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How faith pushes us

How Faith Pushes Us

January 28, 2007

Text: 2 Corinthians 6:3-13 

      2 Cor 6:3-13

3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.  

11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13 In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.

NRSV 
 
 

See if you would like to participate in this sport. 

      It’s called “swooping.”

The World Swooping Association defines it thusly:

“Swooping is a sport where aerial athletes (parachutists) jump from an aircraft or launch themselves from a fixed object and fly high performance parachutes at high speed over the ground, a body of water or down a mountain.”—[wsaworldtour.com]

      Translated, this means that you jump out of an airplane at 5k, using a parachute about half the size of a normal one. You rocket yourself to the ground, gaining as much speed as possible, until at the very last second you pop the chute. If you do it just right, the chute becomes like a parasail, and you sail over the ground, going as far as you can, at a speed of about 90 mph.

      This is called, “fun.”

      Swoopers are addicted to their sport—there’s even a professional swooping circuit. One of the pros, Chris Hays, says, “When you are coming in fast, your body thinks you are going to hit the ground and die. It is such a rush. The adrenaline is just incredible. You are out of breath, and you feel it through your whole body.” [Hom, 6/25/06]

      SWOOPERS ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE SO FOCUSED ON THEIR SPORT—WHO ENJOY IT SO MUCH—THAT THEY’RE WILLING TO RISK DEATH IN ORDER TO HAVE THE ADVENTURE. INDEED, DANGER ADDS TO THE EXCITEMENT. 

      But…I wonder how you feel, when you try swooping for the first time.

      Do you think you go up to 5k feet and just jump out? I think you have to hesitate. As you stand at the door of the plane, looking down and hearing the rush of wind, you have to ask yourself, “Am I nuts? Am I doing the right thing? What if I make a mistake? Is my health insurance paid up? What am I saying? Health insurance won’t matter—is my life insurance paid up?”

      Have you ever had times like these—when your heart is telling you to do one thing—“Come on, go for it! Be adventurous!”—but your mind is holding you back, saying, “You better watch out—go slow—be CAREFUL!”

      Those times when you’re torn between excitement and caution, adventure and security, are absolutely miserable.

      Let me give you a personal example of being miserable—when I proposed to my wife. [I hope that didn’t come out wrong!]

      I was 36 when I proposed—a little older than normal. Had never had a roommate before, never shared an apartment. The prospect of suddenly doing that was a little disconcerting. What’s more, I had been engaged twice before in my life, and each time it hadn’t worked out.

      My heart said, “You’ve been dating for a year and a half. You know you love her, and want to spend the rest of your life with her. Propose!” My mind said, “Well, let’s not be too rash…”

      I picked a day to ask her to marry me. And when it came time, I said something like, “Barbara…would you like to go out for pizza tonight?” And then a couple of days later I worked up the nerve again. “Barbara…how about a movie?” That went on for two weeks, until my heart finally went, “Oh, for pity’s sake!” and took over.

      As my heart was proposing to her, a little voice in my head was going, “What’s happening here?”

      But thankfully, gratefully, she said, “Yes.” And how happy I am she did. What joy I would have missed over these 16 years, had I listened only to the great protector, the mind.

      You ever feel that way? There’s something your heart is pushing you to do. Your heart is saying, “Oh, for pity’s sake, go for it!” But the mind, the quality control agent, the great “trustee,” says, “Whoa! Wait! Let’s take this slowly.”

      I guess the key to jumping out the plane, to proposing, to taking that new job, to buying that new house, to moving to that new city: the key is to let your heart enjoy the adventure that’s before it. When you’ve done your homework, and your heart is still passionate about the adventure before you: let your heart win. Let the passion and excitement push you into situations that a totally logical person might avoid at all costs.

      IF YOU GO THROUGH LIFE FOLLOWING ONLY YOUR MIND, THE MOST DARING YOU WILL BE IS TO BUY A CAR THAT HAS 6 AIRBAGS INSTEAD OF 8.

      IF YOU GO THROUGH LIFE ALLOWING YOUR HEART TO PUSH YOU OCCASIONALLY, THEN WHAT ADVENTURE AWAITS—REGARDLESS OF THE DANGER.  

Just look at Paul. 

He once was a quite “head-strong” guy. When he was persecuting Christians, he went straight by the book. But when Christ encountered him, that all changed.  

He was set free. His heart, so bound by rules and laws, should’s and shouldn’ts, beat with a new, more exciting, fast-paced rhythm. He was overwhelmed by the unconditional love of the God Jesus called, “Father.” And now Paul, a preacher at heart, had a new message that compelled and propelled him to proclaim: 

GOD LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE GAVE US HIS SON! GOD HAS COME INTO OUR LIVES THROUGH JESUS CHRIST! WE’VE SEEN GOD’S FACE, WE’VE HEARD GOD’S VOICE! GOD LOVES AND FORGIVES! JESUS TOOK CARE OF OUR SINS ON THE CROSS! GOD TOOK CARE OF OUR DEATH IN HIS RESURRECTION! I HAVE SEEN THE RISEN CHRIST WITH THESE EYES! NOW, YOU CAN RECEIVE POWER TO LIVE PAST YOUR PROBLEMS…YOU CAN HAVE HOPE IN THIS LIFE, AND IN THE LIFE TO COME. BELIEVE—TRUST JESUS, AND SEE WHAT ADVENTURES AWAIT! 

For Paul, the greatest feeling of joy—the greatest “rush”—was proclaiming this message.  

He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as he could preach it. He didn’t care how quickly the ground was coming up to meet him as he was swooping. That’s one of the things he was saying in today’s passage. Because of abandoning himself to God, he’s endured: 

…afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger… 

Paul didn’t let his mind interfere with the adventure of faith. He didn’t pay any attention to the little inner voice, “You know, if you preach this message, you’re going to get hammered in these ways.” Nope, he didn’t listen to that voice at all. Following his heart was worth the price. 

INDEED, WHEN THESE BAD THINGS HAPPENED, THEY ONLY CONFIRMED THAT HE’D MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE. In each hardship, he discovered something good—it was as if God were saying to him, “See! I’m with you!” It was almost like he welcomed the pain! Listen: 

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true…as dying, and see — we are alive…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing…as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 

When you jump out of the plane in the name of Christ—whether your plane’s flying 5 feet or 5k feet above the ground—you discover just how powerful Jesus is, just how true the Gospel is, just how sweet life is: and how you wouldn’t want to be doing anything else than “faith-swooping.” 

Sure, our faith is comforting…But there comes a time when our faith has to be challenging. Being faithful doesn’t just mean trusting Jesus with your problems and pain. Being faithful also means jumping out of the plane in his name and going, “Wheeeeeeeeeeee!” There comes a time—even this morning—when you just open your heart to the adventure of the Gospel. There comes a time for your heart to speak. When you hear your mind saying, “What’s going on here?” you say, “Oh for pity’s sake, be quiet and enjoy the ride!” There comes a time to ask yourself, “If I really believe that Jesus is Lord over my life, then what crazy thing is he calling me to do for him?” 

Notice the word, “crazy.” That means, “illogical, irrational, maybe unsafe.”

Pastor and author Robert Schuller would say “amen” to this.

He one wrote, “I've never been good at the game of pool, so I marvel at the pool player who can point to his goal and say, ‘number 6 in the corner pocket,’ then shoot and make it! He verbalizes victory--beforehand! 

“It takes a lot of faith to announce your grandiose intentions! ‘What if I fail after I make the announcement?’ Be proud that you had the courage to try! 

“Today, ask yourself this question: Do you believe in God enough to announce what the two of you are going to do together? It's your responsibility to demonstrate that much faith. It's God's responsibility to make it happen. 

“…[Act out your faith.] In the process you put the ball back in God's court. Isn't it marvelous how God planned for life to be such a challenging game of faith?”

Tough-Minded Faith for Tender-Minded People, p. 39 

So, what are the two of you going to do together? What are you going to jump out of the plane for? 

Checking off one of those things we put on the ministry menu? [demo]

Giving an outlandish check for a cause you believe in?  

Helping out in the Christian Ed department, or on one of our committees or task forces, volunteering in the office, or in our upcoming Capital Campaign?

Joining a Bible study group [where you don’t know a single soul]?

Volunteering to lead a project, something that’s on your soul, even though you may not know what you’re doing, or how to go about doing it?  

Let me digress, and confess, for a moment here. One well-intentioned thing I hear from folks occasionally is, “Pastor, I think this is what our church ought to be doing.” I respond, “How will we do that?” They reply,“Oh, I don’t know.” The unspoken assumption is, “That’s why we have staff.” Now, my plate, and the plates of our staff, are overflowing. So a response I usually give is, “Hmmm. Interesting. Well, let’s send that to the appropriate committee, and let them discuss it.” Sometimes this results in “death by committee,” because most committees have their plates full, too. But how much more invigorating it is to hear, “Pastor, I think this is what our church ought to be doing.” “How will we do that?” “Well, I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time. I’m willing to get some people together and…” You know what my response to that is? After inwardly looking up to the heavens and shouting, “Hallelujah!”, I say to this person, “That’s fantastic! HOW CAN I HELP???” When someone’s passionately “faith swooping,” their excitement is contagious.  

When you jump out of the plane, following your heart like this, you have no clue what awaits. GOOD! Because if you did, it wouldn’t be an adventure? IF YOU KNOW WHAT AWAITS YOU, IT’D BE PREDICTABLE, MAYBE BORING! WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN? I KNOW WHO KNOWS—GOD KNOWS. AND KNOWING THAT GOD KNOWS, AND WE DON’T KNOW, MAKES US KNOW THIS: IT’LL BE THE MOST EXCITING THING YOU CAN IMAGINE! 

The voice of God isn’t quiet. The voice of God is loud, rich, full, exciting. And you hear God speaking the loudest in the wind rushing past your ears as you jump out of that plane.  

Paul ends the passage you heard today in a very interesting way… 

We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.  

Paul was speaking from a heart as wide open as the Grand Canyon. He’s asking the Corinthians to follow his example. 

He’s asking us, too. 

You have a desire to hear God’s voice—a voice that you can hear in a million challenging situations. 

Life’s too short for us to hesitate at the door of the plane singing, “We Shall Not Be Moved.” 

Take a flying leap. Jump—and enjoy the time of your life!