Home Sermons The Virtues: Faith - "Do it Yourself"

The Virtues: Faith - "Do it Yourself"

THE VIRTUES: FAITH ~ "DO IT YOURSELF"

PLEDGE SUNDAY

TEXT: PSALM 46 (SELECTIONS)

 

Everybody has faith. Despots have faith in their power to control people by force. Scientists have faith in empirical data. Capitalists have faith in the market. Even atheists have faith-in reason, in their courage to live without a concept of anything beyond themselves. As Paul Tillich puts it more theologically, everyone has an "ultimate concern," something that grounds their universe, something they put their trust in, something that drives their actions. That something, that object of their faith, is their god.
So as I pondered my sermon on faith today, I thought, perhaps preaching about faith isn't so much trying to encourage us to have more faith, but to explore what it means to make God the object of our faith.
We've been preaching a series of sermons on Christian virtues. Faith has long been considered one of the primary virtues.
But what do we mean by faith? Mark Twain gets me started when he quips, "Faith is believing what you know ain't true." I'm afraid that in Twain's time, and perhaps even now, churches put too much emphasis on believing things that defied reason (virgin birth, walking on water) and making this blind faith a test of one's true devotion.

In this sermon, I will not ask you to believe what you know ain't true. But we might discover that what we know is true, is deeper than pure reason. I'm framing my thoughts in terms of four "R"s. Reservation. Redefinition. Relationship. Response.

RESERVATIONS ~ DOUBT
Now let me stop here and do a little word-association game. When I say the word "faith," what's the first word that pops into your mind? Some might say doubt. Let's clear the air right away. How can I blithely preach about faith without acknowledging that doubt is sitting next to us in the pew, throwing his arm around our shoulders and whispering in our ear, "I don't think so." Yes, we have our reservations.

Pastor and theologian Fred Beuchner writes, "I have faith in God, and yet I have my doubts too. And maybe it's just as well that I have them. At least doubts prove that we are in touch with reality, with the things that threaten faith as well as with the things that nourish it." Doubt is a front-page story nowdays with the publication of Mother Teresa's journal which details even her doubts . There is the intellectual doubt that Mark Twain references when he talks about believing what can't be verified and there is the kind of existential doubt found in Mother Teresa's agonizing reflections about God's absence. The Bible is full of the same kind of laments, "Why are you so far from helping me?" (Ps. 22:1)
Even Jesus cries out, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) Beuchner suggests that perhaps the saints experience the deepest silence because only they can survive it. I know from experience that doubts can coexist with faith. We cannot think that because we doubt, we are somehow less of a Christian or failing God. But listen, here are some ways to think about faith that might help us to hold that paradox; to live in faith despite reservations.

RELATIONSHIP
First, faith is about relationship. Through the ages, the church has taught this. The historic creeds do not say "I believe that God is the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth," but "I believe in ... " Faith starts with the object of faith. A God who loves us and abides with us. This is why I have chosen Psalm 46 as the scripture reading. It starts with the character of God.

PSALM 46
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. .... 10 "Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth." The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

The other reason I use this scripture is that it makes clear that trust in God does not assume that everything is going to be just fine. Faith is not a shield against disaster. I've heard people say, "I lost my faith when my wife died a painful death from cancer." Or "How can you believe in a God that allows innocents to suffer?"

This charge became especially prevalent after the Holocaust. But Judeo-Christian thought has always faced that challenge, from the violence of Cain against Abel, through the trials of Job and the crucifixion of Jesus. We are taught that God was a companion in suffering, not a panacea against it. Faith in God is not a magic cloak to protect us from pain and disappointment. Faith in God is a way of life that gets us through the pain and disappointment.

REDEFINITION
Faith is not a system of beliefs, it is a way of life. That brings me to the third "R," redefinition. Faith is not something you have, but something you do. It is not believing in a set of propositions or statements about God or Jesus, faith is a way of being. Marcus Borg says every time you see the word "faith" you should substitute the phrase, "I give my life to."
When we have faith in God, or give our lives to God, we do more than put our trust in a mystical force. We choose to live in ways that embody the teachings of Jesus. Teachings that claim the universe is intended to be a good place, that human beings are meant for love, that we are called to be our brothers' and sisters' keepers. When we make God the object of our faith, we live by those precepts. Our faith isn't expressed in intellectual assent to a creed but in our every action.

RESPONSE
That brings me to "response." Rabbi Irving Greenberg writes: "Faith is the commitment to live a life of response to God and to persist in it-notwithstanding failure and defeat, notwithstanding ...disappointment and inescapable doubt. Since the whole person is involved, faith can exist alongside doubt and frustration. Faith can express itself in arguing with God and even in anger with God. ... The word for faith in Hebrew is emunah which means to remain firm and steady. (The Living Pulpit. April-June, 1992.)

Philip Simmons was a 35-year-old college professor with two young children when he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. His book, Learning to Fall, is a commentary on his declining physical capability and his determination to live a good life in spite of it. He draws from Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Stoic philosophy, poetry, nature, and family life.

I would say it is a book about faith. Permeating Simmons' work is a belief that we are immersed in divine purpose. As he nears death, he writes: "We all have within us this ability to break the bonds of ordinary awareness and sense that though our lives are fleeting and transitory, we are part of something larger, eternal, and unchanging." Philip Simmons persisted notwithstanding a terminal diagnosis. It is a dramatic story. But such persistence in faith presents itself to us every day of our lives.

No-one in this room should claim to be without faith. We are here. We are engaged in the compassionate ministries of the church. Some of us will be promising today to support this work with a generous pledge. All of us give in some way-a beautiful altar design, enthusiastic singing, a warm smile to our neighbor, baking for a bake sale, serving on committees, participating in mission activities, leading the church into its future. These are the acts of a person of faith.

We've chosen the hymn "Great is Your Faithfulness" as the theme song of our stewardship drive. It is part two of this sermon. I've been talking about faith as a human response. But our response begins with God. And this hymn fleshes that part. We are drawn to faith because of the faithfulness of God, our refuge and our strength.