By faith, Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected
the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he
condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness
that is in accordance with faith.
Hebrews 11:7
In The Message translation of the passage from Hebrews, it says that “By
faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about
something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told.” How many of
us have done the same thing? Isn’t that what we celebrate during Advent
– the promise of the Christ child coming into our lives? Something unseen,
but something we have believed and, perhaps, acted on through lives of
helping others in service. We are the disciples of that Christ child.
When my husband and I were told about 20 years ago that he needed to
have his failing heart valve replaced, doctors explained that the procedure
was more risky than before, for a lot of reasons. And, I remember saying
to the surgeon, “I’m not worried, Doctor, because I have a lot of faith in
God and everything will be all right.” The concerned doctor cautioned
that even with faith in God, things might still go wrong, but I assured him
that faith in God would help us deal with whatever happened.
In my work as a pastor, as a chaplain, as a volunteer for Lutheran Disaster
Response, I have witnessed countless people telling me the same thing.
Through unexpected illness or family tragedy, through instances of dealing
with destruction from hurricanes and flood waters, I’m always amazed at
the acclamations of faith that I hear from people dealing with uncertainty
and heartache. It seems to be the difference between an unbelieving
world and the feeling of “rightness” of a believing world, as Hebrews tell
us. Our faith truly is the creation of an intimate relationship with a God
who loves us and wants us to enjoy the peace that only God can bring.
Faithful God, thank you for being with us through all things and for helping
our faith in you to flourish and grow. Amen.
Pastor Paulette Obrecht serves on the Lutheran Congregational Services’
Advisory Board and is a volunteer for Lutheran Disaster Response.
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