And Abraham believed the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Gen 15:7
The only thing that I can imagine more important to our walk with God than faith, is of course love. As Paul writes to the Corinthians: “And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.”
I try to imagine Abram, living in the place he had grown up, in very comfortable and familiar surroundings, and then packing up all his things and leaving simply on faith that God had spoken and would be faithful. Not even knowing where God was sending him. No road map, no GPS, no guide, other than pure faith.
Yes, Bruce and I packed up and moved across the country to a little church on an island in Iowa. But I knew exactly where I was being called. And you bet I had my GPS. In fact for the first year, almost everywhere I went was via GPS.
Abram had no home ready for him to move into, no address to which to forward his mail, not even a dot on a map to point to. I just can’t imagine.
There is a scene in a movie that always comes to mind when I think about what this kind of faith looks like. Does anybody else like the Indiana Jones movies? You know if I was really any good at this I would have more contemporary examples than last week’s Harry Chapin and this week’s Indiana Jones. But alas, here I am.
So it was in the 1989 movie, “The Last Crusade.” Man that was a long time ago!
On the hunt for the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus had used at the Last Supper, Indie’s father, played by Sean Connery (be still my heart), had been shot by the Nazis and lay on the cave floor dying. In order to save his father Indie had to retrieve the cup. The last of the three tasks Indie was to face was: "Only in the leap from the lion's head will he prove his worth."
The scene is burned in my memory, it left such an impression on me. He stands at the entrance of the cavern looking down into a rather massive abyss. On the other side of this chasm is the doorway to the cave where the cup is believed to be.
Indie closes his eyes and says “It’s a leap of faith.” And his father (sigh Sean) breathes “you must believe, boy. You must….believe.” The music plays, Indie takes a deep breath, lifts his foot, holding it for a moment over the canyon, and steps out, or more accurately falls forward into what would seem to be a fast plummet to his death. And of course, his foot lands on an invisible bridge. Cautiously, suggesting he still could not see where each step would land, he goes to the cave across the way and retrieves the Holy Grail. Thus saving the life of Sean Connery, oh I mean Indie’s father!
Indie had to believe the risk was worth it, that the cup would be where he was told and it would heal his father. He had to believe in the cup (that it would bring healing), the map to the cup( that it knew where to go) and that stepping out wouldn’t be his demise.
I can think of no better picture of what faith looks like than that scene. Either of Abram’s faith to travel to an unknown destination or of our faith to believe that “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” God’s delight is to give you the same power that raised Christ from the grave.
Or in fact the faith to simply believe that God is. I can close my eyes and breathe in, “knowing” God as the psalmist calls us to. But in the physical world, well God can’t be proven only believed.
This is the faith we are called to no matter what the chasm before us looks like. No matter how deep or how hopeless it appears.
And what exactly is it that such faith gets us? Probably not the very cup that Jesus used at the last supper. Something, in fact, far greater than that. Righteousness. Abram’s faith was counted to him as righteousness.
To better appreciate this let’s consider this word righteousness. Too often the idea of following all the rules is attributed to righteousness. Crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. Daily devotions, long prayers, tithing, and showing up at church every time the doors open. I would say that these things may issue from righteousness, but righteousness is not these things.
Righteousness is simply having a right relationship with God. My old testament professor gave a wonderful lecture on this and I have never seen righteousness the same. A right relationship with God.
There is little else I desire as much as I desire a relationship with my Lord God. To know that love and that presence deeply within. To know that God walks next to me, holds me, and desires to give me the kingdom. Wow!
That takes faith. That takes stepping out and trusting that spending time interacting with God, speaking with God, and even more importantly listening to God is not a waste of time but rather a true act of righteousness. An act of right relationship with the Almighty Lover of our Souls!
Perhaps you have heard it said, the opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty. If you read Abrams' story, you will see he frequently doubted. If you are certain that a chair is strong enough to hold you, then no faith is needed to sit down. But even a slight question of its strength requires faith to try it.
Like Indie, we may not see where the path is leading, or what we must do to walk it. But faith accesses the power of the kingdom for each step. And it will count as righteousness, right relationship with God Almighty.
In our place in time, we are and will be called to acts of faith. To go places and do things that feel risky. God has mapped the path, we just need faith.
Hear Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. (chapter 3)
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