Life of Faith vs the Doctrine of Faith 1991 Harvest Dinner

Changes to be made. We're part of a tradition where the key word is faith. Many of us from our youngest years were taught that we are justified not by the works of the law, but by faith.

That we're saved, not by our own righteousness, but by faith. And every year at this time, Protestants in general, Lutherans in particular, celebrate the festival of the Reformation. The Reformation, which was a spiritual awakening which swept over and shook Europe nearly 500 years ago.

And this spiritual awakening began when Luther and others like him stressed that people are brought into a living relationship with God, not by their own efforts, but by faith in Jesus Christ. I had a conversation through a half-open door about two weeks ago. The lady inside the door was lamenting to me that her life did not enjoy the presence of God in it as it once had.

But to have the presence of God, I said to her, there are some things we have to do. Wait a minute, she said, we're saved by faith, not by works. I think a lot of us are like that woman.

You know, we have the doctrine down cold. We know that everything hinges on faith. But adhering to the doctrine of faith is one thing.

Living a life of faith is quite another. When Moses was a young man, he was aware of the fact that he was different from the other people around him. He was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, and so he enjoyed all the privileges of nobility.

He had his own apartment, his own chariot, a fine horse, bags of money to spend. But Moses knew that by birth, he was a Hebrew. And Hebrews were people of faith.

They believed in the unseen God. So then Moses began to think of himself as a Hebrew believer, a man of faith. The only trouble was, he lived like all the Egyptians around him.

Not like a man of faith. When Moses was 40, he saw an Egyptian beating on a Hebrew. Here was his chance to prove to himself that he was a man of faith.

He killed the Egyptian, saved the Hebrew. But that act was not an act of faith. It was not inspired by the God of the Hebrews, but by his own ego.

Word got out that Moses had killed an Egyptian, his life was in danger, and so he fled into the wilderness of Binyan, where he lived as a shepherd for another 40 years. And sometimes when Moses would lie back on the hillside, watching over his sheep, he would say to himself, nobody knows this but me, and I'm not going to advertise it. But I'm a Hebrew.

I'm a man of faith. But see, all he was doing was talking to himself. You know, he wasn't living the life of faith.

It was all in his head. Now let's be honest with ourselves. Much of the time, you and I are like Moses was.

We think we're Hebrews. We think we're people of faith. We adhere to the doctrine of faith like all good evangelicals, but we live like the Egyptians around us.

And sometimes we take a swing at an Egyptian, at least with our mouth, to convince ourselves that we're really different. But we're driven most of the time, as Moses was at that point, by our egos. Not by the Spirit of God.

And many, many times we blame the Spirit of God for what our ego tells us to do. You know, the Lord showed me, come on, that thing you did, that thing you said, that way you imposed yourself, that wasn't the Spirit of God, that was your ego. One day, Moses was leading his sheep around Mount Horeb, and he stumbles on this really flabbergasting sight.

He sees this bush burning, merrily, all by itself, the leaves remain green. So he comes over to have a look. Hold it, Moses! Take off your shoes, you're standing on holy ground.

Moses jumps on his face, tears off his sandals, trembling like a leaf. I'm the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Now stand up, Moses, I have work for you.

Come, I will send you to Egypt, to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my children, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. Who, me? They won't listen to me. They won't believe me.

They'll say, the Lord did not send you. The Lord did not appear to you. What's that in your hand, Moses? A rod.

Throw it on the ground. It becomes a serpent. Pick it up.

Picks it up. It's a rod. After a couple more little samples, Moses says, wait a minute.

Lord, I can't speak. I'm very slow of speech. Who made man's tongue? So finally, of course, Moses is on his way to Egypt, and he's going to do all the things that God told him to do.

And as Moses finally does what God tells him to do, he becomes a man of faith. So when do you and I begin living lives of faith? When we start doing the things God calls us to do. When we start doing the things Jesus commands us to do.

Faith is not a doctrine. Faith is not a feeling. Faith is not cold chills running up and down your spine.

Faith is action. You believe that Jesus saved you when you walk in the salvation he gave you. You have faith in Jesus Christ when you begin living the life he calls you to live.

Not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Saying, Lord, Lord, is like adhering to the doctrine of faith. Doing the will of the Father is living the life of faith.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the wind blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall because it was founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine, but does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.

And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell. And great was the fall of it. Every time we come together like this, in the name of the Lord, the Heavenly Father calls to us out of the burning bush.

Jesus is the burning bush. And we come together in his name. We come to be strengthened by him, to be refined and purified by him as we watch the fire of his spirit going up through the bush toward heaven.

And out of the bush comes the voice of God. Hold it! You're standing on holy ground! Take your shoes off! I call you this day to move beyond the doctrine of faith and enter into the life of faith. What a difference we will find in our lives when we leave the doctrine of faith, all our hard preconceived ideas, all our opinions, all our experiences, and all these things we take pride in, like shoes at the burning bush, and follow him into the life of faith.

Now, the life of faith can be distinguished from all its religious counterfeits by four clear marks. And if any one of those four is missing, then we have to check with the Lord and find out what's wrong. First of all, the life of faith is a life of risk.

In this world where everybody plays it safe, you can buy insurance to cover any possibility. To start living by faith, to get serious about following Jesus, involves risk. Then Jesus told his disciples, if any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. And to take up my cross simply means that I am prepared to allow him to lead me on a road which may involve all the things that happen to him. Rejection, danger, possibly death.

Day by day, I lose my life in his life. I give up my program for his program. I walk out there with him, not knowing where he's going to take me.

If his spirit instructs me to stop and listen to what that stranger is trying to tell me, then I stop and listen. If his spirit directs me to reach down into my pocket and share some of the money I got in here with somebody who is in need, I do it. If his spirit urges me to open my mouth and say something that's going to make me unpopular with my best friend, what choice do I have? If his spirit comes to me through three or four brothers and sisters, and they say, Bieber, you're out of line, I have to learn to submit.

It's a life of risk that goes on as long as we're in this flesh and blood. But it's a lot more satisfying than this Christian pussyfooting most of us have substituted for the life of faith. Secondly, the life of faith is a life of discipline.

Discipline, as opposed to this Christianity of convenience, which is so popular these days. If I feel like it, I'll pray. What good will it do for me to pray if I don't feel like it? If I don't get to bed too late, and there's nothing else to do, I'll gather with the saints tomorrow.

If I have a few dollars left over, I'll share it with somebody in need. See, but the life of faith, to live the life of faith, we follow the example of our Lord. And if every man and woman of faith who's ever walked this earth, we discipline ourselves to pray, whether we feel like it or not.

And we discipline ourselves to gather with the saints, even if we're up half the night with a headache. And we discipline ourselves to take the first and best portion of whatever comes into our hands and offer it up to Him in thanksgiving. In this world, if we don't discipline ourselves to do it, it won't be done.

If we don't form our prayer life into a discipline, our prayer life will evaporate like the morning mist. How many times that's happened? If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. Daily, every day.

It's a daily discipline. Day in and day out, we discipline ourselves in this life of faith. Thirdly, the life of faith is a life of unspeakable joy.

Joy. After Moses met the Lord at the burning bush, he had an ingredient in his life which had never been there before. And it was there all the time now, even on the very bad, roughest days, the worst days, still it's there.

Moses now has joy in his heart. As we've often said here, many of us have said, happiness depends on what happens to you. If nice things happen, you're happy.

If bad things happen, you're sad. But the joy of the Lord is there all the time. Always, no matter what, it's always there.

As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, says Paul. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say rejoice. The life of faith is a life of continuous, deep down inside, steady, unbroken joy.

And it's a joy that no human being and no circumstance and no demon can take from you. You got it. Finally, the life of faith is a life of power.

Moses came away from the burning bush carrying this rod which he had used as a shepherd for years and years. See, but now this rod is a sign of the power of God. When Moses lifts that rod up over Egypt, the plagues begin to fall.

When Moses takes this rod and strikes the rock in the wilderness, water gushes out. When Moses raises the rod over the battlefield, the Israelites are strengthened in their death struggle with the Amalekites. Moses was the meekest of men, but as he lived the life of faith, the power of God flowed through this rod in his hand and delivered the people again and again and again.

And when we live the life of faith, the power of the Holy Spirit dwells inside us, and that's our rod. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Not so that you can do tricks, but so that you can be my witnesses.

You're going to be my witness. As we move in His will, follow His leading, walk in His light, the words that we speak in faith, the things that we do in faith, the way we learn, and it's painful, but we've got to do it, to submit to each other in faith. Bring the power of the Holy Spirit out through our lives and awesome things happen.

And this power is confirmed. This faith that we exercise in these ways is confirmed with signs of awesome power. So the issue before us this evening is very simple.

Am I adhering to a doctrine of faith while living like the Egyptians around me, or am I living the life of faith? Living the life of faith. The God of the burning bush urges us to renew our commitment to the call which is upon each one of our lives. Trust me, he says, not just in theory, but with your life.

Turn from your own way. Pick up your cross. Follow me into a life of risk, a life of discipline.

A life of unspeakable joy. A life of power. And I will bless you beyond anything that you could ask or think.

Let's pray. Lord God, you know our hearts and you know that there is in us a yearning to walk in the light. And the frustration that we so often feel with other people is truly only a reflection of frustration we feel with ourselves.

And tonight we ask that your gracious spirit would visit us each, without exception, all of us. And help us to give up everything that has to do with ego and flesh. And yield to the awesome and gracious and mighty and perfect and holy work of your spirit.

Grant that we, by your grace, Lord God, as individuals and as a body, live the life of faith. We thank you that you hear this prayer. And that you do it, even as we ask it now.

In Jesus name.