Tests of Faith

First Sunday in Lent – Year C

February 14, 2016

Romans 10:8b-13 and Luke 4:1-13

Do you like tests? Some people do, but for most of us just the word is enough to make us squirm a little. Think back to your school days when the teacher announced, “pop quiz”. Your heart skipped a beat, your hands started to sweat, you suddenly wanted to be away from there – at least I did. I get nervous when it comes to taking tests. I worry if I will do okay, if I know what I am doing. Then, because I'm worrying I tend to make mistakes. My daughters will tell you they think I can drive a car better than their mom; but only one of us has failed a driving test – and it wasn't her!

Tests can be stressful. Your doctor comes in and tells you they would like to run a few more tests. Words you really don't want to hear. Your child comes home from school, and just based on the way they say, “I got my test back”, you know the results before you ever see them. Then there are the times when you feel like your future depends on a test. College aptitude tests like the S.A.T. or the A.C.T., are often looked at with great interest by colleges and universities. Tests I took in school and after were used to determine if I should be a pastor. I came and gave a test sermon (you were nice and called it a trial) before you called me as your pastor. Tests can be stressful.

Today is Valentine's Day. In the last few days leading up to the holiday of love and roses, I'm not sure how many “love tests” I saw posted on the internet. How do you know your in love? Are you married to the right person? What is your love style? How in love are you? Tests that tell you they can provide the answer if you just answer their 10 or so multiple choice questions. All will be revealed. The test on the computer will tell you if you are in love.

Sounds silly doesn't it? How can a test know what is in your heart? How can a few questions know of the hours you have spent at someone's side praying and caring for them? How can a computer understand the feelings and butterflies you have when you see someone? It's seems really artificial, yet hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people will take those tests and share the results with friends. Some may even use the results as reason to leave a relationship. That sounds even sillier, tests can't be used to tell us about love – especially a test given by someone who doesn't know us and only asks a few questions.

Yet, that tends to be the way it is. Some tests are on paper, like in school. But, far more tests are not written down, they happen almost instantly throughout our day. You meet someone new, and you check them out, is this someone you want to get to know better. It's a test. Your child wants to go over to a friends house, so you give them a test to find out about the friend and about their family, you might even call the parents and give them a test over the phone. You go to a new store, to test it out. You're shopping for a new pair of shoes, and test them out in the store. You go on a test drive. You take a taste test. You probably didn't realize how many tests you either give or take every day. Of course, none of those tests are likely comparable to the tests Jesus was given during his 40 days in the wilderness.

There he was hungry, wasting away and the devil shows up and reminds him he has the power to turn the very stones around him into bread. And Jesus doesn't do it. He knows there are more important things he can do than turn stone into bread. The devil offers him power, and the chance to show the world how important he is in God's eyes; he refuses both offers. Jesus knew where real power resided, and it wasn't in thrones and palaces, and his desire was not to be served but to serve. If I were in Jesus' place I really don't think I would want to know how I would have done on those tests, probably failed greatly. Tests of faith are like that, so often it seems like they are there to show us how poor or unsubstantial our faith is.

When I think about tests of faith, what comes to mind first aren't the tests God has given me, but the numerous tests I have had to take from other Christians. When were you baptized? How old were you? How were you baptized – were you sprinkled or dunked? What version of the Bible do you read? Do you believe the Bible is infallible? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? What do you believe about communion? Should children receive communion? Is it wrong to use grape juice instead of wine? Do you have guitars in church? How do you define marriage? What is the proper biblical understanding of the roles of men and women? Is divorce okay? Is homosexuality a damnable sin? How much are you required to give to the church? Are women allowed to be leaders in the church? Is Gandhi in heaven? Every single test seemingly put out there to trip me up and give the test giver the opportunity to fail me and then give me the 'correct' answer.

Really!? Those are the important questions? With so many things that happen in the world, with so many things that happen in the church in and in our daily lives, those are the tests of faith that are important? Why not ask what color hymnals are supposed to be? I wonder if that's the way Jesus felt when the devil showed up with his questions? Really?? That's the best you've got?

Tests can be annoying, and tests of faith can be just as annoying. However, in the church, in our faith community, in our individual relationships with God it is often important that we have some standard by which to determine how we are doing. What is the condition of our walk of faith? How is the church doing? As a pastor, I want to be able to trust that God is doing something powerful in your life? Is there a way of knowing? Is there a test of faith for that?

Yes. The apostle Paul gives us that test: “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” Do you believe it? Then let me hear you say it. Good, test passed. Now that's a test I can get behind. Two questions. Short and simple. Do you believe? Then say it out loud. A test not concerned about a lot of other details or things that really don't matter in the long run, but we tend to make a big deal out of.

I wonder what the church, what the world would look like if we actually listened to Paul's words, if we forgot about our own little agendas, if we left behind the things we think are so important in and for the church, and instead focused on this definition of what is important? What would it look like if we looked beyond the external things, beyond the denominational differences, beyond the way we look, the way we love, the way we live and instead looked to the presence of God in someone's life? I think it would be an incredible change in the world as we know it, but it wouldn't be an easy change.

One of the reasons we have all the other tests is that they are in reality a lot easier to trust than Paul's two question test of faith. It's a lot easier for us to look at what church a person goes to than trust the declaration of faith coming from their lips. It's a lot easier for us to say, 'you have false beliefs, or false doctrine, or are living in sin,' than to trust in the grace of God present in the declaration that Jesus is Lord.

That's the real test of faith. Not so much what we say or believe, but trusting in the promise of God that we are saved by grace through faith. Trust. That's why it's so hard. When we believe someone or something, we tend to do so based on evidence of some kind. When we trust, we sometimes have to do that despite the evidence we see. We believe the bridge is brown, we trust that it will hold our weight. Do you trust in the promise of God that you are loved, that you are saved?

It is only when we believe, when we trust, that we ourselves have been saved by the incredible grace of God that we will be able to live in the freedom of that promise. It will only be when we trust in God's promises, that we will be able to extend the grace of that promise to a world that is hungry for a test of faith, for a message of grace that unites rather than divides. A test designed for us to pass rather than to fail. Believe in God, confess it, trust it and then share it with others. Amen.