LITTLE FAITH
06/27/2024
After this life is over, you and I will EXPERIENCE what we have always hoped for; we will SEE what we formerly saw only through the eyes of faith.
It seems, then, that faith and hope will be realized on the other side in ways they are not now. OK. But the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 that faith and hope (and love) “endure.” So, in some sense that I can’t quite fathom faith and hope will still be necessary in the life to come.
In whatever ways faith and hope are necessary THEN, it is undeniable that NOW they are indispensable if we would lead a life that pleases God. In fact, writing about faith, the author of the letter to the Hebrews says, [11:6] Without faith it is impossible to please God.
During the month of July, we’ll spend our Sunday morning worship times exploring Hebrews 11, a chapter that is all about the life of faith. We want to learn as much as we can about the life of faith, and we’ll learn the lessons that men and women of faith can teach us.
It was while thinking about faith that my personal Bible reading took me through Matthew’s Gospel. I noted for the very first time the frequency of a term in Matthew that occurs almost nowhere else in the Bible: “little faith.”
1 – In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His listeners to not worry about what clothes to put on. He reminded them that God clothed day lilies beautifully, more gloriously than Solomon clothed himself. Then He chided them with, “You of little faith!” (Matthew 6:30)
2 – Later, a storm arose while they were crossing the Sea of Galilee. While Jesus slept, the disciples freaked out. They woke Jesus up and screamed, “We are perishing!” Jesus responded by calming the sea, but only after He gave His fishermen followers this zinger: “You men of little faith.” (Matthew 8:23-27)
3 – On another occasion, while the disciples were battling contrary winds on the Sea, Jesus came toward them in the middle of the night, walking ON THE SEA. Simon Peter asked Jesus to command him to walk out to Him on the water. When Jesus gave the command, Peter got out of the boat and walked out toward Jesus. But then, “seeing the wind,” Peter became afraid and began to sink. Jesus rescued him and rebuked him. “You of little faith.” (Matthew 14:28-33)
4 – Another time He said, “You men of little faith” when the disciples forgot to take bread with them on an outing, thinking that Jesus was concerned about that – after they had just watched Him twice feed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and fish! (Matthew 16:8)
In each of these four cases, these people knew enough about God and about Jesus to have done better. They should have walked by faith. They should have trusted God. Jesus expected them to respond with more faith than they did. Hence, His “little faith” rebuke.
None of us want to hear from Jesus, “You of little faith!” No! We want Him to affirm that our mustard seed sized faith is growing.
We are called to live like Abraham, whose faith was not easily shaken, who was confident of God’s promise, who exercised his faith muscle, and who was fully convinced that God was able to keep His promises. (See Romans 4:18-21)
God has taken the initiative. He took the first step to reveal Himself in Jesus to be good and generous and powerful. He has given us the truth that life is to be found only in Jesus. So, we believe that He will give us what only He can give us – eternal life!
So…based on all that we see of Him in Scripture AND in our lives, let’s walk by faith (see Colossians 2:6) into prayer, evangelism, generosity, service, and love. Let’s trust Him more deeply every day, taking risky next steps of faith, fully entrusting ourselves to Him who is faithful.
Yours…His,
Dave