Sermon-Signs of Faith, Hope and Love

"SIGNS OF FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE"

Dr. James L. Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

October 31, 1999

Text: II Corinthians 9:6-8, 13-15 Luke 9:12-17

Earlier this year we focused on offering ourselves through ministries of prayer, through ministries of service, and through ministries of presence. Today, we who are members and friends of this congregation are being given the opportunity to offer ourselves in ministry through our financial gifts. How we respond to this opportunity will say a lot about the extent and depth of our faith, our hope and our love.

I am going to talk about how our living is shaped by either the presence or the absence of faith, hope and love.

But before I talk about the presence or absence of faith, hope, and love shaping the way we live, I want to be very clear that our faith, our hope and our love are not what cause God to love us. God does not sit and wait until we have reached certain levels of faith, hope and love before God will come into our lives.

Whether we are aware of it or not, whether we believe it or not, God's grace is at work in our lives and at work through our lives. The activity of God's grace in our lives does not come with the accompaniment of large choirs of angels or movie-like special effects, and only on rare occasions does the activity of God in our lives come through powerful, emotional experiences. Usually God is at work in our lives through such ordinary bread and wine experiences that only those with eyes of faith can see and only those who live by faith can hear.

For example, some people will look at a newborn baby and see only the result of a biological process, but persons of faith seeing the same baby see a wonderful gift, even a miracle, from God. Some people look at all they have and see only the fruit of their labor, and because that is all they can see (or want to see), they are convinced that all they have is theirs alone. Others with similar possessions who have worked equally hard will look on what they have as the result of God's amazing gifts of abilities and opportunities, and declare that all they have really belongs to God. One person will look upon the injustices in life and become cynical, bitter and selfish because of all the greed, pride, selfishness and other negative forces at work in life. Others will see the same realities, but rather than become bitter, cynical and selfish, they will remember "crucifixion" is not the last word; "resurrection" is the last word, the declaration that God finally wins, and remembering and trusting this good news, they live their lives from the perspective of Easter. Because they view life from the perspective of Easter, they are energized by hope and invest themselves in doing what they understand God wants them to do—even in the midst of the mess the world is in.

Part of what is revealed in and through Jesus Christ is that whether we are aware of it or not, whether we believe it or not, God's love is at work in the world and in our lives. God loves us, regardless. Why? That is, in truth, a profound mystery. None of us can say why God loves us; the most we can do is confess, affirm that God does.

But when we are aware of the reality of God's love, when we do believe and trust the reality of God's love, our living is changed. And this faith, our trusting God and God’s love, is what makes hope possible. Those who live by faith in God—that is to say, those who live their lives trusting God is at work in their lives—deal with life from a stance of hope, a stance of having confidence in God and confidence in the power of God's love. And because they have this faith in God, they are able to live confidently trusting God—that is to say, they live out of hope. Because they are people of hope, they are able to live lives of love—even the midst of an unloving world. When persons live their lives by faith—that is to say, they really trust God—and their lives are shaped by hope—that is to say, they are confident God finally wins—then, they really are able to love others as God in Christ has loved them.

But without faith and hope, we cannot love others as God in Christ loves us. When we are unable to trust God and God’s love, when we see the way of life revealed in Jesus as a foolish waste, when deep within ourselves we believe only the strong who look out for themselves will be the real winners in life, then, we are unable to follow Christ in the living of our lives. Regardless of the creeds we can recite, if we do not have faith and hope, if we do not really trust and have confidence that the grace of God will triumph over all that is evil, then, in the face of all that is evil and frightening in the world, we will be unable to invest ourselves in earnestly striving to live our lives following the way of Christ. It is my opinion that the reason the story about Jesus feeding a multitude of people is told six times in the four gospels is that the writers of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were each convinced that what this story has to teach us is what we who are the church need to remember and dare not forget. It is a story illustrating faith, hope and love.

Each time the story was told in the New Testament, the need facing the disciples was larger than the resources at the disciples disposal. How could what little they had make any significant difference in the face of so much hunger? Is this not one of the concerns that can and does most severely cripple us in our efforts to follow Christ. "Why offer what I have? It won’t do any good. The need is too great. There is no use giving what I have to offer."

But in each of the stories, the disciples demonstrate faith, hope and love. The disciples offer all they have to offer—as obviously inadequate as it is. And when what they offer is blessed by Christ, somehow it becomes more than enough.

It is as though each of the Gospel writers wants us to be sure to remember this aspect of what has been revealed in Jesus. When we live by faith, hope and love, and in the process offer all we have to offer, then what we offer will be blessed by Christ, and when Christ blesses what we offer, even though the need facing us is obviously larger than our resources, what we offer will somehow be more than enough.

But to live this way, to live offering all we have to offer is possible only when faith, hope and love shape our living. We are able to offer all we have to offer only when we really do trust God can and will make use of what we offer. Only when we really are confident that God will win, confident that by the grace of God, compassion can replace selfishness, faith can overcome fear and love really can transform hate—only when we truly trust God can we freely and fully give of ourselves and our possessions. In other words, it is only when we both really trust the love we have discovered in Christ and are truly confident that God wins in the end, that we have the capacity to live lives of love; that is to say, we have the ability to offer all we have to be used as Christ sees fit.

There are a multitude of ways we can offer all we have. Earlier this year we focused on offering all that we have through ministries of prayer, through ministries of service, and through ministries of presence. Today, we who are members and friends of this congregation are being given the opportunity to offer ourselves in ministry through our financial gifts. How we respond to this opportunity will say a lot about the extent and depth of our faith, hope and love. Our faith is reflected in the extent and depth of our trusting what we discover in Christ. Our hope is reflected in our confidence in what Christ has made known. Our love is energized by this faith and hope, and our love is expressed through the ways we invest ourselves and all that we have in ministries of Christ.

God, empower our lives with the faith, hope and love we need to enable us to live as you would have us live, offering to Christ what we have to offer. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer:

God, it is easy for us to become insensitive to our dependence on you. It is easy for us to become like spoiled children who have been given so much so often that we are no longer grateful for what we have received, but only impatient to be given even more. Forgive us.

We need your help, because in the midst of our abundance, we are faced with some special temptations. God, because of the money we make and the things we have, it is easy for us to live in the illusion that we are self-sufficient, and living in that illusion it is easy for us to think we are somewhat superior to those who have less. But, God, when we pause to think, we know better.

Forgive us when we forget our dependence on you and distort our relationship with you and our relationship with those around us. Forgive us when we live like spoiled children who take all you give us for granted and live "ho-hum" lives of selfishness rather than lives of joyful gratitude and generosity.

God, change us. Change our perspective on life so that we are able to see how much we have been given and in gratitude and joy commit ourselves to living the way Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: "Our Father …"

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