What Does It Mean to Live By Faith?

My wife and I went to Game Two of the ALDS between the Indians and the Yankees Friday afternoon at Jacobs Field. What a game! I guess you can really see my love for theology and sports intertwine in this message.


“…but the righteous will live by his faith…” Habakkuk 2: 4


If you are a sports fan, you will understand. Even if you’re not, chances are you’ve heard the term, “fair-weather fan.” You know the type. When the team is winning, beating up the competition, going far into the playoffs, the fair-weather fan is front and center. They’ve got the latest merchandise, they talk about how cool the stars of the team are, they’ve got the hot ticket in town and they know it.
But then, when the winning team begins a slide into mediocrity, star players are let go or traded, and the glory days are in the rear-view mirror, the fair-weather fan backs away pretty quickly from the team they used to love, quote-unquote. The fair-weather fan might complain about how bad things have gotten, or they might just bag up the t-shirts and send them to the thrift store.
That is, until the home team starts to put a few wins together again.
LeBron James got in some hot water last weekend when he declared his fan loyalty to the New York Yankees. Regardless of how you feel about that, does it really surprise you that someone would root for the front runner? It’s human nature to attach yourself to a winner. We want to identify with success. The truth is, the fair-weather fans are in the majority, and that’s just the way it is. And so I got on my little sports soapbox today in order to ask you this question. It’s not an easy question to ask or answer. The important questions never are. So here it is:
Are you a fair-weather fan of God?
When you are chalking up wins in your life it’s easy to be God’s fan. However, it’s also easy to start believing that much of the success you’re experiencing is really a result of your talent, determination, and hard work. When you’re on a tear, it’s easy for God to become the coach standing off to the side—yeah, he’s there, he’s watching, he gave me some tips, but I’m the one scoring the points. God is good because he’s helped me win the game of life.
But one loss comes, then another, and as the numbers in the loss column start to climb, we want to look for someone to blame. Heaven knows it can’t be me, since I was the one responsible for all the past victory, so that leaves—oh yeah—the coach. Of course! He should’ve seen this coming! If God was really so great, he would have kept my winning streak alive. Maybe this coach needs to get canned.
Could it be possible that we have been fair-weather fans of God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?
Six hundred years before the time of Christ, a man named Habakkuk took a look around at his society and all he saw were losses. He saw a culture crumbling in corruption. He saw the courts of law perverting justice. He saw the powerful crushing the weak and the rich abusing the poor. He saw wicked, godless people prospering and good people suffering. His reaction to all this was to say, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?”
You know that prayer, and I know it, too. It is the prayer of the faithful person trying not to be a fair-weather fan of God, but having a hard time. If you haven’t prayed this prayer from the depths of a shattered heart yet—just know that the time will come. And if you have, no further description is necessary.
In response to Habakkuk—and to you in your struggles—the Lord says this: “The righteous will live by his faith.”
In response to the person who says, “I am lonely and heartbroken,” the Lord says: “Live by your faith.”
In response to the person who says, “My health is going downhill,” the Lord says, “Live by your faith.”
In response to the person who says, “I’ve lost my job and I don’t know how to support my family,” the Lord says, “Live by your faith.”
In response to the person who says, “There is so much evil and injustice and suffering in the world—Why?” the Lord says, “Live by your faith.”
But what kind of answer is that? What does it mean to live by faith? Does it mean that we bury our heads in the sand? Fiddle while Rome burns? Whistle “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” whenever we feel stressed? Or what?
Living by faith is, first and foremost, a kind of stubborn insistence that what God says is true, and there’s no changing it. If God has said, “I love you,” then He loves me. If God has said, I want to bless you, then he’s going to bless me. If God has said, “I know the plans I have for you—plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, then hope and a future is what I’m looking forward to. Living by faith is allowing God the final word in all matters of life, with no “buts.” Living by faith is the being sure—absolutely certain—that despite the circumstances staring me in the face, God is going to work in my situation to my good and his glory. And part of living by faith is accepting God’s timing over our own. It’s no secret that we usually want things done yesterday. That may not be God’s timing at all—God told Habakkuk, “Wait for [my help. Living by faith means learning to wait on God, and, oh boy, does this hurt, surrendering control of everything to Him, even our beloved schedule.
Again, living by faith is a kind of stubborn insistence that what God says is true, and there’s no changing it, and that means we remember what God says. It means that even throughout the worst kind of torturous trial we consciously remember that God has said an eternal “Yes” to us in Jesus Christ, His Son, sent to this world to put on our humanity. He said an eternal “yes” to you by dying on the cross as your replacement. He said an eternal “yes” to you by coming out the tomb with the gift of endless life to give. He said an eternal “yes” to you by ascending into heaven, where he stands as your advocate. He said an eternal “yes” to you when you were baptized and connected to Christ. He says an eternal “yes” to you in his body and blood at the Lord’s Table. He says an eternal “yes” to you in the promise of his eventual return. And his “yes” will continue on forever when you take your place at the celebration feast of heaven. Living by faith means stacking up God’s eternal “yes” to you, made possible by Jesus, next to the problems and concerns you wrestle with. What is going to define you? What’s your bottom line going to be? Your circumstances, or God’s “yes,” spoken in Jesus’ name?
And here might be the best news of all. Living by faith is not up to you. The source of your faith is not you. Faith is a gift. God is the Giver. Faith is a tool God gives through the combination of His Word, His Spirit, and His Washing, and by using the tool of faith you are able to live holding onto God’s “yes.” The very ability to live by faith comes from God—and that relieves an enormous amount of pressure on us. Here’s the difference it makes. On our own, we think, “If God loves me, he’ll change the circumstances that trouble me. I’ll try to persuade him to change my circumstances by being as good as I can.” With the gift of faith, we are able to believe, “No matter what my circumstances, I know that God loves me, thanks to Jesus.” On our own, we are fair-weather fans of a God we cannot control. With the gift of faith, we are able to believe that God is always working “behind the scenes” to bring us great good. No wonder St. Paul was moved to write that there is nothing in all creation that is able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God has given you the righteousness of his Son to wear like a robe. Wrap yourself in what Jesus has done, and live by your faith. God has made incredible, generous promises to you. Hold him to it. Live by your faith, and live in God’s “yes” today. Amen.