Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Third Sunday after Pentecost - 06/14/15 Sermon - “We live by faith and not by sight"

Sunday 06/14/15 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “We live by faith and not by sight”                      

Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 20

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13), 14-17

Gospel Lesson: Mark 4:26-34

          My friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome once again on this our Third Sunday after Pentecost. Pentecost that day so long ago that the Holy Spirit moved like a might wind, like a mighty fire, filling the disciples and the early followers of Jesus Christ. This movement of the Holy Spirit gave the early disciples and the early followers of Jesus Christ the courage and the conviction to go forth preaching the gospel of life. On this day, the Christian Church was officially born, as the disciples and the early Christians got work building God’s kingdom, as they awaited the kingdom yet to come.

          This kingdom yet to come, heaven, eternity, all things that we have not seen with our own eyes. Sure, some have had near death experiences and have claimed to have crossed over to this heavenly realm, to then return in the span of only a few minutes. Yet have any of us ever really seen heaven, eternity, God, or Jesus Christ in the flesh?

When Jesus Christ was being questioned, or better yet, interrogated by Pontius Pilate before his crucifixion, Pilate was trying to determine who Jesus was. Pilate questioned if Jesus was a king, and Jesus Christ responded by saying, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36, NRSV).

Pontius Pilate of course does not pursue what the meaning of Jesus’ statement is here, but I am sure that some of us have thought or talked about this statement. Jesus says, “My kingdom is not from this world” (John 18:36a, NRSV).

You see if I were Pontius Pilate, I would say, “Good enough Jesus, but where is this kingdom exactly?” I mean, we know it is not of this world, meaning it is beyond this world, but where is it? Is it beyond our galaxy? Is it in the farthest reaches of the universe? Is it beyond our universe altogether?

You see if the universe and everything in it began with God, which I believe it did, and if our faith in Christ brings us to God, then when we die our earthly deaths, we then return to God, to the source of life itself. One of the big questions to ask though, is where exactly is this place?

By this I mean, we have never seen heaven through the Hubble Telescope, nor might we ever. Yet, we believe in the afterlife. We believe for those who have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ that they will return to the source, to God, to heaven. Yet none of us have ever seen heaven, well other than being unconscious in a bed in the hospital ER for a few minutes.

So heaven, eternity, I believe is out there, somewhere. In this way, I decided to focus this morning on statement that the Apostle Paul spoke in his second Epistle or letter to the Corinthians. This statement is in 2 Corinthians 5:7 were the Apostle Paul says, “We live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB).

In this scripture, the Apostle Paul is admitting to his friends in the city of Corinth, that there is much in our Christian faith that we will probably never be able to physically see or prove, yet we have faith. Just because cannot see and touch everything that our faith teaches, does not mean we have no faith. It does not mean that we don’t believe. As the Apostle Paul says this morning, “We live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB).

 We now live in a post-modern world, where science and technology have unlocked doors that were not possible just a handful of years ago. Yet we find that we cannot definitively disprove or prove God’s existence. Some atheistic scholars would simply dismiss God due to a lack of scientific evidence, yet they cannot disprove God. We who believe, have felt God abiding in our hearts, our bodies, our souls, and in our very being. We know, we believe, we have faith. Yet there is a struggle within us all I believe. A struggle for truth, a struggle that causes us to search and seek out. I think that we are doing this to fill that inner void. This void that keeps us up at night sometimes. This void that makes us want to buy more clothes, a new television set, more stuff, and etc., to be happy. This void that makes us feel incomplete. This God shaped void that I believe, can only be filled with God. Can only be filled with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

While we like stuff sometimes, while we like money sometimes, our true happiness, our true joy, and our true completeness, comes from the Triune God. Yet we do have times of doubt, sorrow and confusion, don’t we?

For this reason, I connect with Psalm 20 from this morning that begins by saying, “I pray that the Lord answers you whenever you are in trouble” (Psalm 20:1a, CEB). That we all ask questions, and that we all struggle. That we all “live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB). The Psalm goes on to say in verse 7 that, “Some people trust in chariots, others in horses; but we praise the Lord’s name” (Psalm 20:7, CEB). Is our faith then in possessions, in stuff, or is our faith in the Lord?

In looking more closely at the reading from 2 Corinthians from this morning, the Apostle Paul begins by saying, “So we are always confident, because we know that while we are living in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6, CEB). The Apostle Paul then says, “We live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB).

The Apostle Paul also talks about how we are here on earth, and while we are here, we can call upon God. Yet when we die our earthly deaths, we will be with God in His fullness. In fact, the Apostle Paul says in verse 8, “We are confident, and we would prefer to leave the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8, CEB). Yet the Apostle Paul also says that while we are here in the flesh, in our bodies, we must be faithful to God, faithful to Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul then says in verse 13-14, “If we are crazy, it’s for God’s sake. If we are rational, it’s for your sake. The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: one died for the sake of all: therefore all died. He died for the sake of all so that those who are alive should live not for themselves but for the one who dies for them and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:13-15, CEB).

So when Apostle Paul says this morning that, “We live by faith and not by sight,” we believe in Jesus Christ, and we live to serve Him (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB).

The Apostle Paul then says to conclude this reading from 2 Corinthians, “So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived” (2 Cor. 5:16-17, CEB).

So have I seen Jesus Christ in the flesh? No, I haven’t. Have I seen heaven? Other than the bakery section at Walmart, no I haven’t? Have I seen God’s very presence? No I haven’t. Yet just like the Apostle Paul says this morning, I say, “We live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB).

Meaning, I am a life, I am person, I am man that has been changed by God. I have been changed, redeemed, and restored by the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Not only this, there are millions, billions of others like me, who can tell the same story. The story that “We live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB).

In not wanting to neglect the gospel reading for this morning, Jesus tells two parables about “what God’s kingdom is like” (Mark 4:26b, CEB). These parables are about scattering seeds and reaping a harvest, and the parable of having faith the size of mustard seed. Both of these parables speak about how a little faith can yield mighty results for the kingdom of God.

With that said, I want to share a story with you this morning. Now it’s not my usual story that I got off the internet. No, it’s a story about my father Ken. Since my father Ken and my stepmother Jan are here with us this morning, I get the honor and the privilege of welcoming them and embarrassing them a little.

So here is the story: About 13-14 years ago, a young kid named Paul Winkelman was a student at the State University of New York at Potsdam, or SUNY Potsdam. Being a natural Type-A personality, I decided that it would be a good idea to work about 3-5 jobs at any given time, join multiple clubs, and take a ton of classes.

I remember sometimes I would call my father Ken up and tell him about all I was doing. Admittedly, sometimes when I called him up, I was noticeably stressed out. My father Ken however, was often not noticeably stressed out when I talked to him. Now this fact stressed me out! I mean who was he to be so calm on the phone, when I was “fit to be tied,” as my Grandpa Winkelman would say.

My father Ken would tell me in these phone calls to “walk not run” in life, and “to take life one day at time.” I would then say, “Dad, I can’t take life one day at time! I have far too much stuff to do!” Plus what did he know! It wasn’t like he was my dad or something!

During my time at SUNY Potsdam, I in many ways became consumed with myself. Consumed with success, and consumed with worldly achievements. This occurred to such an extent that I largely walked away from the church for about 2-3 years, as I just thought that I knew better than everyone else.

So what did I learn? I learned this, that an education is a good thing. That achieving accomplishments on earth can be a good thing. However, why are we doing what we are doing? Why are we not “taking one day at a time?” Why are running and not walking?

My answer looking back is an easy answer. My answer was this, I was looking for the approval of the world. I thought that if I earned a bunch of college degrees, and believe me I have handful of them, that this would make the world approve of me, and make me whole. That this world would give me the love, the appreciation, and the respect that I had always wanted and yearned.

Yet the Apostle Paul says to us this morning, “We live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB). For 2-3 years when I was at SUNY Potsdam, I wasn’t living by faith, I was living by sight. Further, I was selling my birth right from almighty God, for the approval of the world. To learn that the approval of this world was worth little more, than a bowl of porridge.

The Christian faith then, is alive and well, as we believe that Jesus Christ is alive and well. That in Him and through Him all things are possible. That he is our approval. That He is our fullness. That He is live itself. So brothers and sisters, friends, while we struggle some days with our faiths. While we wrestle over what is true and what is not, let us remember that on this day that the Apostle Paul said, “We live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, CEB). Amen.