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August 17, 2010

There IS Light at the End of the Tunnel

Series: Summer 2010 pt. 3 - By Faith Category: Biblical Scripture: Hebrews 11:29–12:2

 “THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL”

Delivered at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Alexandria, Virginia
The 12th Sunday after Pentecost (PENT12C-10)

 

Dear members and welcome guests of St. John’s:

I can’t imagine what it would be like to be totally blind, can you? -- to live in a world of total darkness – unable see the beauty of God’s creation, or the beauty created by human beings such as prized works of art; not to be able to see the faces of loved ones or even your own face reflected in a mirror.  I am aware that many of you suffer from some form of impaired vision.  Words like myopia, astigmatism, color blindness, cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration have become common in our vocabulary because they have become common to our lives.  So you seek the treatment necessary, if there is one, to correct and preserve your visual ability and acuity.  Your eyes become for you a light at the end of the tunnel.

Physiologists, however, insist that your visual organ is actually not your eye at all.  It is your brain.  The brain interprets and translates what the portal of the eyes sends to it, and then puts it into a picture we call “sight.”  Thus, two people can look at the very same scene and see that same scene differently, because of the way their brain interprets it.  So, sight and insight depend on the combination of what the portal of the eyes forwards to the brain which then translates and puts a picture into our frame of interpretation of that scene.

When we apply that same dynamic process to faith, we often talk about people seeing through the “eyes of faith.”  Last week began the “By Faith” sermon series based upon the final chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews.  There we found faith defined as, “The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Faith is the entry point or password that logs us onto God’s network.  It is the confident assurance that God calls, loves, and promises to keep us to the end of this life and beyond.

Then, this writer begins listing examples of faith exhibited in the lives of Abraham and Sarah who hoped for the fulfillment of the promise of God, but never lived to see the substance of God’s promise fulfilled.  In today’s text the writer continues in that same vein with more examples from the heroes’ hall of fame in Hebrew Scripture, names probably more familiar to his Hebrew audience then, than to many of us today.  These were people who often saw and experienced the same things as others.  Yet, somehow they came up with a different understanding or conclusion that, in turn, influenced their behavior to believe and act differently.  We might call that “The Faith Factor.”  It is the sure and uncertain conviction that there is a hand that is guiding us to the light at the end of the tunnel when all that can be seen is total darkness.

Today, some people talk rather loosely, even glibly, about faith and its critical importance in our lives as though it were some sort of happy pill, a spiritual Prozac.  It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something and believe it sincerely.  That is best exemplified in that ridiculous blue and white bumper sticker I’m sure you’ve seen with the symbols for Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and a couple more all lumped together.  The implication is they are all the same.  Like going through a divine cafeteria you can pick and chose parts of each that suit your spirituality appetite, or any one of them that tickles your fancy, calms your rumpled nerves, and brings moments of peace into your life.  Usually, when you ask subscribers to this hodge-podge to define their faith, they are unable or render very subjective, often self-serving gibberish.

That was not the case with that freed band of slaves who saw light at the end of the tunnel as they marched on dry land through a sea parted by an unseen power, and then witnessed that same power at work to close that tunnel destroying their pursuing army.  That was not the case when that same band of Israelites marched seven times around the impregnable city of Jericho blowing their horns and those walls came tumbling down, destroying all the inhabitants, save Rahab who saw things differently than the rest of the Jerichoites.  That was not the case with people like Gideon, Samson, Jephthah and David who, during the historical period of the judges and establishing a kingdom, accomplished miraculous victories with small forces against huge opposing armies.  That wasn’t the case with the true prophets who saw things differently and pointed the way to the light at the end of the tunnel while most of the nation wandered away from faith into the darkness of idolatry and secularism.  These heroes’ faith had content and the content of their faith was what created their unique picture.

I’m sure you shared my shock at the recent disturbing news of the ten mission aid workers who were brutally murdered by Taliban gunmen in Afghanistan.  This is an example of what I’m trying to explain.  On one hand, here is a group of ten people from various countries and backgrounds who, informed and inspired by the content of their faith, worked unselfishly and sacrificially to improve the visual illnesses of those unable to get it in remote areas of that third world country.  While on the other hand you find a quite different group who, supposedly informed and inspired by their faith, were allowed, even commanded by their god to kill these “infidels” because they were carrying Bibles and might be trying to put a different translation into the minds of people. 

So, dear saints of St. John’s, what informs the content of your faith?  When experiences, events, or scenes pass through your eye, what dictionary of life, what lexicon of experience, or what faith factor does your brain use to filter and interpret what happens in your world and suggests or stimulates what your response should be? 

Reaching back to our First Lesson from Jeremiah, certainly it must be God’s Word which is another way of saying God’s action.  He created you for a purpose – to serve him and to love him and others as he loves you.  Faith is the spark that lights the fire of love, ignited by the Holy Spirit’s flame.  It may flare up all of a sudden; it may grow gradually from a glowing ember as it is fueled by promises made and promises fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who – our text says -- for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and now has taken his seat at the right hand of God.  Believe he extends that promise to all who by faith hope this unseen ending will become a reality, because he will come again and take you home. 

Yes, dear saints, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Things might seem dark right now as we continue our conflict with sin, and try to keep in spiritual shape for the race to that light.  But the writer to the Hebrews assures us that Jesus has already done the recon.  He has gone before and scouted out the way that leads through the mine field of life to the sandy beach of the river of life.  So have faith, rise up, and follow.

One final point.  As you run the race of faith, know you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses to cheer you on.  Put some names and faces on those cheering in the stands.  Besides Abraham, David and Samuel, I see my dad and mom.  I see the faces of those whose lives of faith we have celebrated recently in this congregation.  They’re there cheering you on.  “You can do it!” they are yelling.  “Hang in there!  There is light at the end of the tunnel!  What our faith hoped for and could not see has now become reality.  Amen

other sermons in this series

Aug 29

2010

Faith that Loves

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Scripture: Hebrews 13:1–13:16 Series: Summer 2010 pt. 3 - By Faith

Aug 22

2010

Faith that Grounds

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Scripture: Hebrews 12:18–12:29 Series: Summer 2010 pt. 3 - By Faith

Aug 8

2010

Faith that Guides

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Scripture: Hebrews 11:1–11:16 Series: Summer 2010 pt. 3 - By Faith