2nd Sunday after Pentecost June
14, 2009
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Faithwalking
Dear fellow redeemed,
It can be a scarey thing to watch, an even more
frightening to experience.
I refer to sleepwalking.
* Did you know that
people do not walk in their sleep with their eyes shut and their hands extended
in front of them as they show in the movies?
No. They can see where they’re going
because they have their eyes wide open.
* And so it was with one
of my sisters when we were kids.
Perhaps I’ve told some of you
about her.
You’d be sitting reading
somewhere or watching television.
Solveig had gone to bed a
couple hours ago and was fast asleep.
* But then out of nowhere
she just showed. And stood there before
you with her big glossy eyes. You could
talk to her but she didn’t make any sense.
She had no idea where she was.
She didn’t even know she was sleeping.
And the trick was to talk her back into bed without waking
her up.
* You see, you did not
want to wake her. When she discovered
that she was not where she belonged she got extremely agitated and let out this
blood-curdling scream that you could never forget.
* It was best to let her sleep. But is was also in her
best interest to get her back in bed.
You don’t get the best rest, after all, when you’re walking here and
there, having nonsensical conversations, and you have your eyes wide open.
The apostle, this morning, speaks of something else
that can seem a bit scarey. We may call
it Faithwalking.
* “For we walk by
faith, not by sight” he says.
It’s what’s required of all
Christians who spend day after day dealing with the struggles and hassles of
life brought on by sin.
* Everyday we see the
frightening evidence that our world is not perfect.
It’s not working right. People around us get sick. They hurt each other. They experience tragedy, death. And we experience it too.
* So that we might not be
overwhelmed and collapse because the daily sorrows and stresses of life, we
require rest. And the proper rest does
not come when we insist on keeping our eyes wide open so that we can analyze
and fret over everything that’s going wrong in life.
* Rest is possible when we walk by
faith. We trust that because of
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we are God’s children and some day we’ll enjoy
a much better existence in heaven.
* Despite the hassles and
discomforts of this world which we can’t help seeing at every turn in life,
we’re anxious for the day to arrive when we can finally get some rest and give
up our earthly life for our life in heaven.
* “For in this tent
(our body) we groan” the apostle declares, “longing to put on our
heavenly dwelling... so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
* We can hardly wait for
that day when believers will be immortal, forever resting from their labors in
the presence of their God and Savior.
* Faithwalking is
what we require in order to receive even now spiritual rest here on earth. And
it doesn’t work when you try it with your eyes wide open.
* True, every year,
everyday we can see the marks of a world scarred by sin and death.
But we’re not obligated to
live by sight or by what we see.
* We can trust in our
Savior, that because of his sacrifice on the cross, we’re God’s children who
someday will enjoy a much better existence in heaven.
But people are not into faithwalking. They’re more into walking by sight.
* People know they need
rest from life’s overwhelming burdens, but they prefer to take on life with
their big glossy eyes open rather than shut.
* It’s human nature, to
be an eternal optimist. “Surely this day
things will be better and our trials will be behind us. We just gotta keep our eyes open.”
We’ve just gotta believe!
* And
it’s a mind set that works on us Christians too.
We want to see that perfect
life which our Lord has promised.
* We’ve heard of the many promises
concerning the resurrection and our heavenly dwelling, but life makes us
impatient and cynical.
With our own eyes we want to
see the better life in the here and now.
* So we live as though
this present life of ours will soon be that comfortable paradise we’re longing
for. Some day our job problems or financial problems will be behind us for
good.
* Some day our family
will become that perfect household where we don’t have to do anymore
confronting or confessing.
Or some day our health will
be better than it is today.
Just give it a little more
time, and we’ll see it!
* But what if we
don’t? If our life appears to improve
for a time, generally it’s only for a short time. And things are right back where they were.
Or they’re a little worse.
Naturally as Christians we know better.
* “We walk by faith,
not by sight.”
True hope in the future comes
by Faithwalking. We focus on what
Christ earned for us by his life and his death: forgiveness and life in heaven.
* However, it’s easier
said than done. In as much as we remain
sinners in this world we’re inclined to focus on our many trials brought on by
sin.
* The problem is when we
walk by sight, this only causes us to resent what sin does to our life. And after some time, we end up questioning
what the great advantage is living by faith. Look at my life!
We want to see that perfect life which
our Lord has promised - today!
* As Christians we know better. Walking by faith is what it means to be a
Christian. And there’s no way it can be
done when we insist on seeing and analyzing every unfortunate episode that
takes place in our life.
But we’ll often try
nevertheless. The thinking is maybe we
can redefine faith so that it includes seeing what’s right in front of us.
* I’m
convinced this is what we often end up doing without realizing it.
If we can’t find comfort in how the
world around us is functioning, we we’d like to think we can find
comfort in how we’re functioning as a believer.
* If
we can’t see in the immediate future that our earthly life is operating
as it should, we can see that our Christian faith is operating as it
should.
In order to see faith, of
course, it has to be something more than mere trust in Christ.
* So we think of faith
as trust plus our visible acts of obedience. As long as I can see how useful I am - I’m
able to serve my Lord by being quite useful in the church or in my family - I
can have a positive feeling about the future.
I have faith!
* Or we think of faith as
trust plus our ability to comprehend.
As long as
I’m awake and understand pastor’s message Sunday morning and am able to think
about what’s happening during the Sacrament - I get it; I see - then I
can feel good about what’s coming up.
* Or
we imagine that faith is trust plus having a positive outlook on life;
seeing how things will work out.
As long as I
can look forward tomorrow and have the right feelings about it, then I can know things are heading
in the right direction.
* But then as life goes, we determine that these add-ons are
not enough.
We get old
and what we see is that we can no longer serve as we once did.
We’re
not quite as useful.
Later we can
no longer concentrate on what the
pastor is saying during the service.
Later yet we can no longer be positive about tomorrow.
Our body is
failing. We’re just slowing down.
We’re
getting more older. We’re dying.
“We walk by faith, not by
sight.” What does this mean?
* Faithwalking
is nothing more nothing less than having trust in our Savior.
We believe
our future will be perfect because of what Christ carried out in our place. Faithwalking
means that we’re assured of eternal life in heaven.
* “We
know” St. Paul writes, “that if
the earthly tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, (talking about our body) “we have a
building from God, eternal in the heavens.” That is to say, the day is
coming and we will be resurrected!
* We
also read in Hebrews eleven: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen.”
* Faith
deals with the unseen, that is to say, as though it were seen.
Faith
acknowledges that God’s greatest treasures drawn up for his children are
already in our possession. Forgiveness,
holiness before God, eternal salvation, by faith we already have it all.
* That’s
why we don’t have to add to faith. With
faith we receive everything we need from our Lord and everything he intends for
us to have so that we when our last day on earth arrives we can be at home with
him forever and ever.
Well, if this is all true, not only is it
unnecessary to beef up our faith. If we
have faith and it’s serving the purpose God intends that it serve, we don’t
even have to think about our faith
* We might think back to the member of
the family once again and their habit of sleepwalking. You know what I find
most interesting about sleepwalking?
It’s not what they’ll do in their sleep or what they’ll say. What I find especially fascinating is that
this person is not even cognizant of the fact that he’s sleeping.
* And that’s how it often
works with the believer. We live out our
live on earth remembering that Christ redeemed us with his holy precious blood;
we see we’re forgiven of our sins and can look forward to heaven with
our Savior, and we’re not even cognizant of our faith, because frankly we don’t
need to be.
* Why would we want to
think about our faith, when we can think about our Savior and how he’s made
life everlasting a reality that is for each and everyone of us.
* The only thing that
matters in the end is what belongs to us by faith in our Savior. “For
we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
* By faith in Christ, the
righteousness of our Savior is already in our possession, and therefore heaven
is in our possession.
We can older and naturally life can seem more
scarey.
We’re afraid of losing our strength, our memory, our
hearing, our sight.
* If so, you many keep
in mind what many have said about the deaf and the blind. They learn to compensate for their loss as
their senses mature and become sharper.
So the blind person learns to rely more on his hearing the deaf person
learns to rely more on his seeing.
* Perhaps it will explain
why our Savior permits sin to affect our ability to see a better life here on
earth.
* When this life’s
material blessings slowly vanish from our sight and we lose hope in this world
and its temporary joys, our only choice is that our faith takes over, that it
becomes sharper in the process, and that Christ enables us to tune into his
promises concerning our heavenly dwelling and life everlasting with our
Savior. Amen.
May the peace of God which passes all understanding
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.