Faith Is...Leaping Off A Cliff

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Last night I attended a memorial service for the husband of a friend and colleague. I had met him, but never had the opportunity to actually sit and talk with him. As I listened to the stories being told about his love for God and his zeal to share that love with everyone he met, I found myself wishing I had known him better.

The eulogy was given by a good friend of this man who had shared in many adventures to far-reaching places of this earth in order to share the Gospel with the people who lived there. One of the stories he shared really had me thinking, "This man had faith."

Rob, the man who had passed, thoroughly enjoyed traveling to the most remote parts of the world. He loved it so much that he had a long-standing request to volunteer to go to the places that nobody else would consider going. On one such occasion he was asked to go to a corner of Africa where people still practiced cannibalism. Never mind the absence of electricity, running water, shelter, or any of the other amenities we've been trained to expect as a modern society - these people will eat you. Rob was excited to be there and find a way to share God's love.

We were told that the only way to get to this particular village was to fly to a close runway with a small plane then hike a day to the village. The runway was literally built on a hillside at the edge of a cliff. We were told that as the plane landed it went up the hillside at about a 45-degree angle and that the runway was just long enough for the plane to land, stop, and turn around. The speaker went on to tell us that the plane then takes off by going down this hill, propellers at full speed, and leaps off the cliff-side to get enough wind under its wings to fly.

I ask you, which part of that trip sounds the most appealing. Is it the landing on the hillside, hiking through the jungle-habitat of local cannibals, living with no amenities, or sitting in the plane as it takes off to come home? Whatever the choice you make is, you're going to need a lot of faith.

This passage in Hebrews gives us a great definition of faith: the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. It's through Rob's faith that God would bring him through whatever might happen in that jungle that Rob was able to accept this mission and go to one of the furthest corners of our world to share the love of God.

That story really made me think how deep my faith went. Am I really at the mercies of God in accepting everything God will give me? Am I willing to go the corners of our earth in order to share God's love? Would I be able to take a leap off a cliff in order for one person to come to God through Christ?

My hope is that when the time comes I will be able to do whatever it is God asks of me. My faith tells me I will.