By faith alone ...

Outline:

Define faith

Speak of faith discussed in Hebrews 11

Speak of faith our servicemen have had/do have

Speak of what faith means to us …

This morning, I would like for you to imagine this scene: it is WWII and we are parked off the coast of Normandy beach. This was a time of high anticipation as the allies were getting ready to land on the beachhead. Many men marched off the boats that day into mortar and gun fire. It was loud, it was hot, and it was WAR!!! (Pause)

With this imagery in your mind, I want to tell you what several servicemen have told me. It was once said that “you will never find an atheist in a foxhole”¹. According to my military friends, that is the truest statement one will ever hear. They say this is true because of the bullets which fly overhead and the sound of destruction coming your way.

I can not speak from experience, but I believe that this fact is probably true. But more importantly, this would tell you something about the person in the hole … they have faith. (Pause)

But what is faith? According to Webster, faith is:

1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY

2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God

3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs²

To Webster, faith is loyalty to duty, it is loyalty to God, and loyalty to what you believe in. This morning I come to you with another definition. In our scripture passage this morning, we find that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

With that in mind, let us take a moment and examine the passage which we have read together this morning. If you read this chapter in Hebrews, you will find that this is what I call the Hebrew Wall of Faith. It is a listing of what several important people in the history of Israel did to serve God. I want take time to read each of these this morning, but I will point out that this list contains both men and women (which is odd in Hebrew culture). But to give you the idea, it begins with Abel giving his sacrifice which was from the heart (his first fruits). It continues with men such as Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. It goes thru the time of Joseph and Moses, continues with Rahab, goes thru the time of David and ends with Samuel and the prophets. Given the fact that this section deals with faith, it is easy to understand why these were chosen. But if we look closer, we find a more important fact. This fact is that with faith we find submission. To give an extreme example, we have Abraham. Earlier in his life, Abram and his wife Sarai were promised a child (and she was around 90). In addition, Abram was promised that this child would start his lineage. A family tree from which the nation of Israel was to be born. Now we might have understood if Abram would have laughed and said “No way.” But in the end, he listened to the Lord. Not only did he trust that this child would come, he also trusted the Lord when told to move to a “strange new land.” When they were almost 100, God told them to move and they packed their bags and left.

The important fact in this is that thru faith they were submissive to God. If you look at each in this list, they likewise gave and followed the Lord no matter what they were told to do. This morning, I want you each to realize that thru this submission, each of these showed true faith.

If you would all look with me now at the handout in your bulletin. This listing is of our men and women who have been killed in our current war. It was not until last September that my generation and younger first understood what it truly mentions to serve your country. It is my prayers that this list will not grow. At the same time, I ask that you each remember this list during this coming week and say a prayer for each family who has lost a loved one. (Pause)

I told you the definitions of faith at the beginning of this message. I tell you this morning that each of these men and women and those like them who are still serving their country, each have faith. If you look at our definitions, each show signs of loyalty, each believe strongly in what they are doing, and each has he assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Yes each of these have faith. They have the faith to get up each day and do what they no and feel is right. They care not the cost, simply because they know the cost should they fail. For this reason, one serviceman after WWII gave this one report when they tried to call him a hero. He said “The heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who didn’t come back.”³

These men and women were submissive to our government and our way of life. They held the words which we find in Philippians 2 to heart: Philippians 2: 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus⁴

With faith, I want to point out one last fact. The faith that those in Hebrews had was true faith. No matter what, God is always true. To our servicemen, the faith which they have is not perfect … humanity never is. But as they go each day just praying that God will give them another, they hold on the one faith which we all have in common … Jesus Christ died that we may all have true faith and freedom. Just as each of these gave it all, so to did Christ give it all … not just for friends or family, but for all of humanity. He died that anyone and everyone who believes in him can have eternal life. Of this assurance, we can always hold true.

With this comes the only task humanity was ever given … to spread this word to everyone! Thanks to our servicemen, we can ask ourselves what will we do with our freedom? And thanks to Jesus Christ our Savior, we know that we can have true freedom! … true faith! We just have to ask ourselves this question, What is the Holy Spirit leading me to do? How can I show that, like Abraham, like our servicemen, and yes … LIKE JESUS CHRIST, we have true faith. Will we be submissive to God, or will all of those who have died before, have died in vain?