Burning Faith

June 4th 2006; DBC
Burning Faith
1 Peter 1.1-9; MK 10.13-16; Luke 24.28-32

Peter wrote a letter of encouragement to a church (or churches) mixed with both Jewish (Diaspora) and Gentile believers (1.14). They were a scattered people facing trials and suffering because of their faith in Christ (1.1).

Do you ever feel scattered?
Do you ever feel like a stranger in this world?
Do you experience sufferings, afflictions, and trials in your life?

We all do in some way or the other. Peter mentions faith as a shield and passage rite whereby we travel through this world of suffering to a place of salvation and hope.

One of the key messages in Scripture is that in this life we suffer, but God will bring us by our faith in (faithfulness to) him to a place of everlasting healing and refuge (Rev.21.4).

Though we feel scattered and though we feel like strangers in this world and though outwardly we a fading away,

our faith (faithfulness to God and his faithfulness to us) is a vision of a better land and a trustworthy source of divine love and courage in the midst of great suffering in this life.

Peter mentions faith three times in 1 Peter 1-9; he wasn’t talking about Faith Hill!

What is Peter’s idea of faith in this particular passage?

Faith is an active trust, belief, and fidelity toward God. God is ever faithful toward the believer (1.2); we are called to be faithful to God in return of God’s faithfulness to us. Peter says: “ . . . through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1.5, NIV)

“Shielded,” does not mean the absence of suffering or trials; notice the context of 1 Peter is about an enduring faith in midst of suffering and trails.

Faith is a vision of unseen realities. Faith in one sense is like blind trust and in another sense it is the ability to spiritually see something bigger and truer that can’t be physically seen.

“I had always understood that we didn’t need scientific proof of the existence of God. In fact, whenever there was adequate physical evidence to prove any theory or proposition, then we didn’t need faith as a basis for our belief.” (Carter, Our Endangered Values, 48.)

Someone once asked Helen Keller if there was anything worse than being blind. She replied, “Oh, yes! There is something worse than being blind. It is being able to see and not having any vision.” (Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story, 69.)


What might Peter have learned about faith from Jesus? Many scholars believe that Peter wrote the Gospel of Mark; there is an interesting story in Mark 10.14 where we get the idea and description of childlike faith:

“The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: ‘Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in.’ Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.” (Mk 10.13-16, Message Trans.)

What does a Childlike faith look like? Childlike faith is a pure example of a growing and glowing faith.

Childlike faith is a curious faith.

A couple of weeks ago I was in charge of taking care of the kids (scary though, I know!). I took the girls to Mother’s Day Out in the morning and rounded them up at the end of MDO to go pick up Elijah. Normally, Anna likes to play the “I spy with my little eye game,” on the way to and from MDO; however, this time she was curios about something.

She asked, “Dada what do you do?” So I told her about some things I do (study, preach, tell people about Jesus.). Then, she asked about granddaddy Hopkins, “Did granddaddy get sick and die and go to be with Jesus? Will we all get sick and die and go to be with Jesus? What is heaven like?

So I talked with her about those things as simple and best as I could on her level. Then when we picked up Elijah she wanted to get a second opinion on her questions; curiosity is a good thing. She asked Elijah, “Hey what does Daddy do? I guess she wasn’t quite sure if I was on the up and up with her (particularly about my job!)!

A curious faith that diligently seeks after God and truth is a good thing.

A curious faith that asks questions, that researches, and that desires and itches to know about life, God, and truth is always a good thing!

Childlike faith is a hungry faith.

Sometimes we like to go to Chuck E’Cheezes and play all of the games. Anna likes (really, I like the game) hungry hippo. Maybe, that could be a picture of a person hungry for faith and the things of God.

Do you have a curios and hungry childlike faith?

Sometime after Jesus’ death and resurrection, there were two disciples on the way a village called Emmaus. They met up with a curios stranger. He wanted to know about them, where they’d been and what had been happening from where they were. There was something strangely wonderful and glorious about that stranger.

“They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: ‘Stay and have supper with us. It's nearly evening; the day is done.’ So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
Back and forth they talked. ‘Didn't we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?’" (LK 24.28-32, Message Trans.)

I like to think of those two disciples, on the way to Emmaus, as if they were two kids waking up on Christmas morning and unwrapping their long anticipated Christmas gifts.

Like two kids on Christmas morning they glowed and burned with excitement.

When they realized it was Jesus their faith was kindled, stoked, and began to burn.

As we come the Lord’s Table this morning for communion does your faith burn or is it lukewarm?

“A lukewarm faith is easy to practice but worth little.” (Carter, Living Faith, 207)