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2 Corinthians 5:6-7
We all know the saying, “I have to see it to believe it.” We all have a little bit of Thomas living inside our sinful hearts. But it’s also true that you can’t believe everything you see. There’s a lot of stuff that you can see on Facebook that you shouldn’t believe. Some pictures have been photoshopped. Some quotes are attributed to people who were long dead when those words were spoken. We now have virtual reality goggles. You put them on and what you see looks real, but it’s not. You can’t always believe what you see.
Some might say that seeing something and having to discern if it’s real or not is still better than blind faith. That’s true. But the believing that Paul is talking about, the kind of faith that we as Christians have, is not blind faith. Blind faith is believing something is, just because you want it to be so, without any reason to even think that it could be so. Blind faith would be believing you will win a million dollars in the lottery even though you never bought a ticket. Blind faith is what my grade school friend had when he put on his superman cape and jumped off the roof of his house believing he could fly. He broke his leg.
Our faith, Christian faith, as God defines it for us in the Bible, is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see. But it’s not just wishful thinking. It’s based on the promises of God, the God who has proven himself time and time again throughout history.
In our first reading from Ezekiel, God challenged the Israelites who had been taken captive to Babylon to walk by faith, not by sight. What they saw was that their homes were destroyed. God’s temple was destroyed. The walls of Jerusalem were knocked down. If they walked by sight they would say, “Jerusalem will never be rebuilt.” If they walked by sight they would say, “God has abandoned us.” Or maybe even, “There is no God.” But what did God tell them through the prophets? Through Daniel he told them that after 70 years in Babylon, a remnant would return and Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt. God told them through Ezekiel that he would plant a tender sprig from the top of a cedar on the mountain of Israel. He would see to it that it would grow into a magnificent tree that would provide refuge for birds, people, of every kind. He promised that he would show the world that he is the one who is in control, who brings down the high tree, the lofty nations like Babylon, and raises up the low tree, the seemingly insignificant nations like Israel. He said, I have spoken and I will carry it out. And he did.
Mighty Babylon was brought down. A remnant of Israel did return to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity. The temple and walls were rebuilt. That sprig, that branch of David’s line that seemed non-existent to sight, was planted and has grown. That branch is Jesus. Like a tender sprig from the top of a cedar, like a tiny mustard seed, Jesus came from Nazareth, was baptized by John, became known by his teaching and his miracles. He suffered and died, but he rose again on the third day, a fact that was attested by Thomas, and by over 500 witnesses. Ever since the good news that he is the promised savior who lived and died to pay for sin, and who rose from the dead to prove it, has been proclaimed far and wide, to every tribe, nation, language and people. It has been proclaimed even to us. Jesus invites everyone, Come to me, and I will give you rest, the kind of rest no one else can give, rest for your souls.
Our faith is not a blind faith. Jesus reminded Nicodemus that the work of God is like the wind. You can’t see the wind, you can’t see God, but you can see the effects of his presence. It’s like seed planted in the ground. It sprouts and grows, because that’s what God made it to do. You can’t see God, but you can see the work of his hands in nature. You can see his faithfulness as you read his promises in Scripture and then see how they have been, and are being fulfilled. You can see the work of the Spirit as you share with someone the good news that Jesus has given them rest from guilt and worry by his life, death and resurrection, and they are moved to give thanks and praise to God for their salvation. Our faith is founded on the firm foundation of God’s word and promises that do not fail, not on wishful thinking, or on things we make up in our own minds.
The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was way ahead of his time when he spoke about walking by faith and not by sight. He warned that saying, “I believe God loves me, I have prospered in business ever since I’ve been a Christian,” might sound like you are walking by faith. You say, “I believe God loves me.” But when you add that the reason you believe this is that you have prospered in business since becoming a Christian, you are actually walking by sight. What if you had not prospered? What if your business fails in the future? Would you then think that God doesn’t love you? The truth is that he loves you whether you prosper or not. How do you know this? You’ve know the answer since you have been a little child and learned to sing, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” That’s walking by faith. Faith trusts God’s promise no matter what we see, no matter what our circumstances. Paul learned that. He could be content no matter the circumstances of his life, whether hungry or well fed, whether having plenty or being in want. He was walking by faith, trusting God’s promise, not by sight, not by looking at the circumstances of life.
Spurgeon says, what if you say, “I believe in Jesus, but I am in doubt of my salvation because I am sad and depressed.” Or what if you say, “I am sure of my salvation because I feel so happy.” Are you walking by faith or by sight? In both cases you are walking by sight. You are looking at your feelings instead of the word of God. God says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God says you are all sons on God through faith in Christ Jesus. As many of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You have been born again of water and the Spirit. No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. God has given us the Spirit as the down payment, as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come, namely an eternal home in heaven, not made by human hands. God’s promise is sure, true and completely reliable whether you feel it or not. That’s why Paul could say, and we can say with him, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. We can say with absolute certainty that we have eternal salvation because our eternal salvation is not dependent on feelings or circumstance, or on anything we do or don’t do, but completely, 100% on God.
Will there be days when you are not confident of your salvation? Yes. There will be days when Satan whispers in your ear the same words he whispered to Adam and Eve. “Did God really say?” He knows that if he can get you to question any part of God’s word the firm foundation of your confidence has begun to turn to sinking sand. Then he can get you to look elsewhere for confidence. Maybe to your feelings, maybe to your prosperity, maybe to all the good things you do. He knows the things that are seen are temporary. He knows that if you are walking by sight, if your confidence comes from the things you can see, he can take them away, and then where will your confidence be?
When you find yourself filled with doubts. When there is sickness, or failure. When your life seems to be falling apart and you are tempted to think, “God must not love me,” or “if there is a God, where is he?” or “Maybe there is no God and there is no hope.” When such things happen, confess that you have been trying to walk by sight. You have let the seen things that are temporary distract you from the unseen things that are eternal. Confess your sin and return to the words and promises of God. Hear again from the word how Jesus always walked by faith and not by sight and he did it as your substitute. Hear again how Jesus went to the cross to pay for all the times that you tried to live by sight and let yourself be distracted from the things that give real life and real guidance. Hear again how Jesus rose from the dead so that you can join Paul in saying we are always confident and know that we have an eternal dwelling, unseen now but even more real and certain than anything we can see. Hear again the promises of God so that you can say with confidence while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, so we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, the mansion that Jesus is preparing for us. We are confident of these things, not because of what we see, but because the object of our faith is God’s promise to us in Jesus, a promise that cannot fail.
Walk by faith, not by sight. The things that are seen, the material things of this world, are temporary. They will all pass away. The unseen things, forgiveness, a home in heaven, these things are eternal. They are as sure as the promises of the eternal God who has proven himself to always be faithful.
