Faith Requires Risks
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
As the children head out, I am going to take a moment to talk about faith. June 26th, 2022 was my first Sunday here at GNBC. That Sunday, I preached a sermon titled The Impossibility of Faith. We have talked about the issue of faith many times since then, and we do so because the Bible clearly states that
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We cannot please God without faith. Our lives, if not conducted by faith, if lived out in doubt, are not pleasing to the Lord.
So today, this Wednesday, and next Sunday, I will be talking about faith in a series titled Christmas Faith.
We will be looking at a couple of characters - mainly Mary and Joseph - in addition to others that illustrate the different focuses on faith. So I urge you to be here today, Wednesday, and next Sunday as we go through this series. I will say this about the sermons in this series: where you do not typically hear 30 minute sermons from me, these three sermons will be about that long each. I could put these aspects of faith all into one sermon, but I will not do so because I believe that each aspect that we will be looking at concerning faith in the story of Joseph is something we should take time to consider separately before bringing them all together.
So I will ask that you take notes during these sermons, and that you meditate on these things throughout the next few days until we meet again on Wednesday. I’ll ask you to do the same thing on Wednesday, and then next Sunday, when after listening to the last portion this series, we will have our Life Group discussion time, and I hope that you will willing to share what your thoughts have been and how God spoke to your through His word.
So without further ado:
Faith Requires Risks
Faith Requires Risks
The title for today’s message is Faith Requires Risks. To understand what this means, we need to go to the book of Luke and look at the beginning of the Christmas story.
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
So, Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel who announces to her that she is going to have a baby. She, of course, is surprised. She’s never been with a man that way. She is a virgin.
Gabriel explains that this is not going to be a natural kind of birth, but supernatural, brought on by the working of the Holy Spirit, and when Mary hears this, she submits to God’s plan for her life.
Mary’s Risk
Mary’s Risk
Think about this for a moment. Mary is just a young lady, around 15 or 16 years old is the general consensus of Christian historians. She was already betrothed to Joseph. The way betrothal worked was this:
Arranged marriages were a very common thing. Parents would arrange a marriage between children, sometimes when the children were still very young. This arrangement became formalized when they were teenagers in something called a betrothal. When two people were betrothed, it was like an engagement, but much more serious. The bride had to willingly give consent to be married to the groom, and when she did, even though their life together was not starting yet, they were considered legally married. At that point, contracts were made, and betrothals were legally binding. The bride would then begin getting things ready to go and live with the groom, who from this time onward, would be getting his house ready - which could include building the house.
From this time, the couple did not see each other much until the wedding day, and that could be a year or more down the road - depending on how long it took the groom to ready the house and finances. Also, because the wedding ceremony had not yet occurred, the groom and bride were not to engage in any sexual activity, and, it should go without saying, that they would remain abstinent toward others as well.
And because this type of engagement was legally binding, a divorce was necessary for them to end the relationship. Once everything was ready, the groom would go in procession to his father-in-law’s house to get the bride. There would be a wedding ceremony, and the couple would go to the home that the groom had been preparing/building where they would consummate the marriage.
So, we find find Mary sometime in her betrothal period. When all of a sudden, Gabriel appears unto her with a message from God. “Mary, you are blessed and highly favored. God is with you.” And Mary naturally was afraid. The Bible said she was troubled. She wondered at what kind of greeting this was.
But Gabriel continued. “Fear not, Mary. You have found favor with God.” The word translated favor is often translated grace. And the word found So what that phrase means is that “the grace of God has come upon you.” And then he continues, “You will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob (that is, Israel), and his kingdom will last forever.”
Mary, of course, is surprised. She is a virgin still. She is in her betrothal period, and has not yet had relations with Joseph or any other man. So she questions how this will happen.
And Gabriel says to her, “The Holy Spirit is going to do this through His power, and what is born from you will be the Son of God.”
Now, Mary had a choice to make here. I believe she could have refused God, and even if she couldn’t have, she could have been bitter at Jesus and been a horrible mother to Him, something that we do not find even a hint of in Scripture.
Think about it. Mary is in her betrothal. She is getting things together that she will need as a wife and future mother. During this time, she is learning how to cook, how to keep house, how to manage different things in the family. Jewish women of the day had an uncommon level of autonomy when you compare them to the rest of the world. They maintained their own inheritances, properties, and such. If we look at the description of a virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, we can see that it was looked well upon for a wife to be an enterprising woman. Mary is learning all this and getting ready to go live with her future husband.
And all of a sudden, Gabriel appears with this news. Do you not think that Mary had a life planned out already? Don’t you think that she had envisioned what it would look like for her and Joseph to start their new life together? She may have had dreams of how it was going to be to spend that first year or so alone with her husband, getting to know him and his quirks.
But now, now she’s receiving the news that she’s about to be pregnant. What does that mean for her? So many things.
It meant that the world would look on her as an adulteress. In a few months, people would be able to see that she was pregnant, and they would know that she was still in her betrothal period. Her family and friends may not understand or even believe that this was from God. Her father and mother would be disgraced, even if Joseph still agreed to marry her.
Oh, and Joseph! What would he think? Would he think that Mary had been having an affair? Would he believe Mary’s story, that an angel had come to her and announced that she was going to have, not another man’s son, but the Son of God, and that she had not been unfaithful?
Mary risks completely overturning the life that she had planned by her accepting this message.
She could have said no. She could have told Gabriel, “Thanks, but no thanks. I have my life planned already. I am marrying this carpenter, Joseph, and we are going to live a quiet life in Nazareth. But if I accept what you are telling me, then my life may end up in ruins. Find somebody else.”
But that is not what Mary says. This is what Mary’s response is:
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
In fourteen words, Mary demonstrates her level of faith. But these fourteen words are deep. They express much more than the simple meanings of the words.
“Behold, I am just a servant of God. My purpose is not being a wife. My purpose is not having children and raising them my way. My purpose and my role and my identity is this - I am a servant of God. Therefore, whatever you said that God wants of me, I’m down with. Let it be. I had plans, but I am willing to completely abandon those plans for God’s plans. I plan on getting married, but if Joseph decides to not marry me, I am willing to let that dream go. I had never planned on being the laughing stock of my town, but if that is what I am to be to fulfill God’s plans, so be it.”
And in the fourteen words she speaks, she acts by faith despite the risks.
And speaking of Joseph.
Joseph’s Risk
Joseph’s Risk
Joseph also had a choice to make, and with one of those choices come some heavy risks. As we read about Joseph, I want you to understand that his first inclination was to divorce Mary.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
In the middle of their betrothal, in fact, it looks like it is toward the end of their betrothal, before they came together (in other words, before Joseph came to get Mary and have the wedding ceremony), Mary is starting to show. She is with child, and people know it. Joseph finds out about it. And we do not know how he finds out. It could be that Mary is making it known about her conversation with Gabriel. Maybe she has even talked directly to Joseph about it. Maybe she hasn’t, and the word just reaches Joseph through the grapevine. Either way, Joseph finds out and does not believe that this child is a divine product. He believes that Mary has stepped out on him.
But Joseph evidently is a gracious man, and merciful. The Bible calls him “just.” This means that he is not going to be vengeful, nor is he going to be cruel. No, he cannot bring himself to marry his fiancé, but he can’t bring himself to make a public example of her and divorce her in a public demonstration, which would have been common in the day. So instead of denouncing her publicly, he plans on simply divorcing her privately, without causing any more scandal for her or for him. He will quietly put her away, and go on with his life.
But as he thinks about these things, he receives a visit. Matthew 1:20
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Joseph has a choice. If he takes Mary as his wife and does not divorce her, he runs certain risks. He is deeply considering one choice when an angel tells him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
Joseph is not is not just asked to believe something that seemed unbelievable. He was asked to stake his entire life on that belief.
Joseph is told to marry a pregnant virgin. Even if Joseph chooses to believe this, who else is going to believe it? He is told to risk public humiliation, whispers behind his back, shunning from his community, dishonoring his parents. What names would people call him? How would this impact his career as a carpenter? Would people want a man that so willingly married a woman who seemed to be unfaithful to him working on their furniture? Would people believe that Joseph was innocent? Or would they think that he was the father?
If so, Joseph risked execution, for the penalty for adultery was stoning.
Think about Joseph’s situation. Had Joseph put Mary away, he would have had a comfortable life. He had a house built, he had a career, he had a good reputation. All these things would have made him very eligible to marry another woman. There was a respectable future awaiting Joseph.
So what does Joseph do? He does what the angel asks of him. Matthew 1:24
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
Faith Requires Risks
We look at this and say, “Well of course Joseph and Mary went along with God’s plan. The savior would be born to them and that would make things alright for them. People would worship Jesus and listen to Him.”
But you know what? The angel did not give Joseph and Mary a preview to the manger. We look at these things as a whole, because the events have past and are recorded for us, and most of us grew up knowing the Christmas story.
But Joseph and Mary had no idea about the manger. They had no clue that shepherds would be the first to visit and worship Jesus. They had no idea that when the shepherds left, they would go ‘round about telling everyone about the baby Messiah that lay in a manger in Bethlehem.
Joseph and Mary had no idea about the wise men. No clue that these people, whose great-great-great-great-great- great-grandparents had been taught of the coming Messiah by the prophet Daniel himself would come with gold, frankincense and myrrh.
They didn’t get a preview of the thousands and thousands that would follow Jesus and listen to Him teach and be fed by miracles.
Mary and Joseph did not get a preview of the empty tomb and Jesus’ victory over death.
Joseph got one sentence: “Do no be afraid, this is from the Holy Spirit.” And what did Joseph say? He said “yes.”
He took the step of faith, despite the risk of losing it all. He took the step of faith even though it cost him a comfortable future.
And we learn from this that...
Faith Comes at a Cost
Faith Comes at a Cost
Faith will always cost us. It will always ask us to risk something. Joseph and Mary risked a comfortable, predictable, quiet life. But they willingly turned away from that to follow God’s plan for them as so many others that we see in the Bible.
Abraham left his home in Ur, Moses left a comfortable job as a shepherd. Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their family businesses. Matthew left a lucrative, albeit dishonorable, career. Peter left the boat to walk on water with Jesus. One of the disciples left his recently deceased father to follow Jesus.
When the twelve were sent to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, they left all their possessions and were told not to take any money or food with them. Zaccheus left his riches, Paul left his religion, Jeremiah left his way of life, and Elisha left his parents and his home.
Joseph and Mary left their pre-planned, quiet, and unassuming life to follow a completely different direction that God was pointing them in.
Every time God moves the story forward, somebody must step into the unknown.
Faith Is Willing to Stand Alone
Faith Is Willing to Stand Alone
When Peter was called to walk on water to Jesus, he did not wait to see if anyone else would go with him. The woman who was cured of her issue of blood did not wait for someone to hold her hand and take her to Jesus, she went and touched His garments alone.
When Mary was told by Gabriel that she would carry and give birth to the Son of God, she didn’t say, “O wow! That’s a big decision to make. Can I have some time to talk it over with Joseph first?” She did not consult her parents, her friends, or her fiancé. The fear of loosing Joseph did not play a part in her decision to go along with God’s plan; she simply said, “Let it be. I am God’s servant.”
When Joseph was confronted by the angel, he did not consult his parents or friends. He got up and obeyed and took Mary as his wife. The risk of being ridiculed, shamed, or misunderstood I am sure was present, but it did not play a part in Joseph’s decision to follow God’s plan for his life.
Because faith is willing to stand alone. When nobody seems to be on your side, when nobody seems to understand, when the whole world is against you, faith is willing to stand alone.
Now the beautiful thing about living in faith is that you will often find others who are also living by faith. They will pray for you, they will support you, they will encourage you, but even in the event that nobody does do that, Faith is willing and able to stand alone for the cause of Christ and in obedience to God.
Faith Requires a Test
Faith Requires a Test
Lastly, I want to point out that faith always requires a test. If your faith is untestable, then it is not faith. If your “faith” crumbles under the slightest test, it was never faith, it was simple belief.
You have probably heard me reference this true story before, the incredible story of a famous French acrobat named Jean François Gravelet, better known as Charles Blondin or The Great Blondin.
Blondin was renowned for his tightrope crossings of the Niagara Gorge. On one occasion, after crossing the gorge pushing a wheelbarrow, he asked the cheering audience if they believed he could take a man in the wheelbarrow across the gorge and back. All of the crowd cheered, and said that they believed he could do such a thing, until Blondin asked for a volunteer to get in the wheelbarrow.
A long, awkward pause followed. People looked around at one another, but no one was brave enough to volunteer to ride in the wheelbarrow. Finally, Blondin’s manager, Henry Colcord, volunteered so that this would not turn into bad publicity. Blondin did in fact take Colcord across, but not in a wheelbarrow, but on his back!
Everyone in that crowd believed that Charles Blondin could wheel someone across safely, and they probably would have even said that they had faith that Blondin would be successful, however, when put to the test, their “faith” crumbled because it was never faith. It was merely mental assent.
When you and I decide to live in faith, it will be tested. It must be tested. Abraham’s faith was tested, and he was asked to be willing to sacrifice his son. When Peter declared that he would go out and walk on water with Jesus is Jesus would just call him to do so, his faith statement was put to the test when Jesus said, “Come on, walk with me.”
When Paul faithfully obeyed the Lord preaching throughout Greece and Asia Minor, his faith was put to the test with trials, assassination attempts, imprisonments, beatings, tortures, mockery, sickness, and direct demonic attacks. Yet Paul continued. Because faith not only requires a test, faith will pass the test.
Faith will pass the test. Yes, those that endure the tests in faith may be exhausted and tired and even wounded and scarred, yet they will not be broken.
We say we have faith. We are quick to say it, even. “I have faith.” But what do you have to show for it? James says this in James 2:18
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
You cannot show faith without backing it up with action. You cannot. Remember what our definition of faith is. Biblical faith is a heartfelt belief that drives me to action.
So James challenges, “Show me your faith without works, you can’t. But I can show you my faith by my works. My faith can be seen through my obedience. My faith can be seen through perseverance. My faith can be seen because it has been tested and come out standing on the other side.”
Invitation
Invitation
Faith comes with risks. Without risk, there is no faith. Faith will cost you. Faith will be tested, but faith will stand, even if it must stand alone.
Too often, Christians too easily and too quickly say they have faith without counting the cost.
We say we have faith until obedience becomes expensive. We say we have faith until God asks us to do something that may make us look foolish. We say we have faith until something comes along and we don’t have a guarantee of a good outcome.
But Habakkuk 2:4 says
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: But the just shall live by his faith.
The just, the righteous, shall live by faith; not by sight, not by money, not by job security, not by health, but by faith. And if you are not living by faith, Hebrews 11:6 still has something important to say about that:
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him…
So here is the question today: What is God asking you to do right now that you have been refusing because you can’t see the ending? In what area of your life are you not following God’s commands because it is just too hard, or to uncomfortable, or too expensive? What practices that started off as faith practices have you given up because the testing got a little too hard or because the risk became to great?
I want you to know that the real risk lies in not following Jesus. The real risk lies in not obeying God. The real risk is “playing it safe” and missing the story that God wants to write with your life.
So this morning, as we have a time of invitation, pray the dangerous prayer. Give in to what God wants you to do. Ask God to forgive you for waiting for guarantees instead of waiting on Him, for trusting in safety nets instead of trusting the Him, the Good Shepherd.
Ask God to give you faith like Joseph. Faith that is willing to risk reputation, comfort, and control.
Don’t “play it safe.” Don’t sit on the sidelines of the story God wants to write through your life. You’ll end up missing the greatest experiences with God. Experiences that will grow you spiritually and develop you as men and women of God in ways that nothing else can.
I’ll ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes for a quick invitation.
I have no desire to drag this out. I’ll ask some simple questions, and I pray that you will respond to them they way that God has spoken to your heart today.
First question, to the unsaved. The Bible says that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This kind of faith is the kind of faith that will have you, as the book of Romans says, believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins and that He rose again. It is that kind of faith that will acknowledge and follow Jesus because He is the ONLY means to salvation and forgiveness of sins.
This kind of faith will cost you. You must let go of the notion that you are not a bad person. You must let go of the notion that you can live life well enough to cover the bad things that you have done. This kind of faith will cost you because you must absolutely let go of any pride whatsoever and come to Jesus completely humbled before Him and ask Him to save you.
This kind of faith will change not only your eternal destiny, but it will change your earthly life as well. It will cost you, but the price to pay for not having this faith is far worse. The wages of sin, the Bible says, is death. It is a lake of fire, burning eternally for those who do not put their complete trust in Jesus and ask Him to save them.
If you are here, and you are not sure if you are saved, I would love to pray for you. I do not want to embarrass anyone, so I will ask that if you are not sure of your salvation, that you would simply raise your hand and put it right back down. Is there anyone like that?
If you raised your hand and you would like to talk more about knowing how to be sure that you are saved, please talk to me after the service. I’ll be in the side room specifically for the purpose of setting up a time either later today or this week when we could talk and you can ask any questions you may have about salvation.
For those that are saved: Are you playing it safe? What area is God speaking to you about that you are not following Him?
Is there anyone that would say, “Mike, if I’m honest, I’ve been playing the Christian life safe. I look to everything as a safety net except Jesus, and I only have faith if I can determine the end. This message was for me, would you pray for me?”
“Mike, I have committed to doing so many things but have given up and quit when it gets uncomfortable, or expensive, or difficult. My faith is not really faith, it is weak belief at best. Would you pray with me that God would increase my faith?”
Life Group Prep
Life Group Prep
We do not have a life group today, but we will next Sunday. And I want to challenge you in one of the following areas:
1. Take a risk by faith and God’s guidance.
Relationally - Reconcile with someone, forgive someone, witness to someone that you have been hesitant to do so with
Financially - Give generously to someone or to something that God lays on your heart
Obedience - Obey God in a way that you have been refusing or postponing
2. Come ready to discuss
What did God ask you to do this week that required risk or obedience?
How did you respond, and what happened?
What did you learn about God’s character through that experience?
