Faith is Only as Good as the Origin Story!

Origin stories have become very popular in the entertainment world. The term describes the situation that brought about a character’s powers, motivations, unusual circumstances, etc. Some of the more popular ones are a teenager who gets bit by a radioactive spider who can then climb walls and fight crime, and a girl who was raised by a tribe of warrior women who grows up to own an invisible jet and fight crime. These kinds of stories entertain us because they add layers to popular characters we grow to love. Origin stories are not only in the fictional world but are also true of real people, although they may not be as exciting.

Origin stories of real people are called history. In our Old Testament reading today from 1 Kings 17, we read the historic account of a woman whose life was changed by God. The woman was a widow who lived with her son in the region of Sidon, which was North of Israel. This woman was not one of God’s people Israel, but God sent his prophet Elijah to her during a three-and-a-half-year drought. Although many were suffering from the drought and famine in Israel, God sent his prophet to keep her and her son alive by miraculously providing a jar of flour and jug of oil that would not run out. Then, one day the woman’s son became ill and eventually died. She was heartbroken and

She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

1 Kings 17:18

But Elijah took her dead son, prayed to God and God brought the boy back to life.

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

1 Kings 17:24

This is the history of a woman hearing the word of the Lord and seeing God’s power to give life. This is the origin story of God bringing her to faith in the truth.

The origin of all believers is God. In our New Testament reading from Galatians 1, we hear the history of a man named Paul. The letter to the Galatians was written by Paul, but its message was entirely from God. Paul wrote,

“I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”

Galatians 1:11

Paul brought the gospel, which is the message of forgiveness of sins through Jesus to the Galatians. Jesus appeared to him years before to prove he was the Savior, call Paul to faith and make him an apostle. It was important for Paul to be recognized as an apostle to give authority to his message about Jesus. There were 12 apostles, 11 were from Jesus original 12 disciples without Judas, and one named Matthias was added to keep the number 12. We hear the requirements for choosing Matthias in Acts 1,

“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Acts 1:21-22

Paul was added as a 13^th apostle by Jesus and was also a witness of Jesus’ resurrection as we hear in 1 Corinthians 15,

“and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am.”

1 Corinthians 15:8-10

Paul continued in his letter to the Galatians give all the credit to God for his origin as a believer and as an apostle,

“For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.”

Galatians 1:13-16

God changed Paul from a self-righteous Christian hunter to a humble missionary eager to share Jesus.

By grace, your origin is from God. Without God your origin history was the same as Paul’s former life. Without God, Paul was lost to rules made up by the Pharisees and heading for condemnation for his war against Jesus. Without God in your life, you would not live by faith in the Word of God, but would instead quote from first society chapter two verse one or second politics chapter three verse four. Without God you replace the Old and New Testament with the Old Twitter and the New TikTok. Without God you put your name over the word “Bible” and come up with your own rules. Without God in your life, you were born in sin destined to live a life of rebellion against God, to live by your own rules and to die. But by grace, God saved you. The words that described Paul in Galatians 1 also describe you, 15 But when God, who set [you] apart from [your] mother’s womb and called [you] by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in [you].” Your origin is from God. Jesus is the one who gave you life. And in our Gospel reading we see why our faith in Jesus results in life. In Luke 7, Jesus came to a town called Nain and encountered a funeral procession for the only son of a widow.

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Luke 7:13-15

Jesus was able to bring the dead son of a widow to life. God brought the dead son of a widow back to life through Elijah. God brought Paul to life by faith in Jesus when he was without faith facing death and hell. God brought his Son Jesus back to life. Jesus will bring you back to life.

When your origin story is from God your faith is good. If you told someone that your faith was in flying pigs, then your faith would be worthless. Faith in flying pigs is worthless because pigs do not fly. Paul was clear that the message, the gospel that he preached did not come from human beings. Paul’s message was from Jesus, the Son of God, who came back from the dead. Your faith is good because it is in someone real, someone who died, came back to life and is alive right now. Paul was called to be an apostle to share the message of Jesus. You do not have that same specific calling, but you do have the same faith. For you this faith allows you to test what you hear from the world and your own heart against God’s Word. Just like Paul did not believe in a message from man, teach and preach a message from man or live by a message from man. You do not believe messages from man, tell others messages from man or live by message from man. Instead, you are free to live your life by the grace of God. You are free from the battle against God with the fear, suffering and punishment it brings. You are free from following the traditions of man with the peer pressure, false promises and temporary triumphs. You are free to know God paid your debt of wrongs and forgave your sins, and will bring you to heaven. You are free to love God and others as a new creation, whose origin is from God by faith. You are free to live as Paul described in Philippians 4,

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Philippians 4:8

You believe in a true origin story. Your faith is in the truth, in history, in the living God, in the life-giving God and in the God who has come to help his people. Faith in Jesus is about the forgiveness of sins. Your forgiveness is sure because Jesus lived, died and rose to save you. Live with confidence and peace and be eager to share your origin story. Faith is only as good as the origin story. And yours is Jesus. Amen.