Happy Father's Day, all you Dads.  I always wonder who's going to be here today, and it always gives me joy when I see a Father present with his whole family.  You see that on Mother's Day, but not usually on Father's Day.  Have you noticed how some of the words in our language have had their meanings changed?  For instance, the word "gay" used to mean happy and carefree, but no one uses it that way any more.  And "pot" used to be something you cooked in, or "rap" used to be done on a door, not a boombox.  Sometimes words have lost their meanings because we use them in so many different situations.  For example, we use the word "love" to describe how we like a hot fudge sundae and our feelings for our child or spouse.

          "Faith" is another word that's been overused.  We say we have faith in God, as well as faith in the future.  We have faith that certain events happened in the past, and then say we have faith in America.  College students used to say, "Keep the faith," a phrase that's basically meaningless today.  And because we've overused this word, we may no longer know what true faith is.

          Jairus, the father of today's text was discovering much about faith.  He had a problem and he had faith Jesus could solve it.  His daughter was dying, and he believed Rabbi Jesus could heal her, so he begged Jesus come to his house.  While they were going, Jesus healed a woman who had faith in Him, but as He did so, a message came from his house, "Your daughter is dead.  Don't bother the teacher any more."  What a cruel thing to say!  It was like saying, "She's dead, be on your way!"  I'd like to know what kind of friend or family member he was!  But Jesus brushed aside the comment and said, "Don't be afraid;  just believe, and she will be healed."  Jairus was quickly going to see the power of faith, when that faith is in the Son of God.

          Faith, real, genuine faith, is always related to a person.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  Hebrews 11:6 says something interesting:  "Without faith it is impossible to please God."  Without faith, you and I cannot please God.  Therefore, if we're not living by faith, we're not pleasing God.  If our life is not lived by faith, then no matter what we're doing, it's not pleasing to God.  "We live by faith, not by sight."  (2 Corinthians 5:7)

          The same is also true of a church.  If our church is not doing its work by faith, then no matter what we're doing, it's not pleasing to God.  And if our church is not living by faith, people won't take us seriously.  But when a church does its work by faith, people take notice.  Whatever Epiphany does, we must do it with faith in God, not faith in plans or finances or programs.  God has built this church His way, with His people.  We need to do His work, trusting Him, not trusting Him and us, just Him!

          When God comes into your life, it changes everything.  It's a radical disruption.  When God speaks, we can't keep going on, doing business as usual.  When God told Noah to build an ark, he couldn't please God and not build the boat.  When God told Abraham to go to another country, he couldn't obey God without packing up and leaving some of his family behind.  When God speaks to us, we must respond or else we're not obeying Him.  When God told Moses to speak to Pharoah, no matter what argument Moses gave Him, God wouldn't take "no" for an answer!

          God's will is to reveal Himself to people, and He reveals Himself through His Son.  Jesus once said, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father." (John 14:9)   God wants people to see Him and to trust what He is doing.  In our church, we should be showing God through what we're doing.  If we're not attempting to do something only God can do, no one is going to see God through us.  I repeat, if we're not attempting to do something only God can do, no one will see God through us.  How can people see God in us when we're just following a book or written plan?  Anyone can follow a plan.  What would it take for people to see us living by our faith, not by our sight?  Doing only the possible?

          Faith is always related to a person, not to a program and not to a concept.  When God calls us, in faith, to respond to Him, it may cause a crisis for us, because this is a person talking.  He wants us to join what He is doing.  If our faith is in a program, we can say, "I don't like that program;  it doesn't match my talents."  And if our faith is related to a concept, we might say, "That's okay for you, but not for me."  But our faith is related to a person, Jesus.  We can't be indifferent to a person, at least not for long, and certainly not when that person is the Son of God.

          It's impossible to believe one way and act another.  What we do when God speaks to us reveals if we are a true believer or merely an actor.  When God speaks, what we do next reveals our faith - or lack of it.  Jesus said to the girl's father, "Don't be afraid;  just believe, and she will be healed."  And the Father believed Him.  Faith requires action;  it does not come in a vacuum.  If we say we have faith, then our life must show we live by faith.

          Faith is related to a person in the present.  It takes no faith to say Jesus lived, died and rose again 2000 years ago -- that's already happened.  It takes no faith to believe God will take care of us tomorrow;  He can do for us whatever He wants.  Faith is always related to the present.  It's not merely believing what God has done or will do, but believing what he will do right now.

          In the Bible faith always presents something impossible.  Can Jesus feed 5000 people with only five loaves and two fish?  Can He heal someone with leprosy?  Can Jesus raise a little girl from the dead?  Yet that all happened long ago.  The real question we must face is, can God do great things in your personal life or in the life of our Church?

          Yes He can!  Two years ago a few people said, "We want to start a church in Castle Rock without District support."  Many in the District said, "Impossible!  You'll need all kinds of money, and the District doesn't have it."  I think some of our first visitors said that, too, only quietly.  Then some of our people said they want to find affordable land in a good location, and God provided it.  Then we said we wanted to build a church building without borrowing more funds.  A lot of heads shook in disbelief, but my friends, now it's all coming to pass, because of faith that God would provide!  God did something amazing among us and He's still doing it.  He's teaching us to live by faith.

          You know what else is amazing?  Now and then I hear people say, "It's just wonderful what you're doing for God there in Castle Rock!"  Well meaning, but they just don't get it -- it isn't us doing this, but God.  He has done all that we see in this church, and He's still doing it now.  When God's people step out in faith, when we set out to do what only HE can do, that's real faith.  Of course it must be according to His will, not ours.

          By faith, each of us must be able to say, "Jesus is my Lord.  He died for me and gives me eternal life.  And not only to me, but to ALL who have faith in Him."  That's our public statement of faith we profess every time we repeat the Apostle's Creed.  As a congregation, Epiphany Lutheran Church must never stop acting on faith.  We cannot be a people who profess to have faith and then not live by it.  When we can say, "Father, only You can do this for us," and then step out in faith to do it, that's an act of genuine faith, that's "assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things we can't see."

          I have a vision for Epiphany.  It's what I believe God can do among us in the next five years:
          (1)  I believe God can finish our new building, completing it by Labor Day.  God can do it, even here!
          (2)  I believe God will lead us to add a second Sunday service and a midweek service in 3 years.
          (3)  I believe God can help us raise enough funds to pay off our land debt in the next 4 years.
          (4)  I believe God can help us start another church in this growing area in the next 5 years.

          Some will say that last one can't be done - we have too much to do ourselves to start another church.  Some of us will look inward and not want to look outside our own needs.  But that's what faith is -- believing that with God all things are possible, that with His help we can do the impossible.  By His power, these are not only possible, they will happen.

          But making it happen will take some adjustment on our part.  Faith requires we adjust our lives to God's plans.  The father responded to Jesus rather than the messenger who said his daughter had died.  This father trusted Jesus even when the people laughed at Jesus.  The father knew his faith worked when his little girl got up and ate something.  He easily could have stayed doing things the same old way, but you'd better believe this father's life was never the same again.  When Jesus comes into your life, the fullness we have will not let life be the same again.  That is, unless you like the old way better and go back to its emptiness.

          It is not that you and I can plan well enough or foresee what can be done that makes it work.  It's that we believe God can do the impossible things He sets before us.  God does accomplish His will through us.  He has the power, if we have the faith.  If we doubt He can do it, or if we think it's all up to us, or if we get lazy, then we will most certainly fail.  He is God of the impossible, and He sent His only Son to do the impossible -- to forgive the sins of all, even those who reject Him.  He calls us to follow him in faith.  How will you follow Him?  By faith or by sight?  Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.