3-9-2014

Good Morning to All,

    Matthew 17:20; “He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

     He was called “The Great Blondin”.  He was an acrobatic daredevil who would dazzle people with his stunts on a tightrope over Niagara Falls.  One time he stopped in the middle of the rope, sat down and cooked an omelet.  He first crossed Niagara Falls in 1859.  Yet one of his greatest stunts occurred a few years later.

   People had come to look forward to his antics.  He was a great showman who played to the crowds.  Once he asked if the people thought he could go across the tightrope while pushing a wheelbarrow.  Everyone there gave a rousing cheer of support.  He then asked if they thought he could do it blind folded.  Again, a loud and rousing cheer went up.  He then paused and looked at the crowd and asked if they thought someone could ride in the wheelbarrow.  Once more, everyone shouted their approval.  He then asked, “Who wants to go first?”  There was dead silence.

    The people had faith but not very much.  They thought he could give someone a ride in the wheelbarrow across the span of Niagara Falls just so long as it wasn’t them.  Faith is defined by Christians as the desire to embrace God’s promise of forgiveness.  It is that desire that God gives us to trust in the promise of forgiveness and salvation.  This is the working and simple definition of faith that we use in Confirmation class.  Faith is the desire to trust in God’s promise.

    This desire must counter the desire to trust our self.  This sinful desire of not trusting God is the devil’s ploy.  From the time of Eve until Christ’s return, the devil will always ask, “Did God really say?”  Faith turns away the desire to believe the devil and to believe in God.  Faith takes the promise that God makes to us and holds onto it as tightly as we can.  We embrace it gladly and with the confidence of God’s promise of forgiveness. 

    The beauty of faith is that it doesn’t take much.  We are never measured by how much faith we have; it is only necessary to have faith.  Yet growing our faith should be an earnest desire and goal of the Christian.  The deeper the faith the tighter we can cling to God’s promise of salvation and forgiveness.  The stronger the faith we possess, the greater we will be able to fight off the devil’s attacks and temptations.  A strong and growing faith will aid us in the battle against the world and what it throws at us as well.  Faith, the desire to trust in God’s promise, will help us prevail against the devil by God’s grace.

Father, give us faith the size of a mustard seed.  Help us to move the mountains of doubt and despair that hinder us.  Bring us closer to you that we may cling even tighter to you.  Help those who feel the embrace as weak or not there.  Guide them by your Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret