Romans 10:14–17
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Luke 10:38–42
At the Home of Martha and Mary
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
As a vicar, people sometimes say to me, “I wish I had your faith.” And that’s a really nice sentiment. But behind it sits an assumption that the faith I apparently have is something that one can only wish for — like several houses in Barbados, or a couple of Ferraris in the garage, or whatever it is.
I can imagine somebody saying to their personal trainer, “I wish I was as fit as you are.” What does the personal trainer say back to that? “You can be. That’s why I’m here — to help you be exactly that.” And so also, as a vicar, I feel like saying that to people who say to me, “I wish I had your faith.” You can have a high level of strong faith.
Faith is a lot like a muscle. If you feed it right, if you work it out, it will get stronger. And if you don’t, it won’t. That’s why we’re beginning a new series of five sermons during Lent called Feeding Your Faith. The first subject today is feeding your faith through listening to sermons. It’s funny to preach a sermon about sermons, but that’s what I’m doing this morning.
The principle is this: faith grows where Christ is heard.
This is going to be less of a “how to listen to sermons” and more a “why to do so”. Why is listening to sermons so important for feeding our faith?
First of all, let’s consider our reading from the book of Romans. St Paul says, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” We cannot see God in this world, so the primary way we get to know him is through hearing.
Paul is speaking about how saving faith begins, but the same principle applies to how such faith grows. That principle is that faith comes from hearing. Faith grows where Christ is heard.
Notice what Paul says needs to be heard: the message, the word about Christ. This is, of course, the gospel message, which Paul sums up in 1 Corinthians chapter 15: “What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Notice that the death and resurrection of Jesus are grounded in the Scriptures, in the word of God. You may notice — I hope — that preachers like me always try to reference in every sermon this gospel message: that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures. That’s because we are convinced that Paul is right here. A Christian’s faith is powered up by hearing the message about Christ.
I’ve already said that faith is a bit like a muscle. Of course, faith is a gift. It’s not a result of our direct effort; we’re given it by God. But if you really want to bulk up the muscle you already have, you have to eat protein. Protein is what feeds muscles. You can’t build them without it.
In the same way, you can’t build up and strengthen the gift of faith that God has given you without hearing the message about Jesus Christ. And note that this is not a kind of generic message about God in general. If you feed your faith wholly on generic religion, you won’t build that faith muscle. It would be like trying to grow bodily muscles using only carbohydrates. We need to be hearing about Jesus Christ and him crucified. We have to be hearing about the cross. Faith grows where Christ is heard, not just where religion is going on.
I was always told growing up — and you probably heard this as well — “Starve a fever, feed a cold.” Have you heard that old maxim? But when a doctor hears this, they may gently sigh and say, “That sounds good, but actually there’s no solid evidence that you should eat less with a fever or eat more with a cold.” When you’re ill, the real advice is simply: eat if you feel able, stay hydrated, listen to your body.
In the same way, I often hear people saying, “Preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words.” And I gently sigh and say, “That sounds good, but neither Paul nor Jesus would wholly agree with it.” Acts of love are, of course, important. But listening to the word about Jesus is much more important.
Our reading from Luke’s Gospel shows us that. It’s a well-known story. Jesus goes to visit Martha and Mary. We hear that Mary is sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he says. But Martha is distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
So Martha comes to Jesus and says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me.” And how does Jesus reply? “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — indeed, only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.”
The one thing that is needed is relationship with Jesus. And, as Paul said, this comes from hearing about him.
Martha was busy with good things, but Mary was busy with something better: the beloved voice of Jesus. Jesus does not rebuke Martha for her service per se. He’s not saying, “Don’t ever do anything useful.” What he rebukes is anxious distraction. Listening is foundational, and service must flow from it — but not replace it.
So I wonder whether you feel more like a Martha or a Mary. Do you find yourself busy with lots of things? Do you sometimes find it hard to stop and hear the message about Jesus?
I’ve heard a number of people say to me, “I would come to church, but I just don’t have the time.” Well, clearly that’s not you, because you’re sitting here in church. You’ve made the time to come along this morning. But do we have time to be Christians outside of a Sunday? Do we have time to listen to sermons not on a Sunday?
That’s an idea. Graeme expends a decent amount of time uploading the sermons we preach to the website. And I know I myself need to get better at listening to them when someone else preaches.
None of us has to listen to sermons. But as we’ve seen, the Bible is clear: faith grows where Christ is heard. I’m sure we all know that a more confident Christianity is needed now more than ever. Confident faith comes from hearing the message about Jesus Christ.
There are so many good sermons out there these days, so many books of excellent sermons. We don’t need, of course, to be constantly listening to them. But my challenge for all of us this week is to listen to one sermon that isn’t this one. Two if you’re feeling particularly keen.
One caveat: there is a lot of junk out there — like junk food. A lot of sermons might sound insightful. But remember, without the word of the Bible and the message of the gospel of the cross, they just won’t feed your faith. They’ll be carbohydrates, not protein.
Ultimately, faith doesn’t grow because sermons are impressive. Faith grows because Christ is beautiful. When his death and resurrection are held before us again and again, the Spirit quietly strengthens our trust in him.
So this Lent, don’t just do more religious things. Feed your faith. Sit at Jesus’ feet. Listen to his voice. And trust that, as you do, what Jesus promised will be true for you as well: it will not be taken away from you.