Faith is Called to Call
From Romans 10:13-17, the Bible urges you to call on the name of the Lord and to call out to others, to speak to them about matters of faith. The Lord calls to you, with the word of Christ, the word of giving, of grace, of courageous and gentle speech, of faith that will not fail. "Faith is Called to Call." February 7, 2010.
How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? The numbers that report trends about New Year’s resolution success and failure vary slightly depending whom you ask, but generally they agree. 75% of people who make a New Year’s resolution keep their promise past the first week. By February, only 64% of people who make New Year’s resolutions are still keeping them, and only 46% of people stay true to their promises for six months or longer (“New Year’s Resolutions May be Hard to Keep, Josh Grant, posted Jan 4, 2010 http://personaldevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_years_resolutions_hard_to_keep).
Whether you made a New Year’s resolution or not, and if you did, whether you’re still keeping it or not, you have hopes and dreams as much as best winners and the worst losers of American Idol. “There’s something better for me out there” and, “Tomorrow is another day,” and “Who you are is God’s gift to you; who you become is your gift to God” are much more than little sayings on plaques or as part of e-mail signatures. They express a human desire for resolution, for betterment of life, for a cause or meaning or destiny beyond who I am or where I am right now. The Bible has a word for all that. Faith.
Better than New Year’s resolutions or chipper optimism, faith cannot fail. And this characteristic of faith is a gift from God no matter who you are, who you have been, or who you become as a believer.
On the Lord
You may think it’s an overstatement to say that faith cannot fail because you prayed for a shiny, red bike when you were 6-years-old, or you believed you’d make the cheerleading squad, or you were convinced your college degree would guarantee you a job or your investments would fund a care-free retirement. And none of those happened. Then what do you make of this statement in the Bible? “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Where is the failure in that promise?
“Everyone” is totally inclusive of all people; it doesn’t make any difference how many degrees or friends or teeth you have. “Who calls on” is an activity that any human being can do. “The name of the Lord” identifies the object of faith with a specific identity: the Lord God who can do all things. “Will be saved” promises total resolution and salvation. Faith cannot fail.
To be clear, faith in the Lord and what he promises cannot fail. You can believe all you want that your team will win the Super Bowl but if the Lord doesn’t promise it then it’s not the kind of faith the Bible talks about. The Bible talks about faith that focuses on the one totally trustworthy and infallible object of faith: the Lord. The subjects of faith – the people who do the believing – can be all colors, shapes, and sizes. We can behave in any number of different dysfunctional ways or have broken any number of New Year’s resolutions throughout life. What makes a great faith is not how much a person believes or how well a person believes but in whom a person believes: the Lord. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
To call on someone or something is to appeal to that person or thing for help, like you might call on a friend for a ride. If I have a friend who has a car and has offered me a ride in that car any time I need a ride, I don’t have a right to be grumpy at work all day because I decided to ride the bus and it was late and I spilled my coffee all over my shirt and sat next to a crying baby during rush hour traffic. So when is it wrong to trust in someone or something other than the Lord? It’s not wrong or sinful to appeal to someone or something for help, like medication, insurance, or unemployment compensation – as long as a believer sees these provisions as part of God’s general, overall promises of care. It is wrong and sinful to appeal to someone or something for the exact help that the Lord God promises only he can provide. It wasn’t wrong for Peter and his friends to work hard all night fishing in the shallows; they had God’s promise to provide, but they didn’t simply lie on the ground with their mouths open waiting for food to fall from heaven. They went to work and fished for a living, trusting that God would grant them fish as food and income. But it would have been wrong and sinful for Peter and his friends to fish in the shallows after Jesus told them, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). Then Peter and his friends would have been trusting in their fishing expertise instead of trusting in Jesus, who made a specific command and promise. But they trusted Jesus. And their faith didn’t fail. That’s an important lesson for anyone who heeds Jesus’ call, “Follow me.”
Where else have you fished because listening to Jesus just didn’t make sense according to you? Whom else have you followed because obeying Jesus just wasn’t leading where you wanted to go? On what else have you put your hopes only to find them smashed and then you blame God, who never made that specific promise? “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Remember this one thing about faith: it is as strong as that on which it rests. Trust in God. Hear his words. Know what he promises. Believe his message. And your faith will not fail. On the night Peter promised Jesus that he would die with him but then Peter denied him, Jesus made a promise to Peter that he makes to us, “I have prayed for you … that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back strengthen [others]” (Luke 22:32).
Out to others
Why wouldn’t some Toyota drivers with a faulty accelerator take their vehicle into a dealer for repair? Because they see no need to visit a dealer. Why wouldn’t they see a need to visit a dealer? Because they haven’t heard about the recall. Why haven’t they heard about the recall? Because they haven’t been notified. Why haven’t they been notified? Because the notification mailing hasn’t arrived yet. Such communication complications could mean millions of unsafe drivers on the road, so look out!
Why aren’t there more Christians in the world? Why don’t more people get involved in charity work? Why don’t my children appreciate church like I do? The answer to those questions lies somewhere in that realm of communication complication – unless all of the communication channels have been operating as God intended, and people still don’t believe or give or appreciate church then the fault lies with the individual as it did with the Israelites who didn’t believe the good news. But that’s a big assumption when we’re wondering about another’s lack of faith. God states emphatically that our answer to those questions about others’ lack of faith must include an assessment of our communication of the good news to others. “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Any question about the lack of others’ faith needs to be followed by a question I ask myself about how much I am sharing my faith, how well I am modeling my faith, and how seriously my church prioritizes outreach.
Here’s a communication question. How many times has a little child heard the word “mommy” or “daddy” before the child utters for the first time “mama” or “dada.” And how often has the child seen and heard the animal book or the color book before making the sound of a cow or identifying the color blue. We learn our speaking only by first hearing. Today the Bible urges you to call on the name of the Lord, to speak out to him. Before you call on the Lord, he calls to you, again and again, with the word of Christ, the word of forgiveness, of peace, of spiritual strength, of faith that will not fail. Today the Bible urges you to call out to others, to speak to them about matters of faith. Before you call out to others, the Lord calls to you, again and again, with the word of Christ, the word of giving, of grace, of courageous and gentle speech, of faith that will not fail. Faith is Called to Call.
Hear what God is saying. Listen to the call of his promises and his word of Christ, then call on him and call out to others with faith that cannot fail. Amen.
Preached at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) February 7, 2010
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