Simple faith

Simple faith. Uh uh, that's not just a phrase I coined up for the title for this blog post. "Simple faith" is what was emphasized by a Christian brother in his sermon at church today, on Matthew 8 & 9. Well, Matt 8:5 - 9:35, to be exact, although he didn't cover every verse in great detail - he selected a few passages here & there for the purposes of his sermon. I shall elaborate on that "simple faith" thing below (with the story of the centurion approaching Jesus). You will also see below, why I struggle with this "simple faith" thing.

I hope that what I write in this post does not misrepresent or distort the message of the sermon, which I enjoyed such that I will read that Bible passage again & review the notes I took from the sermon. I'm glad to have had the chance to listen to this brother's sermon - I've missed out on some of his past sermons because they always seem to coincide with my Sunday School teaching (the Sunday School roster can be such a lottery....haha).

Anyway, here is what's covered by the sermon (mainly rehashing my notes):

• The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 7:28,29) are Jesus' words of authority. Matthew 8 & 9 show Jesus' acts of authority - authority over the weather, demons, demon-possessed people, healing the ill. Nothing which He did in these chapters is ordinary. After all, those acts are beyond the capacity of normal human beings.
• There is a cost or sacrifice that comes with following Jesus (Matt 8:18-22). It's not always going to be easy, as it may involve foresaking basic security or family commitments.
• The speaker also took us through the passage where a centurion approached Jesus to heal his servant. What's significant/remarkable about this is that the centurion (Roman military officer) belonged to a group that was oppressing the Jews - so we have a member of the oppressor asking help from a member of the group that he is oppressing. The speaker used the analogy of a Nazi oppressor approaching a Jewish person (in times of WW2) for help. So that's not a normal request for help. Nevertheless, the centurion showed real faith in Jesus (His ability to heal), & Jesus was amazed at this. The main point here is that what really matters is simple faith founded on the truth of who Jesus is. We should have simple faith as manifested in trust & dependence on Jesus. The centurion recognised that Jesus acts with authority under the Father, & Jesus marvelled at the simple yet profound faith of a Gentile (the centurion).

In this context, when talking about simple faith, simple does not mean simplistic; rather, simple means plain, clear cut, not pretentious. It connects belief in Jesus with faith in Jesus.

The speaker then concluded with applications, & he did something I can't recall seeing before. He looked at 3 types of applications:

• Necessary (essential to do): Recognise Jesus acts with authority from the Father & submit to Him.
• Possible: Jesus is the one who we put our faith in to transform us. [Speaker said it is who we put our faith in that matters, more so than how much faith we have].
• Impossible (what we should not/cannot do): Do not recognise Jesus & rely on our own strengths to impress God.

Now, that is (especially third point) a new way of looking at applications. I have always looked at applications in "positive terms", i.e. in terms of questions like "What should I do in response to the sermon/study" or "How should I improve this or that". I can't remember the last time I personally looked at applications in "negative terms", as in the "impossible" application above - what we should not do in light of what we have learned. That's interesting, actually. Expanding on the "negative" application, the speaker said that we cannot ignore Jesus' authority in light of the passages covered.

Later on, while chatting with the brother & referring to his sermon, he asked me a hard question "What are you going to change?". Well, for me anyway, it's a hard question. I was unable to muster a response, & it's not the first time he's asked me a hard question - he's done so in the past. I've since reflected on that question, but more in terms of "What should I change?". For me, one thing which I should definitely change is to have more trust & dependence on God, especially in terms of decision-making. I usually rely far too much on my own abilities & judgment when making various decisions on various things, & tend to reduce God's involvement to "last resort".

You may be shocked after reading that. But it's true - self-reliance is a feature of my DNA, & I do sometimes take pride in being able to do things my way. Every now & again, I have been asked by Christian siblings questions like "Have u prayed about it?" or "What do u think God wants?". Questions like these, when they arise, do remind me of my lack of trust or dependence on God (as well as my weak prayer life) - yet I often ignore or brush aside those questions. In doing so, I guess I lack the simple faith of that centurion & certainly not recognise God's authority as Christians should. I pray that I will let God be a significant part of my future decision-making, depend more on Him & less on myself, trust that God (& not me) knows what's best for me, & be submissive to His will & authority.