Sidney UMC - Third Sunday after Pentecost - 06/13/21 - Sermon - “We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight"

Sunday 06/13/21 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:          “We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 20                                     

New Testament Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:6-17

Gospel Lesson: Mark 4:26-34

          In our scripture reading for this morning, the Apostle Paul tells us once again in 2 Corinthians 5:7:

“⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV).

          For as long as I can remember, I have heard many different people say about many different things, “I have done this for so long that I could do it with my eyes closed”. Have you ever said or ever heard anyone say this before? I think that some people are so good at certain things that they can indeed do those things with their eyes closed. Or maybe we did try to do something with our eyes closed at some point, just to prove this point.

          I think that part of the idea of being able to do something so well that we can do it with our eyes closed, is matter of confidence, a matter of trust, and a matter of faith. In fact, in some jobs and roles that I have been in, in my life, we have done “team building exercises”. You know when the people you work with take a day off from regular work to come together and trust each other more. I have done the exercise where everyone has to work together to get across a wire attached from tree to another tree. We had to work together, and everyone had to help each other to get to the other side. If anyone fell, we all had to start over, until we all got to the other side together.

I have also done those all so famous “trust falls”. In “trust falls,” you stand above and ahead of your co-workers or friends, and with you back to them, you fall backwards on them. You cannot see them, but you are trusting that they are there behind you, and that they will catch you when you fall on them. If they do not catch you than you could be really hurt. It forces you to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV).

          I do not know about you, but sometimes this is harder for me than others. When the pandemic started, everything just shut down, and we did not know what was coming next. We had to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV). It is really easy to say, but much harder to do. Our daily walk with Christ, is about continued surrender to him, through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we draw closer to Jesus, and as become more like him, God will grow in us a faith that can move mountains. Our reading for this morning from Psalm 20, ends once again with 20:9 saying:

“Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call” (Ps. 20:9, NRSV).

          We are to trust in God. Following Christ means that as we draw closer to him, we are to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV). I am getting better at this than I used to be, but much like us all, for while I have salvation and eternity with Christ, each day I am striving to be more and more like him.

          In our gospel of Mark reading for this morning, Jesus gives us parables or stories, once again. These parable or stories are designed to help us to understand faith, the gospel, and living for Jesus. Once again, our gospel of Mark reading for this morning says:

“²⁶ He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸ The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come”      (Mk. 4:26-29, NRSV).

 

          Jesus is telling us, that through him God is planning an abundant spiritual crop and amazing harvest of souls. When Christ returns, he will harvest righteousness and holiness, and we get to scatter the seeds of faith here on earth. What if we feel that we do not have that much faith though?

          Well Jesus continues on discussing this with the Parable of the Mustard Seed. In this Parable, Jesus says:

³⁰ He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”                       (Mk. 4:30-32, NRSV).

 

          Faith in Christ, mature faith, is to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV). This could start from faith the size of a mustard seed. As I said, I am growing in my faith every day, how are you all doing with this?

The gospel of Mark reading for this morning ends once again with Jesus saying many parables, but Jesus told his disciple in private exactly what he meant in his parables.

          Once again, this morning the Apostle Paul tells us in our reading from 2 Corinthians 5:6-17 that we are to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV). Another great example that I thought of around the idea of walking “by faith, not by sight,” is from a movie. (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV). This movie stars actor Denzel Washington and is called “The Book of Eli”. Eli or “Elijah” is certainly a biblical name. Anyone here ever see the Denzel Washington movie, “The Book of Eli”?

          Well, this movie came out in 2010, and here is the movie plot:

“The Book of Eli is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic neo-western action film directed by the Hughes Brothers, written by Gary Whitta, and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, and Jennifer Beals. The story revolves around Eli, a nomad in a post-apocalyptic world, who is told by a voice to deliver his copy of a mysterious book to a safe location on the West Coast of the United States. The history of the post-war world is explained along the way, as is the importance of Eli's task” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Eli#Plot).

 

          If you have not seen the movie “The Book of Eli” I am going to ruin some of the ending for you, sorry. In this movie, the mysterious book that the character “Eli,” played by Denzel Washington is asked by a voice, to bring to the West Coast of the United States, is the Bible. In fact, in this movie, it is the last know Bible in all of the United States. “Eli” or Denzel Washington is asked by God to take this book, the Bible to a safe location on the West Coast. I will not ruin the whole movie, but what is fascinating about this movie, is that “Eli” played by Denzel Washington, is blind. He cannot see literally with his eyes like most of us do. Yet, he has learned to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV).

          I believe that the Apostle Paul is telling us in our 2 Corinthians reading for this morning to not just trust what we can see with our eyes, but also to let our faith lead us. We should not follow our own desires, but the desires of God. In some ways I can imagine that this would be amplified by not being able to see with our actual eyes.

          In looking at this scripture from 2 Corinthians once again, we read:

“⁶ So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— ⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. ¹⁰ For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:6-10, NRSV).

 

          So, when it is all said and done, and when we leave this earth, what matters, what really matters, is that we have faith in Christ. It is not a competition about who did the most, but whether we live by faith, not by sight. Do we live that faith, do we sow seeds, do we love and serve others, or do we only walk by sight alone, and not by faith”?

          The Apostle Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15:

“¹⁴ For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them” (2 Cor. 5:14-15, NRSV).

          Christ died for us, we die to our sins in him, and we are raised to new spiritual life through him. Or as the scripture says at ends for this morning once again:

“¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (Mk. 4:17, NRSV).

          Living for God, walking with Christ, and living that out in the world is to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV). My hope and my prayer, for you, for myself, and for everyone, is that on this day we may be led by the eyes of our hearts and our souls, not only the eyes in our heads.

          Imagine for a minute if the whole world, every person, lived like this for one full 24-hour period of time. What would that world look like for 24-hours, if for those 24-hours we were living for God alone, following God, serving, and loving others, and not just pursuing what we want or what we desire? Maybe, just maybe, it would be a small glimpse of heaven. May we all this day and always “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV). Amen.