Faith Without Benefits

Good morning! I know that most of you are probably like me today. You are home. And while we may not be able to be together. It does not mean that we are not still the church. Because we know that the people of God are more than just the places we meet. It goes without saying that times like theses are beyond ordinary. So I wanted to take the opportunity to share some things that I rarely do. Share something that is very personal for me. I will explain more as we get into our episode for today.

I am often not afforded the opportunity to stand and preach in front of a large group of people. There are a number of reason for that. So for the last few years I have been delivering my messages through electronic means. So in a sense I have been preparing for this for some time. Not that I had anyway of knowing that we all would have to figure out how to be “the church” having to learn to navigate though terms like social distancing and self quarantine. As I said these are strange times. But God and his Word can sometimes be strange as well. Not strange in the sense that God is foreign to us. But strange in the sense that sometimes we cannot see what God is up-to.

Next month, April 19th will mark the 25th anniversary of the OKC bombing. This date hold special significance for me. Because for me it marked the beginning of what I would constitute as my real life faith journey. It was the moment I realized that God was real. And he had placed me on the earth for reason. So it marks in my calendar as a time when my life was changes forever. You see I was on 60 seconds away from being in the middle of that event. Had I not overslept and been late to work I would no longer be here. This marked a beginning of a time of deep self reflection and personal investigation into my faith. And ultimately a posture of my heart that has propelled me forward ever sense.

Events like the current pandemic have a similar effect. A way of bringing into focus the things that are really important. It also has a way of defining our faith. Which is what i want to talk about today.

Our society has been moving at warp speed over the last few decades. And gaining momentum all the time. When I talk to people about why they do not read their bibles. The number on reason I hear is that simply do not have time. The last few days and weeks I believe should serve as a reminder for not only society, but especially the church as to what our real priorities should be. Self reflection about who I am, what is my calling. And the shape of my faith. I believe self reflection is an essential part of the Christian life. We spend most our time moving from one thing to the next that we hardly notice what is going on around us and the opportunities we miss. We have laid before us not only an opportunity to grow. But to shine as God’s people

Make no mistake the Church is God ordained vehicle for the spread of the gospel. But over the centuries that has changed in terms of what I looks like,. The message does not change. But sometimes the methods need too. You see whether we want to admit it on not. We like the benefits that Christianity affords us. And the notion of benefits is mirrored in our culture today. So I want to take a moment to look at some verse of scripture that I think will help us learn to navigate the times ahead for us. And ultimately help us to be the people God has called us to be.

I want to take you to the story of Abraham in Genesis 12. For the people of God this is where it all began. With one ordinary man. Called by God. God made several promises to Abraham . I want to look at those promises and talk about them.

Genesis 12:1–9 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Fast forward to Genesis 15

Genesis 15:1–6 ESV

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

But then we come to chapter 22

Genesis 22:1–14 ESV

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

We read these verse and we noticed right away the obediance of Abraham. And we marvel at his faith. But there is more there that we often miss. So in a time like this that allow us the opptounity to examine our faith. I want us to ask oursleves. What is the shape of our faith? What is our faith all about? What do we really have faith in? How doe faoth actually work?

In this story God asks Abraham to take his son. This is not His only son. But this is the covenant son. And to sacrifice him. Again we may marvel at his obedience. But what is really going on here? What is God up to? What kind of God would ask something like this? The verse tell us that God tests Abraham. We often think when we read these verses. Hasn’t Abraham done enough? Look at all that he left behind to follow God and obey. How much more proof does God need? When we reach the climax of the story we see God saying now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. How has this proven something to God? And what has it proven? After all He knows what Abraham is going to do.

I think we can understand this better. When we understand the difference between this request. And all the other request that God has made. When God asked Abraham to leave his land. He promised him another land. When he asked him to leave his family. He promised him an even bigger family. When God asked him to leave his inheritance and blessing. He promised to make him a blessing.

Everything God asked him to give up. He promised something in return. There was some gain. Some benefit for Abraham. That did not make it easy. He still had to have faith that God would come though. There was always this idea that there was something he could gain.

WHEN GOD ASKED HIM TO SACRIFICE ISSAC. THERE WAS NOTHING TO GAIN.

In fact by sacrificing Isaac. He is giving up all of those gains. Without Isaac there is no covenant son. Without Isaac the whole thing falls apart. In this situation. God asks Abraham to give up something. With nothing to gain. But to give it up purely because God is God. Abrahams faith was sufficient that he did it.

That leads us to ask a question about our faith. There are a lot of benefits we stand to gain. We have benefits like salvation, forgiveness, eternal life and heaven. Now when we think about the benefits we have as Christians. They are obviously connect with Christ. And so they should be.

But in our modern context we tend to think of Jesus as a politician. Stay with for a minute and let me explain what I mean. We vote for politicians based on what they think they can do for us. right? Nobody is going to vote for a politician if they say, “ If you vote for me things are going to be tough. They are going to be hard. You will have to give things up. Even things that don’t make sense. (perhaps in this case even the opportunity to gather together). Nobody in there right mind would vote for a politician with that campaign slogan. But as much as we may not wan to admit it. We often see Jesus and Christianity this way. In terms of what it can do for us. When in reality jesus is more like a mountain guide. Saying. There is a storm coming. If you stay with me. Step where I step you will make it. But it won’t be easy. And there will be missteps along the way. But keep your eyes on me. It will require you to make some sacrifices along the way.

There are lots of very positive things we stand to gain as Christians. And perhaps when we made the decision to follow Christ we made that decision based on those kinds of motives. About what we stood to gain in the decision.

Our faith is not supposed to focused on the benefits. Our faith in God is that he is able to provide a “mechanism”. A mechanism for what? We cannot afford to look at it as mechanism for benefits. God provides a means by which we can…be saved, be forgiven, live forever. That should not be what our faith is about. We should have faith in God that he has provided a mechanism for “RELATIONSHIPS”. God provided a means by which we can be in relationship with him. That should be the focus of our faith. The focus of our faith and the message of the Gospel we are called to spread is that we are intended to be in a relationship with God., That is not just about the future. But that is also about the present. It is not about our destiny. it is about our identity and who we are in Christ. We are not just “heaven bound” but we are “in Christ”. That requires a life response form us. In whatever circumstances we find ourselves. So we can’t just live our live and think that we will get the benefits in the end. Ae have a life responsibility. Yes we should be obedient that is what is involved in any relationship. But our faith is about being in relationship with God,

I think for too long we have been living our love for ourselves. Reaping the benefits of Christianly without the sacrifice. So this short time when we are sacrificing our time together. My prayer is that it helps us to realize that we as the church have to learn the nature of sacrifice. The giving of ourselves for others. Even when there is nothing to be gained. God presence is His goal. and his relationship has been his objective. The covent paved the way. But the sacrifice of Christ provide the mechanism for that relationship.

When God talked to Abraham about offering Isaac. The basic question is.

Will you still be loyal to me, and have faith in me, even if there was nothing to gain?

If you had to give up everything. Would you still be in it?

We could ask ourselves the same question today. God has given us his Word so that we might know him better. The question we need to ask ourselves. Is would we still be in this life of faith if there was nothing to gain? Except relationship with God? No heaven? No eternity?

Fortunately we will never know. Because that is an artificial situation. There are gracious benefits that God has given us. But i think it is important for us at this time to examine our faith and ask ourselves. What it all about? Is God really the desire of our hearts? That is not about the fulfillment we seek in life or the prosperity and wealth we gain because of the blessings of God. it is about who God is. And our desire to be in relationship with him. We need to know him fulling and the knowledge of him the centerpiece of our lives. With the Spirits of God helping us. You see prior to the OKC bombing this what where I was at. What benefits does being a Christian afford me. A what’s in it for me attitude. And that event radical challenge and changed my faith to help me realize that to have a relationship with God is to sacrifice everything for him. Even this moment in time when I am unable to spend time with fellow brother’s and sisters whom I love dearly.,

I want to do something I usually don’t do in the podcast. I want to close with a prayer. Because prayer is always firing the winning shot.

“Father God I ask that we as your people realize that during this unprecedented time in history. That though tough times maybe ahead. You are the source everyone can turn too. That you have graciously provided a mechanism for relationship with you. And that no matter what difficulties may lie ahead. No matter what sacrifices we have to make. We know that being in relationship with you is all that matters. We thank you for the benefits that we enjoys. But never let the attitude of our faith be about what you have provided. But only about serving you. Help us thought this time to see the needs that are around us and communicate the help and hope that only you can provide though us as your people. Amen!