Sermon 8/8/04
Leaps of Faith - Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
(view lectionary notes for this text)
Today, as we prepare to commission those who will attend the mission trip to Red Bird, Kentucky, we send them off with the powerful hymn, "Here I am, Lord," a hymn that is sung every year before their departure. This hymn is also on our congregation's top ten list, according to last fall's worship survey, taking 5th place. The hymn, written by Dan Schutte in 1981, works with the theme from Isaiah 6:8, which reads, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" Listen to its lyrics: "I, The Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. All who dwell in dark and sin my hand will save. I who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright. Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send? Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart. I, The Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my peoples pain. I have wept for love of them. They turn away. I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone. I will speak my word to them. Whom shall I send? I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame. I will set a feast for them. My hand will save. Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied. I will give my life to them. Whom shall I send? Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart."
Here I Am, Lord is Dan Schutte's most famous hymn. He is an accomplished musician, with a deep faith. He attended a Jesuit seminary, and there "experienced the connection between music and worship. He discovered how music can move the soul towards God." He and another seminarian began writing music, and tried incorporating some more contemporary sounds and melodies, a growing trend in Christian worship music. They found the scriptures provided them with perfect texts for very contemporary hymns, like the one we focus on today. (1) This hymn is one often sung at event like ordination for pastors, or for commissioning of missioners just like those we send off today. It inspires us, urges us, lures us to say yes to God, yes to whatever God has planned for us.
What inspires us to follow God, this God who calls people to do sometimes crazy things? What does it take for us to sing along with this hymn, "Here I am Lord, send me?" I think the answer to that question is both simple and not-so-simple all at once. It is our faith in God that lets us follow where God leads, but faith is both an easy and a complex topic to tackle and to attain. Our epistle lesson today, from the letter to the Hebrews, does just that, in a beautiful way - this eleventh chapter from Hebrews, the faith chapter, has always been one of my favorite passages. Faith - it is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," the chapter begins.
But what does it really mean for us to have faith in God? I think too often we equate 'having faith in God' with the belief that God will make sure everything goes smoothly in our lives. If we only have faith, we will prosper. If we only have faith, we will be protected from harm, from evil, from disaster, from pain and loss. We set ourselves up to believe that our faith in God is actually faith in God as a sort-of guardian angel or something. But we limit ourselves and our faith, and we certainly limit God with that view of faith. For better or worse, faith in God does not guarantee us some shield of protection - at least not the kind that prevents bad things from happening in our lives. I've seen many people come to struggle and have doubts in faith because of a death of a loved one, because of loss or hardships suffered, seeing these events as a sign that God is not really there, or God does not really care, signs that faith in God is not warranted.
But our whole biblical witness calls out to us that this is not what faith is, or what faith has been through the ages. Jesus tries to warn us throughout his teaching that our faith in God will likely cause us suffering, persecution, and bad intentions from those around us - our faith in God is no promise of a contented life, at least by society's standards. Indeed, if you read over today's passage from Hebrews, and read the rest of the chapter that we do not read in church today, you'll see a litany of people who had faith in God but who did not exactly have the most peaceful lives as a result. We read, "all of these died in faith without having received the promises." Abel is mentioned as a man of faith, and Abel was murdered by his own brother because of his faith and his brother's lack of faith. Moses had faith to lead the people from Egypt, yet never made it to the Promised Land that God described. And the author mentions the countless others who, in faith, were tortured, flogged, imprisoned, or killed throughout Christian history. This is what your faith may bring you.
But before we get discouraged and figure this faith deal isn't such a good idea after all, we must turns ourselves back to the question. What is our Christian faith all about? Our faith is in God, not God's magical powers to bless us, but in God and God's never-ending unfailing love for us. It is our faith in God, our knowledge that God loves us that gives us strength even when we have made mistakes, have sinned, have caused pain and hurt to our neighbors.
It is our faith that supports us even when our lives are filled with loss or stress or worry or hardships. Our faith is in our God, that God is always with us and loving us, not matter what life brings our way. Our faith is in God's eternal goodness. It is faith like this that allows us to take the life-changing risks like those that the people of faith recorded in Hebrews took. They risked home, family, status, all their possession, security, shelter, even their very lives to follow God's call because in their faith they knew that God loved them and God would go with them.
Today, as we commission our Red Bird team, they go out not because they are guaranteed success in every detail, but because their faith has prompted them to share the love of God that they have with others. They are answering a call because of their faith. Our hymn today is about faith and where faith will lead us. If we insist that our faith in God guarantee our protection, guarantee things go a certain way for us, our faith probably won't take us very far. But if we realize our faith in God provides us with what we really need: the knowledge of God's loving presence, there's no limit to where God will take us.
Here I am, Lord. Is it we, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart. Amen.
(1) http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/cwalds/vol17_num4/hymn.html - The Weather Vane