Faith

Mark 4; 26 to 34 and Hebrews 11; 1 to 7

This morning I’d like to look at the subject of faith – what it is, how it develops and how we can nourish it, because this is absolutely central to Christianity and to having any sort of relationship with God.

So firstly, what is faith? St Augustine wrote ‘faith is to believe what we do not see - and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.’

Nicky Gumbel writes; ‘The world says I need to see first and then I will believe. Jesus says believe first then you will see.’

Christian faith essentially comes down to putting our trust in Jesus and what he says in the bible.

Its putting our trust in the one true God who although we cannot see him - we believe created the heavens and the earth – and we believe loves us and died to save us.

The reason I chose today’s reading from Mark is that it portrays the growth stages of faith.

Like a planted seed, faith grows in someone’s life. Initially the seed is buried and we can’t see it – but gradually as that person’s faith grows, the seed that was sown pushes through the soil and breaks out into the world – and grows into a plant – and then others can see it.

And as that person’s faith matures and develops it can produce a work – like a large tree - that is evident to all.

Think of someone like Mother Teresa for instance - who from a small seed of faith developed a ministry of caring for the poor and destitute that is still known all around the world – a massive tree of faith bearing testimony to the existence of God.

And, I think we can identify 3 stages to the growth of faith in our lives. The first is what I’d describe as the seeking faith stage; the second is the saving faith stage; and the third is the serving faith stage – as our faith grows and matures and we bear fruit.

And each one of us here this morning will be at some point in this faith growth process.

So firstly, the seeking faith stage. And as we see in today’s gospel reading in verse 26 - the starting point for faith is with a seed being sown in our lives. And this seed is something that sparks our interest in God or causes us to question our existence.

It’s something that makes us look beyond ourselves for answers. It’s the faith that like a seed buried in soil -  gropes in the dark for answers.

I think the starting point for my faith was coming to the conclusion – because of what I saw with my eyes – the created world around me – that there must be a God.

I understood that order could not come from chaos by chance. I saw tremendous precision and creativity in the world around me and the idea that this developed randomly was ridiculous to me.

I saw there must be a creator God and I wanted some sort of explanation for my existence – and so I sought him.

How did I do that?  I exercised faith and prayed to him. I said God – I don’t know who you are – but I believe you exist and that you created me - and I want to know you. And I want to know why you created me.

Many people I suspect are the same as me and the starting point for their faith is perhaps seeing the created world around them.

Others who are very rationally minded – perhaps start by reading the gospels or analysing the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection – and become convinced it’s true.

And others perhaps see something in Christians they know – a certain quality or love or something different about their lives – perhaps their assurance of faith – that sows a seed in their lives and causes them to question.

And at this point it’s likely – as I did - that we may start to pray – albeit tentatively – and as soon as we start to pray – however unsure we may be, we are starting to exercise faith.

We start to reach out towards and seek a God we cannot see or touch. Like that buried seed we start by faith to grow up through the soil towards the daylight.

If you are in this seeking stage the good news is that Jesus promises if you persevere in seeking him, you will find him.

Jesus says in Luke’s gospel - "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

You will – if you persevere - enter the next stage of faith.

And the next stage of faith is the saving faith stage. This is the stage where the seed of faith that was sown in our life – breaks out through the soil into the world above and reaches the daylight.

This is the stage where having thought about the meaning of life and prayed and sought God - we make the decision that we want God in our lives.

Perhaps we’ve been coming to church for a while or we’ve examined the evidence and we’ve become convinced that the gospel – the good news of Jesus – is true.

And we reach the point where we acknowledge our need for God. We realise that we need his love and his forgiveness - and so we are prepared to open our hearts – and invite him wholeheartedly into our lives.

In short, we’re prepared to repent. We’re prepared to submit ourselves to God’s plan and purpose for our lives and take a step of faith and say yes to God.

‘Lord I really want you in my life. I want to know your love for me. I want to live my life with you – your way. I want you to be my Lord and my God.’

As I’ve said previously this stage can happen at a specific moment in our lives or over a period of time.

Some Christians can put their finger on the exact time that they invited Jesus into their life and came to know him.

Other Christians though can’t put their finger on the moment they broke through the soil and encountered daylight.

All they know is that six months ago they were still in darkness but now they’re not.

As Mike said at Cafe Church a couple of weeks ago - this can be particularly true for children who have been bought up in Christian homes who have known God from their childhood.

Some people can get a bit stuck at this stage because they become nervous about saying yes to God – and so they hesitate. But saying yes to God is the best thing we can ever do.

The reason I’ve called this the saving faith stage is, that it is at this point – the point where we say yes to God – and his plan for our lives - that we are saved from condemnation and judgement – and our faith becomes alive.

Our spiritual eyes are opened and we come to know God and start to understand that he loves us. We cross over from death to life and we become God’s children and members of his family.

God comes by his spirit – the spirit of Jesus to live in our hearts – to lead and guide us towards the fulfilment of the plans he has for us.

So, if you’ve been hesitating I’d urge you to choose God today – this morning. Just say yes to him in your heart – and choose life and love and forgiveness and blessing and fulfilment.

The final stage of faith is what I’ve called the serving stage of faith – it’s the stage where having accepted God - our faith grows and matures. Like green leaves emerging on a plant – we start to put out stalks or branches and bear fruit.

In the West sadly many Christians can reach the saving faith stage and break through the soil – but then grow very little and remain stunted and bear little fruit.

It’s easy as Jesus points out in the parable of the sower – for us to become pre-occupied with the cares and worries of everyday life – and like weeds these overshadow us – and our growth becomes stunted.

If we are to grow and to bear fruit, we need to continue to live by faith. We need to cultivate the relationship that we have found with God. We need to talk to him every day in prayer and to read our bibles.

And the key to growing in our faith is I think - submitting ourselves to God.

Paul says in his letter to the Colossians; “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

We receive Christ through submitting ourselves to him and we grow in faith by continuing to live in submission to his plan and purpose for our lives.

Jesus calls us to bear fruit and so we need to offer ourselves to him in service. ‘Lord show me what you want me to do. Show me how I can serve you.’

And then as we are obedient to what he asks us to do – we will find that he helps us – and our faith and confidence will grow and we will start to bear fruit.

If you’re a Christian, God has something – some work that he wants you to do. And you may feel oh goodness I’m not sure I can do that but God will help you every step of the way.

And this is what this chapter from Hebrews is really about. It’s a potted history of men and women in the Old Testament who were obedient to what God asked them to do – who submitted themselves by faith to his plan and purpose for their lives.

If we are going to bear fruit, we need to follow their example. We need to offer ourselves to God – and pray to him to show us what he wants us to do and then act on it.

The other part of submitting ourselves to God that will really help our faith to grow is submitting our minds to God’s word as revealed in the bible.

Its accepting by faith that the bible is the inspired word of God - and allowing it to shape and influence our thinking.

As Christians, we can have absolute confidence and trust in what the bible teaches us – because as Paul tells us it is God breathed. Men may have written down the words but the spirit of God inspired them to write what they did.

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In other words, as we study and accept and believe what the bible and particularly the New Testament teach us – we will come to know the truth about life and death and salvation and God’s great love for us – and this will have a liberating effect on us.

We will come to understand that we are safe and secure with God – and that through the cross he has completely freed us from condemnation and judgement.

We will come to understand that our salvation is not based on our own performance or effort – but on what Jesus accomplished for us through the cross.

And as we understand this more and more – the more we will want to share this good news with others.

So, to conclude what I want to say this morning – we are all a bit like plants in various stages of growth. Some of us may be in the seeking faith stage – and if that’s you I‘d urge you to keep on seeking God. Keep coming to church. Keep asking questions. Keep praying in faith because God wants you to find him – and if you persevere you will.

Some may be at the saving faith stage - ready to break through the soil. If that’s you - perhaps you’ve been waiting for God to do something miraculous and reveal himself to you. But actually - perhaps he’s waiting for you to say yes to him – yes to his plan and purpose for your life.

And some of us are at serving faith stage – growing and putting out stems and branches that will bear fruit.

If that’s you – the key to growth is submission – offering ourselves to God in service – and then by faith doing what he asks us to do. And also allowing God’s word to shape our thinking; and the love and security we find as we study it, should then motivate us to share our faith with others. In the name of the living God. Amen