As we move on in this Advent season considering the essentials of the Christian life, which we must never let go, we consider now the place of unshakable faith in God. Our previous meditation focused on God’s great commitment to us by giving to us everything we need for life and godliness through His very great and precious promises. God’s promises are enjoyed by the exercise of our faith.
Indeed, there is hardly anything we do without exercising a measure of faith – travelling in vehicles, sitting on chairs, eating our food, relating with one another and ultimately relating with God. Yet, there are degrees of the exercise of our faith.
Faith, which honoursGod is the kind of faith that believes God even when circumstances appear contrary. The classic example here is Abraham, who believed God’s promise for a child even when he and his wife Sarah had gone beyond childbearing age.
The letter of Hebrews Chapter 11 gives an account of many saints in the Old Testament who honoured God by demonstrating their faith in Him – and the letter goes on to teach that without faith it is impossible to please God.Also, it is impossible to read the gospel accounts of the healing ministry of Jesus without being confronted with the importance of faith. Indeed, even the subject of prayer is made largely dependent on the exercise of faith. For this reason, people have gone on to categorise different types of faith. For our consideration at this time when we are looking at virtues we must not abandon in these last days, we must look closely at the parable Jesus told about the unyielding and importunate widow in Luke 18:2-8 (ESV). He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3: And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying: ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4: For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5: Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6: And the Lord said: “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7: And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8: I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
In these days, when our difficult experiences sometimes make us ask where God is, we need faith that will not be overwhelmed by the betrayals and injustices and harassment all over the place. Who would have thought that a time would come when shedding of blood is denied by the perpetrators; then rationalised, justified and defended by people who claim to be statesmen or even believers in high places, including some Christian leaders – all in the name of being politically correct or relevant?
The Lord Jesus predicted it when He told His disciples: “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2: They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3: And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4: But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you,” (John 16:1-4)
In times like this, we need faith in Him whom the Apostle Paul describes as the Righteous Judge who will judge the world in righteousness at the end of time (2 Tim. 4:8) and who has already said to us that we should not fear those who can kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do, but rather to fear him, who can destroy the body physically and sentence the soul to eternal condemnation in hell (Matthew 10:28).
• Most Revd Emmanuel A.S. Egbunu, Bishop of Lokoja
