“Yes Lord, I believe.”A friend of mine always says this when he receives communion. It’s a compelling response to receiving the sacrament.
“Yes Lord, I believe.” It’s a powerful statement and one that stays with me for days after I hear him say it.
Belief is a big part of our readings this morning—-
First from Genesis:
Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Then from Hebrews:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
These quotes reference Abraham And Sarah’s obedience to God, their commitment to following God even when it all seemed like folly, their belief in something they couldn’t explain, something they couldn’t see, something they didn’t understand.
You remember the story, Abram and Sarai (their original names) were told to move from the home they knew to a new home, a place they did not know. And in that new place God promises them children. Even though they were childless and very very old, far beyond child bearing years, God says, don’t worry, have faith, I will provide!
These quotations are full of hope and blessed assurance. In many ways they offer a formula for our faith—- we believe, God provides.
We believe even when it seems impossible.
We believe even when we don’t want to, when we don’t know how it’s going to look, we believe against all odds, for God doesn’t operate according to our ways, God operates according to God’s ways.
And God’s way? God’s way is the way of truth and light and love. It is the way of righteousness, it is the only way, it is The Way.
I think the example of Abraham and Sarah is one we all can benefit from. Abraham questioned, argued, debated, wondered, and Sarah? Well as we hear elsewhere in Genesis, Sarah laughed.
Questioning, arguing, wondering and laughing are all, I think, pleasing before the Lord, especially when such things lead us to believe.
Now belief isn’t some pie in the sky method of living, belief isn’t signing off on every single nuance of the Christian Faith, nor is it saying that you always, always accept every decision of the Episcopal Church, this diocese or even this congregation.
Belief is knowing, somewhere in your heart, in your soul, in your gut, that God is. That Love exists, that peace is possible and that through this God...who we can’t prove, we can’t describe and yet we can’t live without...all things are possible.
Belief takes what we profess in the creed and gives it skin and bones... it’s what we live everyday and it is (at least I hope it is) what we fall back on when things are rough, when we feel lost, lonely and afraid. Belief is what we hold onto. And when we work that belief, when we exercise our faith, it becomes a part of us so that when times do get so tough, when life does feels so difficult, when Hope seems so fleeting, the belief we have worked on, the belief we have exercised, is what will hold onto us.
Belief is what we hold onto so that when we lose our way, our belief will hold onto us.
My friends, it is, as Jesus says in the gospel, God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. To give us everything, always and forever. Of course, God doesn’t always give us what we want, but God always gives us what we need, for it is God’s good pleasure to do so. All we have to do, is believe.
So don’t worry whether your prayers are eloquent enough, if your faith is strong enough, just look at the stars expanding across the night sky and remember what God can do when we simply say, “yes, Lord, I believe.”
Amen.
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