Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. The Epistle for today makes a number of rather important points for us in our lives together as a congregation of believers, but none more important than this concluding statement.
Faith comes from hearing. In our own day and age, we tend to downplay the importance of what we hear, because we hear so much from so many different places. As such, we want proof. If it’s not something we can see, if it’s not something we can read about in the newspapers or see on the TV news, if it’s not something we can check up on through the Internet, then we tend to be hesitant to give a statement too much credibility. We are in an era of information, information, information. There’s tons of it out there, all demanding equal time and equal space in our thoughts and awareness. Yet the reality is that at the end of the day, not everything is worth the time to hear, the time to pay attention to.
We need to have new ears, a new way of hearing informed by the truth. Not whatever ideas of truth people may hold to be current in the present day, but the truth with a capital T. The one who proclaimed Himself to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Through. By means of. The Word of Christ is what makes hearers in the first place.
This does require a complete rethinking of how we look at the world. That the Word of Christ is what gives us the ears to hear in the first place, coupled with the statement that “faith comes by hearing” Everything that we have, faith-wise, comes from that Word of Christ—both Jesus’ own words, and also that word which tells us of Christ.
So far, so good. But the problem is that this isn’t the natural way to look at the world. This isn’t the way which most people approach faith. The Scriptures tell us that faith comes from Christ and is in Christ. It is through the Word, which is heard, which hearing in itself created the ability to hear and believe. But human instinct tells us that you and I must have some hand in the process. It’s up to you, isn’t it, if you believe in Jesus? You have to make a decision, you have to take the initiative.
Well, no. Once it becomes up to you, it’s Law. The righteousness based on Law talks about what you have to do, what you have to achieve. But the righteousness that comes from faith, the righteousness based on God’s grace doesn’t do in order to be saved. It hears. As Paul says, “But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) or "'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart".”
It’s not about you seeking Jesus. It’s not about you going up to heaven through your actions and words and deeds. It’s not about you digging around in the archaeology of the first century and making your own conclusions on just who the historical Jesus really was. It’s about you hearing the Word of Christ, that word that gives ears to hear, and receiving Jesus through that Word. The word is near you, in your mouth and on your heart. That’s the heart of what the new righteousness Jesus brings is about. It’s about being able to speak the Word of Christ with your mouth and believing the Word of Christ in your heart. You believe with your heart and confess with your mouth—in short, there’s no way to only be a secret Christian. Jesus tells us how important it is to confess Him with our lives and words. “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’” (Mark 8:34-38 ESV)
To follow Christ is to be open in following Him, to have no shame in being His follower. Our own generation is just as adulterous and sinful as any other. We need as much courage now as has ever been needed to follow Christ and to hold firmly to His Word in our hearts, mouths, and lives. Our society seems to be less and less inclined toward God’s Word and more and more inclined toward the theme of whatever seems right to you is right. We need to be courageous for to deny Christ is to also be denied by Him. We need to have God’s Word inside us to rule our hearts, to guide our actions, to come forth from our lips. After all, it is this gift of faith that saves us; “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, whatever or whoever you are, salvation is always from the same source—from that word of salvation which the heart believes and the mouth speaks its assent to.
But in order for that word to get there, it needs means. Having Bibles available, by the way, is a great thing and a true blessing to the world. The work of the translation organizations and Bible societies to make God’s Word, the word of Christ, available to the ears of the people worldwide is a wonderful thing, and deserves the support of all those who are able to support them. But it needs to be noted that the Scriptures do not say “faith comes by sitting by yourself and reading the Bible.” There’s nothing wrong with doing that, and if you aren’t in the habit of spending time in the Word daily, reading it, I would encourage you to cultivate that habit. You need that. But faith comes by hearing.
And here Paul sets up the next important detail: God has set up a way for people to hear that word of Christ. A very specific way. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”
The way that God has set up for people to hear of Christ is through someone preaching the good news—the Gospel. These preachers are sent. Sent by Christ to the church and to the world. We call those who are sent pastors and missionaries. Pastors are the ones sent to preach of Christ to those in the church, and missionaries are those who are sent to preach Christ to those outside the church and to gather them in. The task of the preacher is to take the word of God and to apply it to the specific needs and understanding of the congregation, to take the Scriptures and open it up in order that the hearers might know Jesus and Him crucified for their sins, raised for their eternal life. The task of the missionary is to take the Scriptures and bring them to people who may not have heard anything before of Christ and open them up so that they can hear of their Saviour.
The task of the congregation, as a corollary, is to hear the preacher and then live in the Word you have heard. Your role is to support me in my task, whether acting as your pastor or in a limited way as a missionary. Your role is to be faithful in hearing and receiving the Word, listening to what I preach so that you might hear of Christ, so that He might be in your heart and on your lips at all times, so that you too can tell of what Christ has done for you and lead others to gather here to hear of Christ. If it should happen that Christ is not present in what I preach, your job is also to remind me that I have been called to preach Christ to you that you might believe and rejoice in the good news. That’s the way God set up the church, with pastors who have the special job of teaching and preaching so that the congregation can live and confess Christ in the every-day. When I was ordained, one of the gifts I received, from Kelly, was a handmade jigsaw puzzle with Romans 10:14-15 printed on it. It hangs in our kitchen as a reminder to me that this is my responsibility by virtue of my calling, to preach the Good News in season and out of season, to have that Word of Christ in my heart and on my lips, in order that others may hear and know of our gracious and merciful God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ. The Word of Christ is why we are here this morning, to hear it, to receive it physically in the bread and wine which are Jesus’ body and blood. The Word of Christ is to be in your heart and on your lips. Come to hear that Word each Sunday. Read the Word aloud to yourself and to your family. Dwell in that Word. [T: Our perennial problem with finding SS teachers and students would not be an issue if everyone was in the Word the way we are called to be, for we would all be eager to share that good news both with our congregation and with our community.][Z: Since I have been your pastor I have tried several times to start regular Bible Studies—yet with little support. If we are truly eager to dwell in the Word, we should also be eager to study it when the opportunities arise.] For where the Word is, there is life, there is hope, there is eternity itself. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:16-17 ESV) May this be so for all of us! In Jesus. Amen.
Last updated August 2008 by the webmaster.