George Michael was Right

Date: 2021-12-05

Audience: Grass Valley Corps

Title: George Michael was Right (You’ve got to have faith)

Text: Hebrews 11:1, 12:12-14, 13:1-7

Proposition: A faithful and good life is lived by trusting God

Purpose: Plan as if God’s Word is the truth

Grace and peace

One of the greatest Christmas films includes one of the most foolish and incorrect lines in the history of entertainment.

Miracle on 34th Street – the original one with Maureen O’Hara and John Payne and Edmund Gwenn in all its black and white glory.

If you haven’t seen this movie or haven’t seen it recently, make a point of watching it this week. Watch for the scene where the little girl – Susan – asks why she should believe that the nice old man called Kris Kringle is Santa Claus. Her mother says, “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.”

Which is complete and utter nonsense!

The whole movie is about the dozens of ways this guy showed them the truth about who he was so that, in the end, there was only one common sense conclusion about his identity.

But someone insisted on that line: “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.” Ridiculous!

It’s become a pervasive view of faith, though, particularly among those who want to believe that they don’t believe in anything. It suggests that faith and reason are somehow opposites, warring with each other for supremacy, instead of partners, the one proving the other.

This kind of thinking leads to trouble, where some people of faith reject reason and evidence, claiming instead that the power of their belief is so strong that it will protect them from whatever stupidity they are about to enter into.

To borrow an illustration from my early college days, if a blind man is walking along the edge of a cliff and he calls out to ask which direction he should go, you don’t yell back, “It doesn’t matter which way you go! Just believe you’ll be okay!” No! There’s a right and a wrong – a reasonable path towards life and an unreasonable path that leads to that man’s abrupt plummet to his death.

Our reason is meant to establish and reinforce our faith.

To understand that, we need to get a correct definition of faith fixed into our heads.

Hebrews 11:1 in the Lexham English Bible:

Now faith is the realization of what is hoped for, the proof of things not seen.[1]

Realization, in other translations: Assurance, confidence, reality.

Faith is the proof of what is unseen,

What is the author talking about?

Look back a few verses into chapter 10:

35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you![2]

Faith = trust in the LORD

Trust what? That he has reward for those who live out his ways.

Chapter 10 reminds these faithful believers that they had endured a lot for their faith already, including ridicule, abuse, suffering, jail time, and having all of their stuff taken just because they had decided to follow Jesus.

We don’t face that in our time, not in the place that we live in. Some believers, in some places on earth even now, do face this kind of persecution and suffering, theft of belongings, imprisonment, and even death, just for believing and obeying the message of Jesus.

There are people who have to suffer through this kind of thing today, wondering if they will survive! And they cling to their faith as if it is the most precious thing – better than riches, better than safety, better than family – even better than their own lives!

Because they trust in the Word of God.

Because they trust that what Jesus said is true.

Because they choose to trust.

Why?

Why would they do that?

How about this: Because every promise God has EVER made to us, he has delivered on.

Chapter 11 of this book is just a list of Bible characters and how God delivered them because they trusted in him.

It’s a reminder for us that God keeps his promises and those who trust in him receive reward.

Because he trusted God, Enoch walked with him and was spared death.

Because he trusted God, Noah built a boat, and he was delivered from the flood.

Because he trusted God, Abraham left everything he knew behind and set out for a distant and unknown land, where it turned out God had an inheritance waiting for him.

The list goes on and on, evidence on evidence that trusting in God is the path to victory.

Joseph, dying, asked his people to bring his bones home when they went. He knew that those people were about to spend generations enslaved in Egypt, but he trusted God’s promise that they would go home.

Rahab, a prostitute, seeing Israel coming to destroy Jericho, welcomed them and asked for a place among their people because she trusted the God would deliver those who turned to him, like he promised.

32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. Theyshut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35 Women received their loved ones back again from death.

But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.[3]

The author goes on to say that even through the tough times, these folks trusted in God. And God’s rewards come at the right time – sometimes in this world, and sometimes in the next, and sometimes both.

This letter to the Hebrews is here in the New Testament as a tribute to those who have held on to their trust in God – their FAITH – in the past. And it is a REMINDER to the believers now that we want to live lives based on that trust and not anything else.

This encouragement comes in the next chapter. 12:12 says:

12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.[4]

V.13 literally:

make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame will not be dislocated, but rather be healed.[5]

Take heart and strengthen your trust in the LORD and live that trust out, and those broken things and broken people that you encounter along the way will be faced with their own opportunities to seek healing and their own opportunities to receive the rewards of God.

Making straight our paths is a way of saying we need to plan out what we will do. How are we going to trust in God? What does that actually MEAN?

Because when we live out that trust, it brings others to healing.

Here’s one that’s become pretty big in my thinking.

Jesus very specifically told us to love our enemies, our neighbors, and ourselves. So who do we have left to hate or oppress?

No one. He’s covered all the bases. I tried to work up an argument that we could hate or oppress the folks we might be kind of apathetic about, but as soon as you do that they become your enemies, then you need to stop hating them and start loving them.

As I follow the trail of this thinking through scripture and logic, it becomes very clear that killing people is a problem. There just isn’t any way to kill someone in a loving way.

Twenty years ago, I thought very differently. I was sure that the highest good was to defend the weak and that the only way to do that was by eliminating those who would take advantage of them.

I advocated for just war and overwhelming strikes to make people afraid of striking back.

When the Soviets built big bombs, I said we should build bigger ones.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait, I went along with the idea that we should eliminate Iraq.

When terrorists bombed the World Trade Center, I said, “Send in the military and punish the country that let people support them!”

When people ask why I’m opposed to all that now, I tell them it’s because I had a bumper sticker conversion. About 15 years ago I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Who would Jesus bomb?” and I thought, “Well, he’d bomb… He’d bomb… He’d… Oh.”

And I’m not going to say that I changed overnight. I can’t even say that I don’t have moments, sometimes LONG moments, when my thinking is just the same as it was, because I do.

But I started to consider why I thought about these things the way that I do. And I started to examine the scripture behind the arguments on all sides. And I started to apply logic to specific situation. And I began to look for paths that led straight to Jesus and encouraged healing. And I began to realize that death is never a path to life. I can’t encourage someone to be better when they are dead. There is no redemption in an execution.

Look back at verse 14:

14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.[6]

Work at living in peace – remember talking about peace? It isn’t just about the absence of conflict, it’s about healing the wounds of conflict and bringing harmony to relationships.

To live a holy life, one that is set apart to do the things God asks of us, takes planning, because when we just react to a situation – any situation – we are likely to lash out and inflict harm rather than trying to bring peace. I’m not sure how much of that is a culture thing and how much is just because we are human beings and we are so often sure that we are right and that it is more important to us to BE RIGHT than to DO RIGHT.

But if we want to see the LORD, if we are going to live for him, we need to work at living out his peace, not our anger.

The only way we can do that is by trusting in his Word that this is right! That there is reward for following through on the right thing, that there is reward for enduring and sacrificing. That there is a reason Jesus didn’t bomb people or shoot up a high school or call for the execution of those who he knew were evil. That there is a reason he told us to love those people. A reason God’s Word tells us to seek peace, reconciliation, and harmony with EVERYONE and not just the people we want to.

We may or may not understand it, but we are tasked to do it.

Look at the next and last chapter of Hebrews. Chapter 13, right at verse 1 and down through verse 7.

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

“I will never fail you.

I will never abandon you.”

6 So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper,

so I will have no fear.

What can mere people do to me?”

7 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. [7]

In short, do good to one another, and be encouraged by the good you see others do as well.

And if you do good and are repaid with evil?

Remember that God will never fail you, never abandon you, and so you have nothing to fear.

The worst people can do to you can’t even put a scuff mark on the rewards you will receive for being faithful and good.

As we’ve looked at the fruit that the Holy Spirit causes to grow in our lives – the actions and attitudes which we choose to pursue because we trust in God – we’ve gone back to Galatians 5 each week to see the roadmap we want to follow and the characteristics we want to see growing in the gardens of our lives.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! [8]

Everything we’ve talked about and looked at today is here. And everything we talked about comes down to goodness, which is doing the things which God lays out for us, and faithfulness, which is trusting that God has his reasons and that he’s also got our backs.

So plan your life as if God’s Word is the truth, because it is.

From the beginning of creation until right this moment, God has always kept every promise he has made. So you have nothing to lose by doing what is right.

If you agree, can I get an Amen?

Close in prayer

[1] Harris, W. H., III, Ritzema, E., Brannan, R., Mangum, D., Dunham, J., Reimer, J. A., & Wierenga, M. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Bible (Heb 11:1). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. [2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 10:35). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 11:32–38). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 12:12–14). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [5] Harris, W. H., III, Ritzema, E., Brannan, R., Mangum, D., Dunham, J., Reimer, J. A., & Wierenga, M. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Bible (Heb 12:13). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. [6] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 12:14). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [7] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 13:1–7). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. [8] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ga 5:22–23). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.