Sermon - Trinity XXI 2019 - John 4:46-54

Faith in the heart of even a true believer can be a rather fickle thing. For some people, the fact that they have a weak faith can be a real issue for them. Perhaps the reason it’s such an issue is because of a misunderstanding of what faith is. For many American  Evangelicals, they believe that faith is a work which they must accomplish in order for them to be saved. For them, their faith is the object of their salvation, and so they would say that they’re saved by their faith.

But nowhere do the scriptures teach us that we’re saved by our faith. It’s just not in the Bible! Search with a fine toothed comb, but nowhere in the Bible will you find that you’re saved because of your faith! Yet we act as though our faith were the object of our salvation as exemplified by our choices to decorate our homes and our bodies with words like “faith” or “believe.” 

So instead of teaching that we’re saved by our faith, the scriptures teach us that we’re saved through our faith. The goal of our faith is salvation, but our faith is not the cause of our salvation. The only cause of our salvation is Jesus christ who alone was crucified for you and me, and by His blood shed on the cross, saved us from the penalty of eternal death unto life everlasting. Jesus is the cause of our salvation. We are saved by Jesus. 

Our faith doesn’t save us, but our faith does look to the object of our salvation: Jesus. So we confess with Ephesians 2, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Faith is little more than the hand which takes hold of Jesus. Faith is the vessel that contains the gifts of grace. Faith is the key by which the heavenly door of God’s grace is opened to us. 

This is an extremely important distinction to understand, that we’re saved not by faith but by Christ, because to trust in our faith would be to trust in ourselves for salvation. And you know how shaky and fickle your faith is! It would be a disaster if we placed our hope of eternal life in something so precarious as ourselves! So we build our faith not on the foundation of our fickle hearts, but on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.

To help us further understand this vital teaching on faith, let us learn from our Gospel in John 4. In this lesson we meet a nobleman from Capernaum, “an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ” 

From what we know so far about the man, we can only conclude that he surely believed in Jesus. Afterall, the official was from Capernaum, which was Jesus’ homebase during His ministry, and so he’s heard Jesus’ teachings, he knew that Jesus was a miracle worker! The news of Jesus turning the water into wine at Cana had spread far and wide! So in faith he went to Jesus to request healing for his deathly ill son. 

Yet though he believed, his faith was still weak and quite fickle. For one thing, he thought Jesus had to physically “come down and heal his son” in order for the boy to be healed. As though Jesus couldn’t perform a miracle from a far. Secondly, Jesus Himself reveals that the official has a weak faith when He says “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” It’s as though the official needs to see the proof before he’s willing to completely believe. 

These same weaknesses of faith are often present in our hearts as well today. We are just as Jesus says we are, and unless we see signs and wonders we don’t care to believe. So many look for signs that God is real, such that if they immediately receive a favorable outcome from their prayers, they say that God must be real! But when God sends them sadness and crosses and trials in response to their prayers, they despair of Christ! We look for wonders and miracles to happen in our midst, but when we don’t witness a physical miracle then we refuse to believe. When our life is going well and things seem to be quite happy, we say “come Lord Jesus!” I’m ready for heaven! But when we actually become ill and close to death, we’d rather delay our departure to heaven and remain in this life.

Our doubts are many and our faith is quite weak! Perhaps our reading from Genesis 1 reveals even more of our doubts. That God created this world, with but the power of His voice, in just six short days seems unbelievable! The world’s wisdom imagines that the universe and our planet slowly developed over millions and billions of years, and gradually over time man evolved from the muck into what we are today. Since we can’t see God, nor can we imagine that He could create all things in just six days, we doubt God and our faith becomes weaker. Weaker still our faith becomes, since we reason away the miracle of Genesis 1, we begin to reason away the miracles throughout the rest of the scriptures. Soon we doubt that the virgin birth ever took place, or that Christ rose from the dead, or that Jesus was even real. 

Weak is our faith! It’s as though Jesus said directly to us: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” But that’s not what faith is. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith isn’t about touching and seeing miracles, rather faith is hope which is placed in the Word of God, faith is believing in something we can’t see. It’s as Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 

Faith doesn’t say, “Unless I see with my eyes and touch with my hands I will never believe.” No, faith says, “What is written? What has God said? That is what I will believe.” Faith is content with no more than the plain Word of God.

Thus it is through the plain Word of God that faith goes from fickle and weak, to steadfast and strong. With but a simple Word from Jesus the official believed! “Jesus said to him: “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” At the plain speaking of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit entered the official’s heart and imparted faith to him. At that moment he went on his way knowing for certain that he would see his son again! His heart was stilled and way made straight, since by the Word of God he had faith. This is the way it is with all Christians, that the Word of God creates, sustains, and strengthens faith in the weak hearts of mankind! 

Not only does this Word of God create faith in the heart, but the Word does what it says! For in the very hour that Jesus had said, “Your son will live,” the son was made better and healed from his sickness! The official not only believed the word of God by faith, but he saw the fruits of God’s Word manifest itself in this life. And again the scriptures attest that the official “he himself believed.” 

Not only the official believed, but through the Word that the official shared with his family, “all his household” believed as well! Because of the man’s faith, he was driven to proclaim God’s Word to everyone he knew, but most especially his family, his own household! This is the way it is with faith, when one believes and earnestly trusts God’s Word, one cannot help but proclaim that Word to others as well and so bring them to faith too.

My brothers and sisters, this Word we’ve heard today is so precious and applicable in our world where faith is growing weaker by the hour! Is your faith weak like the official who went to Jesus? Then you’ve come to the right place for in this house God’s Word is heard in its truth and purity together with power! When your heart begins to doubt, open your mouth and pray “Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief!” Then close your mouth and open your Bible and read! Listen to the Words of Jesus and so be strengthened in your faith. 

The words on the pages of your Bible are written for you, my friends! When you read the scriptures and hear of Christ’s saving love, know that His love is for you. Because this is what faith does: It takes the Word of Christ and applies it to oneself saying that this is all for me. God’s love is for me. God’s forgiveness is for me. God died for me. God rose for me. Dear Christian: The words of hope and consolation are all for you. 

When your faith is strong like the official who returned home believing, then open your mouth and declare the words and promises of Christ to those around you! Do you want to know the way the church is going to grow in faith and devotion? It’s no secret. The church grows because of the Word of God! There’s no special program or strategy, no clever marketing ploy; it’s just the plain Word of God. We don’t need fancy screens or a concert-like atmosphere or hipsters in skinny jeans to make the church grow; we only need the pure plain Word of God. So that’s what we’re all about here at church: The Word of God in the absolution; the Word of God in the readings and sermon; the Word of God in the water at baptism; the Word of God in the bread and wine at the Lord’s Supper. 

So let the word of Christ daily dwell in you richly. Make the Word of God the focus in your home. Order your days and your deeds by Christ’s Word. Let His Word fill your mind such that Christ’s mind becomes yours, and His words become your words. With His word on our hearts, minds, and tongues, let us encourage one another as we see the day of His return drawing closer and closer.