I still remember the evening as if it were last week. My uncle Randy and now (then) Aunt Brenda just got married. It was a very warm early June 1988 day with not much of a breeze blowing (just barely a rustle of leaves in trees). After all the guests left the happy event, we made our way back to my grandparents’ house. I remember my grandpa sitting in his rocking chair in the corner. My uncle EJ sitting on the couch next to him. My grandma and probably aunt Vicky in the kitchen chatting away as supper was being prepared. As if out of nowhere what we from Missouri call a “Mizzura Tater Wagon” of a storm blew through. There was rain, lots of long rumbling thunder that nearly shook the ground declaring the power of God, and lightning dancing in the sky. Despite my description, I do not remember much other than the wind was down to zero and with a house absent of air conditioning or much fans, it got a bit stuffy. As the storm moved away, as if someone turning on a floodlight in a cave, a blast of gold and orange sunlight pierced the clouds in the western sky and set the farm land on fire. It was brilliant, it was powerful, and almost as quickly as the clouds came in with the storm much of the clouds left granting a beautiful view of the setting sun concluding the day. It was (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen (then and now). I never once before paid any mind to sunsets or any beauty that could be said of that farm. But that sunset declared a smile from God to close out the day. Eventually the orange and gold gave way to pastels of blues, orange, and purple, and then a starlit night.
From that evening forward, I tried to pay more attention to sunsets…more so at the farm in north-central Missouri. And as if God flipped a switch, the beauty of those sunsets (in my opinion) remained until the passing of my grandmother. I will not lie that there has never been another beautiful sunset ever or even anywhere else. But as the sun sinks to the west past the soft rolling hills past the pasture that (to me) seemed the end of the world, the farm used to take on a majestic almost magical feel then.
And just as often and constant (dependable), so was the dependability of knowing that farm and my grandparents would be there. Whether through innocent thoughts, naivety, or ignorance, the farm and my grandparents would remain forever. Everyone gets older and I knew people died…but somehow my grandparents stay alive and living on that farm. Absent of the knowledge of God then, despite any changes that occurred in my life—for better or for worse—the farm and their presence remained faithfully there. There would always be the chicken coops, always would remain the few cows and being milked in the barn, the tractors in the other barn, the ponds, the house which always held out its warm and inviting arms as we crested the hill to the south, and of course my grandparents with my grandpa always in his chair and my grandma often in the kitchen. My grandma…The love and warmth of my grandmother and her dutiful station in the kitchen making meals, sitting at the table doing crosswords or playing solitaire, and her presence as a matronly saint while other wives and moms all shared their family lives and stories during any get-togethers. The exchange could be comical from a male’s point of view. My grandfather, like clockwork, arrived at the house and unless there were some chores or odd-jobs to do around the house or farm, he would enter the back door, climb the steps, turn the knob to that hollow-sounding door, make his way to the kitchen to set down his lunch box and to kiss his wife, then he would make his way to the living room to set himself down in his chair in the corner as if to survey the house or farm from his throne. And when family gathered, the men’s place was the living room swapping stories of work, farming, hunting, or some other “manly” occupation of time while the women’s was gathered around the table catching up on the family news. I’ve shared this accounting and these people and events many times.
And my desire to paint this picture was not for nostalgia or because my mind keeps dwelling on past events and unable to get passed a point or place in life. The narrative serves to simply share a slice of my life of a place, people, and times that were constant, consistent, and outside of age and families growing, these experiences remained nearly unchanged for most of my life. We all have places, people, times that are special but also very routine, dependable, foundational. These are places and people we know will be there and will remain virtually unchanged. Perhaps for us it is a kitchen or a bedroom of a house. Perhaps for us it is a city—streets, culture, community, buildings, businesses—we know well and fondly connect with. Perhaps it is a particular person whose stories never tire, whose heart never stops giving and sharing, and whose smile or hugs always makes us feel welcomed and connected. Although it isn’t polite to overstay our welcome, we never seem to be treated like an imposition.
And the place where all Christians dwell or ought to dwell in and feel the same confidence of that sunset, that room, that person—the tangible, the always knowing, the always dependable—is the land of faith (faith as a noun). Said mostly in the New Testament and many a time by Jesus, faith is beyond just believe in someone or something. We can say I believe that the grocery store will have milk and apples to buy but in all honesty, we always leave a room for the let down—perhaps the store is closed, perhaps they are sold out, perhaps the coolers are not working, whatever—and so inside of us is a small measure of preparation to be let down. But faith is not believing. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The Amplified Bible says, “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. The Message Translation says, “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.” It is that faith of Abraham who believed God—beyond obedience, but a dependance, a beyond belief which I wrote about—that fulfills what Paul was speaking about in the latter half of Romans 4:17, “…God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did”. It is faith or great faith which healed people. It was faith which changed lives from bondage to freedom. It was faith (belief) whom the father cried out for more because the measure he had wasn’t sufficient (enough) for his son to be delivered. It is not just this crying out—whether audibly as the woman in Luke 18 or from a heart of anguish like Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 or a number of men and women in the Bible in between these extremes—but a wholly and holy dependence upon God. This cry is beyond frustration to the futility of our efforts or as a small child who cannot fathom the concept of no means no. This cry is knowing that it is in and only in God whom we can truly be fulfilled, complete, healed, delivered, sustained, provided for, granted access/forgiveness, or receive a just reward.
The woe to all that is found in the words of Jesus in the last half of Luke 18:8, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” This faith is less about end-times faith as in a form of religion (albeit that has a small application) but more so a woe from God as to will faith be what He will find…a holy and wholly dependence upon God. To know that salvation can only come from no other name (Acts 4:12). To know—beyond and outside the confines of church and chapel bell—that the Bible is not a book of stories, half-truths, a little bit of history but mostly a lot of moral lessons no different than a very long children’s fairy tale book (John 14:1). That His promises are truly and truthfully yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:10). That when there is no tangible evidence, no facts, not even the ingredients for hope or a promise fulfilled, that we can call those things that are not as though they are (Romans 4:17). That God isn’t limited like man (Numbers 23:19), whom there is a gotcha or hidden agenda or an oops I forgot (James 1:17). That the Christian (and Jewish) God is not one manufactured to be above the fray, never a weak God, just beyond so we can have a hope like some helpless and hapless believer like those of old who believed in futility in their multiple gods only to be let down when a test of proof is needed (1 Kings 18:24-29).
To my disappointment, there did come a day when my grandparents were off the farm, it was sold, and eventually (and sadly) when they passed away. And if our faith was at a level of dependence upon what I could see then all would truly be hopeless. Since then I would have been found just in my disappointment, discouragement, and disillusionment because what I wanted and what I believed were destroyed. But like Stephen who believed and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, I believe that Jesus is coming quickly—not just the rapture and the end of the world—but that He also comes quickly when we call on His name and know that He will reward. Why? Because He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:12-13). So what do we need to do? Two final scriptures will help. Matthew 14:28 is Peter putting His faith in Jesus to walk on water. Peter didn’t step out with pride or based on human intellect or ability. And despite the fools who said that at that precise moment the sea turned to a semi-frozen state all of a sudden because walking on water defies physics. He went out because Jesus said “Come”. The second scripture is found in Revelation 22:17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” Jesus and the church call to us to believe…and much beyond that I am sitting on a chair before my computer composing this. But a belief in all whom God is and has done and will do (Hebrews 11:6). A dependence to take our God’s hand as a son or daughter takes a mother or father’s hand knowing that he/she will never lead them astray (Luke 11:11-13). A faith that is beyond belief (as I wrote before).
So after this acceptance, what then? The Bible continues in Revelation 22:17, “And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." Our job as Christians isn’t to just receive the faith needed and only keep it to ourselves. We are to show the way (Matthew 5:16), to make the paths plain and straight (Isaiah 40:3), and to serve as an example/testimony for what Christ did in us (2 Corinthians 1:12) that He can do that and more in them in love (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13). Will He find faith on the earth?