What
do you have faith in today?
We
seem to be living at a society that can no longer trust many of the
institutions and roles that we had formerly relied on, a society in
which promises are made and broken on an almost hourly basis. Deep
divisions have surfaced, unexpectedly, and we find ourselves in a
very different world from the one in which we’ve spent much of our
lives.
Can
we have faith in anything, and if so, what?
That
may seem a bizarre question to be asking from a cathedral pulpit...so
let me reassure you, before I go any further, that I am confident
that we can have faith in God and in God’s limitless, unconditional
love for each one of us. That is the foundation of everything for me
– and I’m guessing, because you’re here this morning, that you
may share that view.
We
believe God loves us.
Alleluia!
Let’s
celebrate that and then go home…
Except
– that’s not actually what it’s about
There’s
another layer that we need to explore
Faith
is not an intellectual property – something that is very nice if
you like that kind of thing. It is, or it should be, the basis for
every aspect of our lives and behaviour.
So,
the question is, what difference does our faith make.
What
do we actually DO with it?
In
our gospel the disciples are clear that they’re going to need more
faith than they can currently muster, to get them through the tough
times ahead. Ever since Jesus turned his face towards Jerusalem,
they’ve been conscious of storm clouds gathering and they’ve just
been given a terrible warning to “be on their guard” constantly.
So, their request for more faith seems utterly reasonable. They NEED
to know they’re going to get through this somehow.
But
Jesus doesn’t see it that way.
In
a disconcertingly hard-edged response, he says unequivocally that if
they had any faith worthy of the name
they
could do amazing things, including offer the bottomless forgiveness
Jesus demands of his followers.
Ouch.
In
the absence of any visibly mobile mountains, it might be easy to
retire crushed at this point. But to do so would be the miss the
point completely. We don’t need colossal supplies of faith in order
to cope. We simply need enough faith to recognise that God can do
great things.
Tom
Wright puts it this way
Faith
is like a window through which you can see something. What matters is
not whether the window is six inches or six feet high; what matters
is the God that your faith is looking out on. If it’s the
Creator-God, the God active in Jesus, then the tiniest little
peep-hole will give you access to power like you have never dreamed
of
Of
course, that power is not to be used to satisfy our own pleasure or
boost our own prestige – it’s there to further the work of the
Kingdom…That’s what we’re all called to – and though it might
seem at first that the message of the latter part of the gospel is
that being a faithful servant won’t get you anywhere, to see it
that way is to miss the point. No, we can’t expect a standing
ovation for simply living out our calling – but there’s good news
here all the same.
We
aren’t awarded God’s grace in response to the service we
offer...Our relationship with God is not about transaction – but
about transformation.
We
are loved and we are blessed to BE A BLESSING.
So
– what does that actually mean, right here and right now?
An
understanding of God’s overwhelming, undeserved grace must, surely,
produce some sort of response from us...and on this Harvest Sunday,
we are invited to give in response to all that we’ve been given. If
everything, EVERYTHING, is gift then we can and we must open our
hands and our hearts to give in return. That is both duty and joy.
It’s the principle behind tithing – planning to give 10% of your
income to further God’s Kingdom, whether through giving to the
church or some other gift in the service of others.
“All
things come from you, and of your own do we give you” we say...but
to actually do
it can feel rather more challenging.
I
think we might just be back to the question of faith. It can be
tempting to think “I’ll give what I can afford” - to shift our
perspective as if we somehow have a right
to all the blessings we enjoy, and only need to share what we feel we
can do without. I speak from an all-too-well-established personal
experience. Left to myself, I’d much sooner squirrel away
everything I imagine I’ll need – and only THEN contemplate giving
anything back to God. And that’s never going to work – because,
of course, fears and anxieties expand to fill the space you allow
them. To head down that path would mean miserly misery.
But
I choose to live a life ruled not by fear but by faith. I choose to
look through that window and to see how great and generous is the God
from whom all blessings flow. I’m challenging myself this morning –
in the presence of all of you – to actually act on this, here and
now. So I choose, therefore, to give in response to so very many
blessings...to use what I AM given to bless others so that, perhaps,
my faith may in turn enable them to live lives dominated by
thankfulness instead of fear. Will you do the same?
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