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ISAIAH 35: 3-7 

JAMES 2:14-17 

MARK 7: 24-30 

Have faith in the Lord is the theme for our Sunday reflection. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “…faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Faith is essential in our relationship with God because “without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6). What happens when we have faith in the Lord? In addressing the foregoing question, we shall discuss the following points; 

Firstly, faith in the Lord brings restoration.  When we have faith in God, we entrust every situation of retrogression and impossibility into his hands. It is important to remember that our feeble might or strength is unable to bring restoration to our precarious or deprived conditions.  In the first scripture reading, Isaiah drew the attention of the Israelites to the fact that if they will have faith in God and repent of their idolatrous and sinful ways the Lord will bring restoration to His people.  The weak shall be made strong and the Lord shall be their salvation. The blind, the deaf and mute tongue shall be restored, dry places shall be filled with water. (Isiah 35: 3-7).  In other words, “they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31). My dear friend, when all else fail, have faith in the Lord because in him we are revived and restored even in a state of hopelessness. Let us not live a rebellious life disobeying God and living according to the standards of the world but as children of God let us have faith in him when everything seems to be turning upsidee down. Our Lord cares and in His own perfect and appointed time He vindicates and restores His faithful children. 

Secondly, when we have faith in the Lord, we can overcome spiritual forces. In the third Scripture reading, Jesus tested the faith of the gentile woman and found her faith to be strong hence Jesus said to her, “For this statement, you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” (Mark 7:29). It is important to note that God can test our faith through different means and situations of life. At all times we must be ready like the gentile woman to prove to the Lord that we have faith in Him.   Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”(Mark 7:26-28 ). Jesus was only re-echoing the popular cliché of his time that seeks to suggest that the Jews were a superior race and as such deserve the favour and blessing from God. All other races were seen as inferior (dogs) that have come to the table of the Jews who were regarded as the blessed people of God. The Gentile woman proved to Jesus that no matter her lowly status, she has faith in the Lord to save her daughter from the demonic attack. My dear friend, through your faith in the Lord, he empowers you to be victorious no matter your lowly status. Through faith and the empowerment of the Lord, we overcome the suppression of demons and principalities.  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12) 

Thirdly, our faith in the Lord serves us as our foundation to do good works to the glory of God. It is, for this reason, Apostle James explained in the second Scripture reading that “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17).  Faith in God must not only lead us to love God but we must also love our fellow human beings as an act of faith in God. We can better appreciate this fact when we recall Jesus’ words when He said “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40) In other words, a believer’s faith is incomplete if he or she does not love and help others in need. Faith must lead to service and care for one another.  1 John 4:20-21 admonishes us that “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” My dear friend faith and love for our fellow human beings are two sides of the same coin. The only way you can prove your love or faith in God is to demonstrate it through your action and love for others.  

In conclusion beloved in the Lord, having faith in the Lord yields significant fruits in our lives. The first is that faith brings restoration or revival, secondly, faith enables us to overcome the spiritual forces we are battling in our lives and last but not least, faith in God leads to the works of love. May the Lord continue to strengthen our faith. Amen.

Jean-Paul Agidi (Rev)