Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon

Faith, Not Security

Genesis 12: 1-8

February 20, 2005

Faith, Not Security

In the last of the three Indiana Jones movies, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, there is possibly the best cinematic representation of faith I have ever seen. It comes at the end of the movie as Indiana and company are reaching the end of their search for the Holy Grail, the very cup that Christ used in the Upper Room at the last supper, the cup in which, according to legend, Joseph of Aramathea caught drops of Jesus' blood from the cross, and which since has had the power to heal and give eternal life to all who drink from it. According to legend, the grail had been lost for a thousand years. And now, in the movie, Indiana, with the help of his father, whose lifetime obsession was the quest for the grail, were on the brink of its re-discovery.

But it wasn't enough to know its location. One also needed to know and understand the clues that would safely take the person through three lethal booby-traps that protected the grail. Each of these clues came in cryptic form, intentionally obscure, that required not only knowledge of them but also correct interpretation.

As one approached the place of the Holy Grail through this cavern the first clue was: "A penitent man will pass". Indiana understands this clue in the nick of time and sinks to his knees, the posture of a penitent man, a fraction of a second before a huge metal disc whirls overhead that would have decapitated a standing person.

The second clue was: "Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed." Stretched before Indiana in this cavern is a floor of stones with Hebrew letters on them. Step on the wrong stone and a person will fall through to his death. By stepping on the stones that spelled out God's name (only in the footsteps of Go) Indiana passed the second protective device.

Then comes the third. Indy emerges from the cavern and finds himself separated from the continuing of his journey by a huge chasm 40 yards wide and a canyon deeper than one can see. And the clue is: "The path of God. Only in the leap from the lion's head will he prove his worth."

Indiana mutters, "This is impossible. No one can leap this.” But he can't stop. His father has been shot and his only hope is if he can get the grail and its healing properties. He looks down and sees nothing but a bottomless canyon. He hears in his mind his father's words, "You must believe, boy. You must believe." It suddenly dawns on him, "It's a leap of faith." He looks straight ahead, steps out with his left foot and puts it down on what is seemingly nothing but air. Instead his foot sets on solid rock. There was a rock path across the chasm there all the time, but it was so camouflaged that he could not see it until he had already taken the step on to it. It indeed was a leap of faith.

God invites Abraham in our reading from Genesis this morning to step out in faith: "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.'" God set before Abraham a great promise, but it required of him the giving up of everything that meant security and trusting in God's promise. Abraham was asked to give up everything that would be important in the world, all the things that the world would count as successful, and that spelled for him security. He would have to leave his own country. He would have to leave his father and family. He would have to leave the family estate. All based on the promise that what God had in store was better. He would leave everything that was comfortable and familiar for a land he did not know, a land that God would show him. It would be a leap of faith for Abraham, too. All of biblical history would rest on Abraham's response. Verse 4 removes the suspense. It begins, "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him..."

That "leap of faith", that challenge to step out with only God's promise standing between you and destruction, is everyone's call. Faith is not faith if the outcome is known. Faith rests not on a guarantee, but on a promise.

Christian faith at its best is not an attempt to use God, but a willingness to surrender control of our lives to God. That's one reason why I thought the scene from The Last Crusade was such an apt illustration of faith. If you've seen the Indiana Jones adventures you know the abilities of the hero. Through every scrape and danger Indiana's quick thinking and physical abilities always win him rescue. He is a man who likes to be in control. But that last step into the unknown and complete trust on something he could not see required that he give up control.

Abraham, too, had to give up control if he was to enjoy God's promises. It is fascinating, by the way, as you read through the chapters in Genesis that tell the story of Abraham the number of times Abraham tried to take back control. But whenever he took control, the results were disastrous. The promises of God for Abraham would only be realized if God remained in control.

That is a lesson we too need to learn. Examine your prayers sometime. Many of us use our prayers to manipulate God. We want him to adjust the weather to our liking; or to change our boss' attitude, or to help us win the lottery. We not only bring our problems to God, we seek to advise him how these problems ought to be solved. We seek to direct God as to what we think is best for us. Rather than trusting that He in His omnipotence and omniscience knows best, we seek to guide Him, to control Him, to use Him. As long as we take control God can't take control. Only one can be in control at any given time. And as Abraham discovered it is only when God is in control that God's promises can be realized.

There is an old fable from Holland about three tulip bulbs. They were named NO, MAYBE, and YES. Someone had placed them in the bottom of a tin to save them until planting time. One day they were discussing their future as tulip bulbs.

NO said, "As far as I am concerned, this is it. We have come as far as we are going to come as bulbs. That's all right. I'm content. I don't need anything else."

MAYBE said, "Well, maybe there is something more. Perhaps if we try real hard good things will happen to us." And MAYBE tried hard to be all that he could be but little changed and soon he gave up in frustration.

YES, on the other hand said, "I believe there is something more, but I don't believe that it is up to us. I have heard that there is One who can help us be more than we are if we simply trust him."

One day a hand reached down into the tin to select bulbs for planting. NO and MAYBE shrank back but YES gladly gave himself into the hand of the gardener. He could scarcely believe what was happening when he was buried underneath a mound of dirt. But when the springtime came YES burst forth in radiant color. He was now a beautiful flower. God has gifted each of us with great promise but that promise is realized only when we surrender control of our lives to Him, when we eagerly give ourselves into his hand.

But what do we do when our faith is weak, or when we cannot see the promises of God in our lives? An onlooker was amazed by the calmness of a young man preparing to hang-glide off a cliff hundreds of feet high in the north Georgia mountains. "Aren't you afraid to jump?" he asked. "Nope" replied the young man. "The wind will bear me up." "But how do you know the wind is there? You can't see it!" persisted the bystander. "Because I can see by those who have jumped before me that it is bearing them up." Sometimes when our faith is weak, we can only hold fast on the witness of others.

One Sunday a pastor held up a black and white negative print of the face of Jesus, carefully concealed in confusing blocks of what appeared to be merely ink spots on paper. If one would look at it the right way, the face of Jesus could easily be seen.

"Some of you will see the profile of Jesus in this picture," said the pastor. "Some of you won't. What matters is not our own perception of his face, but to believe that the image is here by the witness of others who do see the face."

Several persons nodded their heads as they easily saw the image while others continued to squint and study, unable to perceive it. One lady, perplexed, asked the pastor if she might borrow the print and take it home to study.

At home she placed the print over the kitchen sink so she could study it as she did the dishes each evening. Her husband claims that he was scared half to death when several nights later, as he sat reading in a nearby room, he heard his wife shouting from the kitchen, "I see Jesus! I see Jesus!"

When, for reasons we cannot understand, we fail to see God in our lives, we need to take heart from the witness of others who do and expectantly wait until we again feel and see his presence, when we, too, can exclaim, “I see Jesus. I see Jesus.”

Indiana Jones stepped out in faith and crossed the path to the Holy Grail. More biblically, Abraham stepped out in faith and, in so doing, opened the way for God's promises to be fulfilled. God invites us to step out in faith that ceases to try to manipulate God but surrenders control of our lives to him. Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.