; I just don’t have the chapter. Paul writes in verse 16:

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Rom 10.16–17

We all know that: faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. That’s thrown around quite a lot. We know that that’s a central idea in faith. But I love including the verse before: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, ‘Who has believed us?’” In the midst of this passage, Paul is talking about faith, faith, faith, and then all of a sudden he says the evidence that they didn’t have faith is that they didn’t obey. And he doesn’t clarify. He doesn’t say, “So I know, because they didn’t obey, that they probably didn’t have faith.” No, it’s like obedience and faith are the same thing. You can’t do one without the other. And so what Samuel did well when he heard the voice of God is he went and said, “Hey, I’m here.” He was ready to obey.

V. Faith Without Works Is Dead 16:14

James has this perfect example, in chapter 2, beginning in verse 15:

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2.15–17

Faith is obedience. They are tied together. Imagine this scenario. I come to you. You’re doing pretty well financially; you’re doing great. I’ve got to say that, because that’s the assumption in this passage. And I say, “Hey, I don’t have clothing for my children or food for groceries this week.” And you say, “In Jesus’ name, I pray for warmth and I pray for fullness,” and then you walk away. How much love did you show me in that moment?

Now, I have another example that I think is going to hit home a little further. Imagine you’re in a weight room, and somebody is bench-pressing some weight, and they get stuck. They say, “Hey man, help me out.” All you have to do is walk over there and help them out. It’s within your power. And yet what you say is, “Hey, I’ll be praying for you,” and then you walk away. That’s what James is talking about. We can get lost, like, “Man, I’d have to give the money for groceries, and I’d have to do all this food stuff.” It’s like, don’t get lost in that. He’s saying the intention without the action is dead. There is no intention. Obviously you don’t want to help; your works have shown that.

So when we’re talking about faith, we’re talking about obedience. It’s hear and obey. That’s the equation of faith: hear and obey. Faith is not some conjured emotion: “Oh, I’ve got so much faith right now. I can feel the faith in the room.” It’s like, no, no, no.

VI. Faith Is Not a Feeling 18:42

Faith is active. It’s a part of what you do. Now, you might feel the burden of that. In fact, Jordan Peterson has this whole video where somebody asked him if he believed in God, and he said, “I don’t know what that means, because if I believed in God, I’d have to act like it.” And he just felt the burden of that so sincerely. He couldn’t say… he’s like, “Looking at my life, it doesn’t look like I believe in God. I mess up all the time. If I truly believed in what it meant for God to exist, who had created the world, who had sent his Son, who died for us, I would have to live so differently.” And so he wrestled with that.

But I want to touch on the other side. I think it actually solves our problem, because I think a lot of us look at other people and are like, “Man, that guy has a lot of faith. That girl has a lot of faith. I could never have faith like that.” And we’re talking about our feelings. We’re talking about how we feel about what God’s doing. Instead, it’s like, “God told me to do this. I don’t feel good about it, but I did it anyway.” That’s faith. Faith is not a feeling. God said, “Give the $100 in your pocket to the guy on the side of the road.” “But he’s a panhandler. But he’s doing this. But he’s doing that.” You have all these questions, you have all these doubts, and you just give him the money and then you drive away. That’s faith. You did what God told you to do. It doesn’t have to feel good.

Now, I’ll make a little bit of adjustment here. I do think that when you start to operate in faith, you start to train your spirit in discernment, and you start to see, “Oh, this is God,” and it starts to line up, and you start to understand. It’s not a feeling, though. It’s a part of training your spirit. It’s a tool. It’s a discipline. It’s a gift of God in your spirit that you’re able to discern, “This is what it feels like when God speaks.” And even though I don’t want to do it, maybe my feelings are still revolting, I know when to act on it. Like Samuel, that young boy: he was just now learning how to hear God in this story, but someday he would have to be able to hear God in the midst of a war, in the midst of a battle. He’d have to hear God when people were out to kill him. But he had to start small, just doing what God said.

VII. Faith Is Action 20:44

Now, if you’re doing these things, you have great faith. I want to talk about Abraham. He’s the father of faith; I’ve got to call him out. It says that he believed God (Gen 15.6). He got this promise: “You’re going to be a father, biologically. You’re going to have kids with your wife Sarah. It’s going to happen.” And he just sat there and he faithed real hard. He was just like, “Oh, I believe it.” No, that’s not what faith is. He did something about it. It says… every month he believed God. He obeyed God. He knew his wife. That’s all I’m going to say about it. He did something every month, every day, day in and day out, to believe God for that miracle, even though his wife was laughing at God. Talk about faith. I’m not going to spell it out anymore, but just think about how much faith it would take, when you’re that old, to continue trying to have a baby with your wife when she doesn’t even believe it. He had faith. He obeyed, even when it didn’t feel good.

Okay, now here are some principles to think about. Let’s say God told you you’re going to get a job. So you should sit around and pray really hard and faith your way into a job? No. What should you do? Apply for jobs. God told you you’re going to get a wife: “I’m going to sit around. I’m going to faith really hard. I’m going to build up my faith. I’m going to read the Scriptures. I’m going to read every verse in the Bible about women. I’m going to get a wife.” No. You’re going to go on dates. You’re going to meet women. They’re the only candidates. Go find them. I’m just saying. God told you that you’re going to be a leader in the church? Find ways to start serving in your church, because just like faith means obedience, leadership means service. God told you he’s going to give you a house? “So I’m going to spend all my money, because God’s just going to give me a house.” No. Start looking for a house. Start preparing your finances for a house. Believe God in this area. It is a miracle, like throwing a mountain into the sea, to get a house. But God said he’ll do it. So faith is action. Faith is obedience. Faith is embodied.

The greatest faith we’ve ever seen got crucified. What kind of faith is that, to not open your mouth to say, “I’m innocent,” when the whole world, even the people you knew and loved, have abandoned you? The people you healed and preached to, the people you loved, Israel, are calling you a liar, a blasphemer, and calling for your death. That’s Jesus’ faith. Faith is obedience.

VIII. Everything That Does Not Proceed from Faith 24:06

Now, one more thing about faith. I don’t want to lose the fact that faith is more than obedience, because the Pharisees were really good at obedience (putting it in air quotes) to the law, but they didn’t have faith. They didn’t believe in the God of the Scriptures, and they didn’t recognize him when he showed up in Jesus. They did all the things for the wrong reasons. There are several examples you could use, but I’ll use one from the Pharisees. They would do this thing where God said, “Don’t have sex with anybody who’s not your wife,” and they would divorce their wife, marry the girl that they wanted to have sex with, have sex with her, divorce her, and go marry their wife again. There’s a story of that happening. They followed the law. They had no faith. They didn’t have the heart, the spirit behind the law. They didn’t see what God was saying.

What faith does is it keeps everything you do, all of your obedience, centered on Jesus. It’s about the focus of your attention. It’s about believing that it’s by his strength and not by your own. Because otherwise you can be the best person in the world so that you can feel like the best person in the world: “I did all the right things, and so everybody should praise me. Everybody should love me.” That’s not the point. You missed it. And I will tell you this, too: they weren’t hearing. Remember that whole part where the equation of faith is hear and obey? They weren’t hearing God’s voice.

All of this should be convicting to us. The Pharisees mastered the system. They went to church, they volunteered, they signed up for all the events, they went to a home group, they prayed loudly and in front, and yet they missed Jesus. Everything we do has to be about faith. In fact, Paul writes in Romans 14:23:

23 But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because it does not proceed from faith. Everything that does not proceed from faith is sin. Rom 14.23

So the why matters. Your heart behind your actions matters. Your motivation matters. If it’s not from faith, it’s sin. And what’s he even talking about here? He’s talking about this argument about whether you could eat food that was sacrificed to idols. And basically he says, “Yeah, you can eat it. It’s lawful. It’s fine.” What God cleans, let no man call unclean (Acts 10.15). He’s calling back to Peter’s vision. But there are people who don’t think that you should eat food offered to idols and yet still ate it. Well, that’s sin, because they didn’t do it by faith.

How about this? If you believe that God has called you, during the season of Lent, to not drink alcohol (let’s say that’s a common thing to give up), or to not look at social media, and yet you do that… because you’re not doing it with faith, it’s sin. Not because alcohol is sin, not because social media is sin, but because you felt called by God to do something and you disobeyed. And so anything you do that’s from that is sin.

You might be wrestling with a decision in your life, something you really, really want, and you’re like, “I don’t know if it’s a good idea or a bad idea.” Well, why don’t you ask God what he thinks? And then you can operate in faith. You can do what he wants you to do. Or if he says, “You choose,” then you can do it with a clear conscience. That’s what he’s talking about here. He’s talking about when you don’t ask God because you’re afraid of what God would say, and you do it anyway. That’s sin, because you did it without faith. You did a little end-around on God. It doesn’t work.

Faith is central. It keeps Christ and his righteousness first: “I want to be like him.” Anything you do with the faith that you want to do it like Jesus did it, you’re in good shape. He’ll get your attention if you’re not. Hear and obey.

IX. Known, Worshiped, and Obeyed 27:55

Now, we’re going to end here, because it’s time. Next week we’re going to talk about the enemies of faith. And you might be thinking, “The enemies of the faith, like all those bad people out there.” No, I’m talking about fear and doubt and misplaced desire. That’s what we’re talking about next week. They are the enemies of our faith.

But we’re going to end with our collect this morning. The only way to know God, worship God, and obey God is by faith. And today we read:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.