I've Seen Enough

Introduction: Real Faith vs. Metaphysical Faith

Isn’t it interesting how essential faith is to the Christian life? Yet, one can never be certain of how much faith they truly have. This entire obligation towards faith is perplexing to me, because faith can never be measured by passion. Therefore, you can never really know how much faith you have by how you feel. Rather, faith is measured by your ability or inability to endure circumstances and trials. And for this reason, we never really know where our faith level is until we find our backs up against a wall we never knew was there in the first place. It is at that moment we discover just how strong or weak our faith really is.

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson wrote a commentary on Genesis 12-17, where he underlined the drastic difference between two ideas of faith. He argued the Jewish view of faith is greatly distinguished from the type of faith used by most Americans. He writes,

For most religious Americans, “faith” means belief in certain claims about the metaphysics of reality. Faith is perceived as a mental acceptance, a lack of doubt. Accordingly, true faith requires a willingness to refrain from too much thought, to ignore the difficult questions which life inevitably raises. And, as a result, when those questions do arise–as indeed they must–this faulty “faith” is often destroyed in its wake.

Have you ever been in this situation? Have you ever had a circumstance that has caused your faith to collapse?

What Rabbi Artson is getting at is the sort of faith that is fragile, questionable, and unreliable because it is too attached to the abstract and unable to connect with or consider reality. It is afraid of questions and have no answer to doubt, because its simply an idea of possibilities.

This kind of faith cannot answer the question of how one can suffer while striving to do right; why bad things happen to God’s people; why I must remain moral while dealing inhumane individuals in my life. Faith, in the American mind, avoids reality and says instead, there are no bad things that could happen to God’s people, suffering doesn’t exist, and the immoral are irrelevant.

On the contrast, Rabbi Artson argues that the Jewish idea of faith is about accepting doubt and embracing the tension of one’s faith in God and the reality of the world they occupy. In other words, faith is not about removing doubt or the tension one may experience. Rather, it is about choosing to trust God through every doubt and every tense moment. It’s not about dismissing adversity, but rather, thriving through it.

People who have faith don’t say I am not sick or incapable of being sick, but in sickness I am healed. They don’t say I am not broke or incapable of being broke, but rather while being without the financial stability they desire, they proclaim, “I am rich.”

And here is the premise of my entire message today: When my faith is in the right thing, it becomes unshakeable and I can endure anything.

Unwavering Faith

Abraham is an example of this sort of faith—it’s what I call unwavering faith. It’s the kind of faith that can handle troubles or discrepancies between what one imagines their faith will accomplish. Here, we have a nearly 100-year old man with a 90-year old wife and a promise to have a child.

He and his wife left his father’s house when he was 75 years old. Now, nearly 25 years later, they still have no child. Lets think about this for a minute.

25 years. Could you imagine how many battles a person can endure while waiting on a promise that hasn’t come after 2 decades—the mental strain, the psychological toil, the physical deterioration of his body, the tension between him and his wife—perhaps, the arguments they experienced, the laughs and snickering her and her friends enjoyed while concluding her husband had become delusional or just obsessed with “another one of those dreams?” Maybe she thought it was a form of delayed mid-life crisis.

What about Lot? His growing success in Sodom and Gomorrah as he enjoys a booming land. The looks and gossip that must have gone on as Lot noticed the seemingly wasted years Abraham had spent—the relief he must have shared with Abraham for leaving and taking the “opportunity of a lifetime and departing while he had a chance.”

What must have Abraham felt these 25 years? Perhaps, he wrestled with whether it was the right choice. Maybe he struggled with regret of leaving his father’s house. Maybe he thought about how stable life would be if he had only stayed where he was. Everything was set and life was promised to be easy and comforting. Yet, something compelled him to leave despite the guaranteed success of staying with his father.

And if you think his troubles began in year 20 or even year 10, we are all terribly mistaken, because Abraham endured what I call the two challenges to unwavering faith the moment he left his father’s house. These challenges were : 1) unseen promises and 2) delayed manifestations.

I am of the opinion nothing attacks our faith like unseen promises and delayed manifestations of the things we hope for.

Unseen promises. When we think about unseen promises, we find in Genesis 12:1-3, God gave Abraham 3 promises he never would live to see:

1. I will make you a great nation

2. I will make your name great

3. All the families of the earth will be blessed

Abraham never lived to see the totality of these promises fulfilled. Yet, his faith remained strong.

Delayed manifestations. With delayed manifestations, in Genesis 15:12-21, Abraham learned the promises God made him concerning his descendants would be delayed by 400 years. Rather than going immediately into the land to possess it, Abraham’s children would endure 400 years of brutal slavery under pagan societies before they could inhabit and possess the land of Canaan.

Yet, his faith did not waver, because even though there’s a reason to doubt, faith says I must keep going through this—not I must find a way to get out of this.

Paul’s View of Abraham’s Faith

The question I am left asking is how do you continue in faith, when everything you believe God for seems to be out of reach or completely irrelevant to your immediate well-being.

Understand, when you have real faith, most of the things you are believing God for are never for you. It is always in the best interest of someone else you are meant to be a blessing to. So, the real question is how do you believe when you’re getting nothing out of it?

Oh yes, its easy to believe for a new car, a new house, a new job, and some better clothes. But in comparison to Abraham’s faith, that’s not real faith; that’s wishful thinking. True faith is when you have nothing to gain at all, but yet you keep on going in hope that something will eventually break through.

Paul considered Abraham to be the epitome of a faith-walker. And there were two things that drove the sort of faith that causes one to believe during adverse situations.

Foundations. First, Paul tells us Abraham had hopes for a city. He gives us a peak into that inward longing faith-walkers have. Paul’s understanding of Abraham’s inward confidence is unlike anything we would have seen in his world. Abraham’s faith and hope is altogether different from the Greek-dominated culture of Paul’s day. Abraham actually believes that there’s a utopian-like city prepared for the people of God.

In Plato’s Republic, Socrates shares what he feels is the impossibility of such a city—what he calls the city[polis] of justice. In Socrates’ mind, this is an heavenly city. He argues that this city only exists in word and could never exist in truth and deed. Since such a city would be unfathomable in this world, it must only be enjoyed in heaven. That is, this is an heavenly city that can only be experienced in heaven.

Philo the Jewish-Alexandrian philosopher agrees with Socrates. He concludes, such a city could only be built by God, so it cannot be something found here on earth. Therefore, such a quest for a city like this is not to found here on earth.

Yet, Paul says in Hebrews 11:10, “10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.”

Did you catch that? Abraham is said to be looking for a city with foundations. In other words, Abraham’s faith was motivated by the hope and belief that there’s a city with “support” or “structure.”

Craig Keener noted, some languages described the role of foundations as being that which keeps the walls firm or that which keeps the walls from moving. It is the thing that goes beneath the walls and causes stability.

And Paul is trying to get us to see how Abraham, who has been struggling, sojourning, and living as a foreigner is simply looking for a place where he can find security and steadiness. He just wants to quench that inward thirst and feel like he has a place to belong.

And isn’t that what most of us want. After believing, praying, and looking out for others don’t we all just want to find a place where things can be firm, fixed, unwavering? Don’t we just want a life that is consistent? Don’t we just want to go one day without worrying whether it’s going to be the car today or the house or the job or an illness? Don’t we just want to have a little stability?

Abraham is saying, I am tired of the instability of life. I am tired of being a stranger. I am done with living like a foreigner. I am over living like something I am not. I want to finally live in the promise that has been given to me. I need a city that is reliable and stable.

Yet, when we dig deeper and examine further, we find this desire for a city was not the only motivation behind Abraham’s faith. There was something more important and impactful.

The Builder and Maker. In the Greek text, the most important words in Hebrews 11:10 is not foundations. Rather, they are builder and maker.

While most people’s faith is supremely motivated by the city, Abraham’s faith is more impacted by the maker and builder of the city.

And here lies the underlying secret of our text: Unwavering faith is the kind of faith that believes more in God than the things God gives.

Abraham saw God as the builder (δημιουργός)—the one who crafts and creates; He’s the one who works on behalf of others, He’s the one who works for the public benefit. He also saw God as maker (τεχνίτης)—the designer and craftsman.

In other words, God, the maker of this city, was the one who has the ability to come up with a concept and bring it to pass. He’s not like man who comes up with ideas, but does not have the power to implement what he imagines. He’s not like the other gods who are limited in knowledge, but seemingly have all the power in the world. Rather, He’s the God of intellect and authority; logic and power—that is, He can do what He thinks!

Luke writes in Acts 7:2, Abraham saw the God of glory before he left his father. I believe this view of God solidified Abraham’s faith, even before he began his pursuit of God’s promise. He saw something during his first encounter with God that distinguished God from any other deity he’d ever encountered. He recognized that though he may not know what lies ahead, one thing he would have said, “I have never seen a God like this before! Come what may, I will follow Him!”

Brothers and sisters, I have one point today—when you faith is in God you can make it through anything!

I have experienced a lot of heartache. I have been disappointed. I’ve had some things I thought would work out—fall a part. I have had friends turn their backs on me. I have been sick. I have been broke. I have had my car break down on me. I’ve wondered where my next meal would come from. I wondered if I would make it another year on my job. I have struggled with whether the work I am committed to was the will of God. I have had people sabotage me. I have been called out of my name; looked down on. Some have thought of me as less than. I’ve been used and abused, misused and misunderstood. But I’ve never wondered should I turn around, because I’ve seen the MAKER and BUILDER of my soul, and I know as long as my faith is in Him, everything will be alright.

Conclusion: I’ve Seen Enough

Now, I understand why Paul wrote to the Corinthian church 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by believing and not by seeing.” Paul learned from Abraham, who I have seen always trumps what I am seeing right now. And what I have seen always look better than what I am looking at in the moment.

So, instead of giving what I am seeing in the moment the power of weakening my faith, I choose to be strengthened by my faith, because my faith is in the God of glory. As Paul wrote in Romans 4:21, “He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.” God is able!