Church Sermon - August 22, 2004

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Old Testament Lesson; Genesis 15:1-6
Gospel Lesson; Luke 12:32-40
Sermon Text; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

-If I told you that there is little shelf here behind the pulpit, where we can set things…

-And, if I told you that on that shelf, this morning, I have a blue coffee mug. It is about that tall, has the Martin Luther seal on it, and underneath the Martin Luther seal it says, "This is most certain brew!"…

-Can you be certain that coffee mug is up here?

You can’t see it, can you? I could be just saying that it is up here. I could be just using that coffee mug as an illustration, but maybe, it really isn’t up here.

How could you be certain that the coffee cup is here? I think all of us would say, "Well, I know how I could be certain it is there. If I stood up and walked around the pulpit, took a look, and there I saw it with my own eyes, then I would know that the coffee cup was there. Then I could be absolutely certain."

That is why we have that little phrase, "Seeing is believing."

But, I believe that there is a way that you could be even more certain that the coffee cup is here, than if you saw it with your own eyes. Here is what it is. If God told you, if God told you this morning that there is a blue coffee cup up there, with a Luther seal on it, that says, "This is most certainly brew", that would be more certain, than if you saw it with your own eyes.

Our eyes can deceive us, but

when God makes a statement,

And, we can be absolutely certain that the statement God has made is true. It is absolutely true. When God makes a promise, it is absolutely true. We can be even more certain, than if we saw it with our own eyes. God absolutely does not, will not, and cannot break a promise that He makes to us.

Now, God has not told you that the coffee cup is up here, so you still remain uncertain as to whether it is up here or not. But there are many promises that God has made us. Our scripture reading today says that faith, faith is being certain. It is being confident. It is being absolutely sure. It is knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt.

Faith has nothing in front of it, nothing that it can look at with its eyes, except one thing. That one thing is the Word of God. Faith has the Word of God in front of it. Faith sees the promises that are in God’s Word, made by God Himself. And faith says the those promises that God, Himself, cannot, does not, and will not break, those promises are more certain than if I saw something with my very own eyes.

It is being certain, even when what our eyes see may appear contrary to the promises that God, Himself, makes to us. Our scripture reading today uses an awesome example of faith. It shows how faith is absolutely certain, no matter what my eyes show me, no matter how contrary things may be. Faith is certain that when God makes a promise, He will not break that promise. Our scripture reading uses Abraham as an example. Four thousand five hundred years ago, God made a promise to a man called Abraham. Abraham was 75 years old and his wife was 65 years old. Abraham and his wife had no children, lived in a land called Ur of the Chaldese, which is in modern day Iraq. God made a promise to Abraham. He told him, "To your decedents, who will be as many as the stars in the skies, and the seas on the seashore, to your descendents, I am going to give a land."

But God didn’t tell Abraham where the land was. Can you imagine Abraham going into his house to his wife Sarah, and saying, "Honey, we are moving."

She asks him why and he replies, "Well, we are going to a land where our descendents are going to live."

And so she says, "Well, Abraham, you are 75 years old and I am 65 years old. We don’t have any children, so we are not going to have any descendents. And where is this land that you are talking about?"

Abraham then says, "I don’t know. I don’t know, but God will show us."

Doesn’t it appear as though everything is contrary to the promises that God has made? And yet, Abraham believed God. God made that promise, and it was certain to Abraham that God would keep His promise.

And so, Abraham went. God led him to the Land of Canaan. When he got there, God told Abraham, "This is it. This is the land that I am going to give to your descendents."

Then He had Abraham travel the entire land of Canaan. He showed him the whole land and said, "This is the land. All of this is going to belong to your descendents."

But Abraham still didn’t have any descendents. After he was in the Land of Canaan for 24 years, he was 99 years old and still no descendents. Everything appeared contrary to what God had said.

And, Abraham didn’t own a piece of ground, not a piece of ground in that land. God said He was going to give it to Abraham and his descendents, but he didn’t own a spot. He was a pilgrim. He was a wanderer. He lived in tents. He traveled from place to place.

And yet, God was faithful. When Abraham was 100 years old, scripture says he was a good as dead; it was like a dead person having a child. God kept His promise, because God is faithful. God is faithful. When God makes a promise, it is more certain than if we saw it with our own eyes.

God kept His promise and Abraham had a son, by the name of Isaac. God told Abraham, he is the son who is going to have all of your descendents. But then, when Isaac was 12, God told Abraham, to take his son, his only son and sacrifice him.

Now it all appears contrary to God’s promise.

If Abraham sacrificed Isaac,

But Abraham took Isaac, tied him to the altar, lifted up his knife, and was about to slay his son, his only son. Why? Because Abraham was certain, more certain than if he saw it with his own eyes, that when God makes a promise, He will keep that promise.

Our scripture reading tells us that Abraham reasoned that God could even raise Isaac from the dead, if He had to, but that Isaac would be the father of Abraham’s descendents.

When Abraham died, he still didn’t own any land. In all of the Land of Canaan that had been promised to Abraham’s descendents, the only piece that Abraham owned was the land where Sarah had been buried. And, Isaac, Abraham’s son, didn’t own any land in the Land of Canaan, though it had been promised to Abraham’s descendents. And Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, didn’t own any land in the Land of Canaan, even though it had been promised to Abraham’s descendents. They all wandered and lived in tents.

And then they went down to the land of Egypt and left the Land of Canaan. They were in the land of Egypt for 400 years. And they still didn’t own a piece of ground in Canaan.

When the Children of Israel had increased in number to several million, God,

It wasn’t until almost 500 years after God gave that promise to Abraham that the Land of Canaan was given to his descendents, who were as countless as the sands on the sea and the stars in the sky. God kept His promise. He kept His promise to Abraham.

When God makes a promise

it is as certain,

more certain than if we see it with our own eyes,

even when everything looks contrary to what God has promised.

Now, scripture tells us that these things were all written for you and me. They are written for you and me. God made us promises too. God has made you and me awesome promises. And many times in this life, it may appear with our eyes, as if God is not keeping His promises. But faith is being sure of what we do not see with our human eyes, because when God makes a promise, God cannot and will not fail.

The ultimate reason you and I are Christians is because we want to be in Heaven someday. We want to be in Heaven someday, and God has promised a home in Heaven to us. Our scripture reading today talks about Abraham as an alien, a foreigner in this world, a stranger in this world, who is looking forward to a better city, a better country. You and I recognize that there is something desperately wrong with this world, this country, this city that we live in. And what is desperately wrong with it? While it is true that we have many blessings in this life, there are also many, many things wrong with this world. We do not long to have this world be our permanent home.

In this world there is suffering. In this world we have problems with our relationships. There is terrorism. There is lack of safety. There is crime. In this world you and I have a sinful nature that we cannot escape from. And though we wish that we did not commit sin, we do commit sin day, after day, after day. How we long to be free from that. In this world there is death. "Death came upon all, because all sin." Death is painful. It is painful for all of us. It is painful, when we see our loved ones die, and we have to say good-bye, to them.

Oh, how we long for a better land, a better world where we are free from all of those things. In this world there is sickness, pain and trouble of all kinds. And so, we long for a better world. And God has promised, God has promised us that there is a better country, a better city. This is not the figment of someone’s imagination. Our Savior, Himself, says,

"In my Father’s House are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you."

There scripture promises that there is a home called Heaven. And when God makes that promise, though we cannot see it with these eyes, we can be more certain that Heaven exists, than if we did see it with our own eyes, because God, who makes a promise, does not break His promises.

You and I can be certain, that our home in Heaven is as God has promised. God has promised that it is free from sin. No one in Heaven has any sin, anymore. In Heaven we will not be tempted, anymore. We will not fall prey to our sinful nature, anymore. We will not say things that hurt one another, anymore. We will live in perfect harmony, in that home that we long for. There will be absolute peace and safety, in that home we long for, because God has promised that. There will be no more death. We will never have to say good-bye to someone we love, ever again in that home, because God has promised that. Heaven is a real home that really exists. And, we will be there with our Savior, forever and ever. We can be certain of that. Faith is being certain of what we do not see, because faith holds in front of it the Word of God. And, the Word of God is certain, more certain than what our eyes see, because God does not fail. You and I can be certain that we will be in Heaven some day.

How can we be certain of that? How can we be certain that we will be in Heaven some day? Faith is being certain of what we do not see. We can be certain, because God, in scripture, has made a promise to us. When God makes a promise, He does not, will not and cannot break that promise.

Thank God, He did not tell us that we have to get to Heaven by our own good works, by the things we do. If that were the case, we could never be certain. "Is Heaven my home?" I would never know. "Have I done enough good things, to outweigh all of the bad? Have I done enough good works? Have I earned God’s favor? Is God happy with me now?" How would I ever know and how could I ever be certain? I couldn’t be.

But, God in His grace and mercy has made us a promise. Our salvation is based not on what we do, but it is based on a promise. That promise is certain. It is unshakable. It is infallible. It cannot fail. The promise is that our Savior, Jesus, has fully and completely, on the cross, paid for every single sin that we have ever committed. And God, the Father, is totally satisfied with Christ’s payment for sin. There is no payment left that we have to make. Not one penny. Not one penny!

And not only that, but scripture promises that the holy, perfect life of Christ has been credited to us, as if it were our own holy perfect life. God promises, God promises that we are saved! We are forgiven, because of what Jesus has done. Heaven is ours, by grace, simply by a promise. Scripture promises that we benefit from that, when we cling to it by faith. The Bible says,

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

and you will be saved."

The Bible says,

"God so loved the world that

He gave His only begotten Son, that

whosoever believeth in Him,

shall not perish,

but have everlasting life."

That is a promise in scripture, made by God, Himself. And faith holds before it, nothing else, but the promises. Faith clings to the promises. And, if God makes a promise, it is more certain than if I saw it with my own eyes.

Can we be certain that Heaven is our home, and that we will be in Heaven some day? Yes we can. All who believe in Jesus have that promise.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and

you will be saved."

As Christians, we can go forward as very confident people in this life. This is not our home. We are looking forward to a better country. It really exists. It really belongs to me. I am really going to be there, someday. And then, whatever this world may bring, whatever it may bring, no matter what the trouble, the pain, the sorrow, the persecution, I know. Faith is being sure, certain of what we don’t see.

A Christian can be the most confident person in this world, because faith is being sure, being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.

Amen.

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