Title: Now, that's faith!

The text is the first verse of today�s epistle, which I learned this way: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."

For what are you hopeful? You hope that your sins are forgiven. You hope that you have been saved from death, and death's partners: the devil and damnation. You hope that you will go to heaven, that, on the Last Day, Jesus Christ will raise you from your grave and into a new body--an eternal body that will never again be able to sin, or age, or die, but will always enjoy life in Christ's eternal Paradise. These are the things for which you hope.

You are certain of them, but you have not seen them. You can't see God's forgiveness. When you ask God to forgive you, or when the pastor pronounces God's absolution, there is no physical evidence that anything has happened. When we pour the water of Baptism, there is no visible proof that anything more happened than the baptized person got a wet forehead. When we dispense the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, it only looks and smells and tastes like plain unleavened bread and Concord grape wine.

You can't see forgiveness, life, and salvation, any more than you have seen Jesus Christ. However, there's plenty of things in life that you have never seen, yet it's no big deal. So, you didn't see Jesus when He walked the earth? Neither did you see Abraham Lincoln.

Did you need to see Lincoln to know about Lincoln to know where he was born, that he was president during the Civil War, that he was assassinated in the Ford Theater?

No, you didn't need to see Lincoln, in person. You have pictures of Lincoln. You have books about Lincoln. You have a host of evidence which proves Lincoln's existence and his work.

What, if anything, about Jesus Christ is different from Lincoln? Do we have proof that a man named Jesus of Nazareth lived? Yes, actually, considering that He lived two thousand years ago, we have quite a bit of proof. We have the four Gospels of the Bible, which confirm His existence and His work. We have books, by historians of Jesus� day, who wrote about Jesus the same way that Lincoln had men write about him. How, then, are Abe Lincoln and Jesus Christ different to you?

Do you believe in Abraham Lincoln? That is, is there something about Lincoln's work in which you have to place your faith if you are to receive the benefit of it?

When it comes to regular men, you don’t have to have anything more than knowledge—everything about them can be in your head. It makes no difference to your life how you feel about Lincoln. Love him or hate him. Agree with his politics or disagree. It makes no difference to your life—it’s, um, all in your head.

Regarding Jesus, you also have knowledge—you have stuff in your head. Indeed, anyone can have knowledge about Jesus, and many do. Not only do Christians know about Jesus, because Christianity is the largest religion in the world. The Gospels about Jesus are read and studied by people of every religion, or of no religion at all. Plenty of people have the same kind of knowledge about Jesus as they have about Abraham Lincoln.

And—here’s the kicker—just as their knowledge about Lincoln makes no difference for their lives, neither does their knowledge about Jesus make any difference for their lives.

How, then, are you different from those who only have Jesus in their heads? You are different because you also have Jesus in your hearts. You have this thing that we call faith.

It takes no faith to know that a person named Jesus was born two thousand years ago in the town of Bethlehem. It takes faith to believe that this Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin, the very Son of God, for the purpose of coming into the world to save the world from death.

It takes no faith to know that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John left a bunch of moral teachings from the lips of this Jesus, things like the Golden Rule and the parable of the Good Samaritan. It takes faith to believe Jesus when He says the things that have to seep deeper than one’s head and sink into one’s heart, like when He declares Himself to be the Light of the World, the Bread of Life from heaven, the Way and the Truth and the Life, the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, the Gate to eternal life, the living Vine, and the Resurrection and the Life.

It takes no faith to know that this Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross. It takes faith to believe that this Jesus of Nazareth was Jesus the Christ—that it was God’s designated man who died on that cross, with the sins of the world on His shoulders.

It takes faith to believe that, on the third day, He was raised from the dead, victorious over all that is bound by sin—death, devil, damnation. It takes faith to believe that, on the fortieth day after His resurrection, He ascended to heaven to take His throne of grace, from which He rules everything in the world and, especially, in His Church. It takes faith to believe that, on the tenth day after His ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to the earth—just as the Father sent the Son to reveal the Father to the world, Jesus the Son sent the Holy Spirit to reveal the Son, Jesus, to the world.

Bringing this around to the Holy Spirit makes the transition from the life of Christ in the world, to the life of Christ in you.

It takes no faith to have water poured on the head of your infant. It takes faith to believe that the pouring of that water, with the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit spoken with the water, is a life-giving washing, the forgiveness of sins both now and for the rest of one’s life, the bestowing of faith in Jesus Christ to the baptized, and the making of that infant a child, not only of his father and mother, but of his Father in heaven.

It takes no faith to eat and drink the bread and wine that the men and I hand out at the Communion rail. It takes faith to believe that, in, with, and under that bread and wine are the real body and blood of Jesus Christ, according to His promise, and that where Jesus gives His body and blood He gives His gifts of forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation from death, devil, and damnation.

It takes no faith to come to this church, to sing the hymns, to listen to sermons like this, or to do any of the stuff that you do in this hour. Anyone can walk in here. Anyone can walk in here, week after week and year after year. Anyone can know about St. John, can know when church is, can know how to sing and listen and pray and give money and so on.

But, if it’s only, you know, all in your head, it will do you no more good, both now and on the day you die, than what you have in your head about Abe Lincoln.

Being a Christian involves both the head and the heart; both knowledge and trust. With these two, you are sure that the promises of God’s Word, given to you in Jesus Christ, are true, and they are yours.

Though you have not seen Jesus Christ, you trust Him. You have faith in Him. You love Him. You are certain that what He has done for the world, He has done for you: His death on the cross for your eternal life in Paradise.

With knowledge in your head, and trust and faith and love in your heart, that thing in the middle of those two—your mouth—shows the world that you are sure of what you hope for, and certain of what you do not see, to the glory of the One in whom you have your faith: Jesus Christ—your Lord, your Savior, your God. Amen.