We speak of faith in many
metaphors. Here are some. You’ll think of others.
- Faith is a commodity that we own. We “have” faith like owning a
car.
- Faith is a prize to be achieved through prayer and devotion.
- Faith is a dividing line, a reason to dislike some people and like
others.
- Faith is an ethical principle on the basis of which we make choices.
- Faith is a conviction that determines public policy.
- Faith is a mysterious gift that inexplicably comes to some people and not to others.
Jesus is asked by the
disciples to give them more faith, as if he can hand it to them, like a
birthday card or a piece of candy. Instead, he tells them what faith can
accomplish. Then he speaks of action. He connects “having faith” with following
what is commanded of us and not thinking we’re terrific because we’ve done our
job.
Curious, isn’t it. He
often doesn’t seem to have answered the question. And yet...
Luke 17:5-10
When
the apostles' request that Jesus increase their faith. . . he gives them a
lesson on fidelity, on how they are to relate to God, view their service to
God.
Faith,
in Greek, pistis, is thus more than
mere belief or intellectual assent to doctrines and dogmas. Pistis in the translation of the
biblical books used by Greek-speaking Jews. . . regularly translated the Hebrew
word emun, or emunah (in English translated as “faithfulness,” or “fidelity”).
Faith, then, is not at all about some spectacular assurance that Jesus is for
real; on the contrary, it has to do with fidelity to God in the daily round of
life, recognizing ourselves as servants doing our duty.
However,
Jesus assures us that it only takes just a tiny bit of faith, the size of a
miniscule speck of a seed, to accomplish what, without any faith at all, would
seem utterly impossible, perhaps even pointless. – Lisa Marie Belz
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
The people’s situation in
Habakkuk’s time is one of fear. They are about to be invaded by the Chaldeans. God,
where are you? cries the prophet. And God’s answer is: “There is still a vision
for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie.” (v3)
The
greed of Judean society will ultimately lead to its own ruin as its deep
divisions will make it vulnerable to outside forces. Ill-gotten wealth,
affluence obtained unjustly, become Judah's newest idols. Indeed, the human
condition, Habakkuk observes, is like a fish attracted to bait on a hook;
humans worship what will ultimately ensnare and destroy them.
Although
God may seem distant, yet does the prophet stubbornly persist in his prayer,
and through his persistence is able to discern God's response and God's action
in the world and in contemporary political events, even in Judah's enemies,
even in the much-dreaded and impending invasion of the Babylonians. It is this
vision of God's action in Judah's darkest hour that gives Habakkuk reason to
hope and warn about how societal divisions can lead, to a nation's collapse. At
the same time, Habakkuk assures us that God is at work, even in the vagaries of
history. Those who persist in prayer will be able to perceive God's action in
the midst of calamity, drawing greater good from horrific tragedy, and greater
life from the ashes of defeat. – Lisa Marie Belz
2 Timothy 1:1-14
A
similar faithfulness is evident in the confidence of 2 Timothy 1:6: “God has
not given us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love
and of self-discipline.” The entire passage overflows with confidence and
encouragement, bringing to mind a stanza of the old hymn: “Just as I am,
'though tossed about,/with many a conflict, many a doubt...” The writer of the
hymn, and the author of 2 Timothy, know. . . the need to provide encouragement
that fear and doubt do not come from God.
If
we consider the ways that fear drives our personal and public life, from locks,
guard systems and gated communities, to weapons systems and increasingly
punitive prison sentences, we begin to see that a life not motivated by fear is
deeply countercultural. . . .
Jesus'
teaching invites us to exercise the freedom in giving that God demonstrates,
not motivated by either reward or fear of punishment, but rather by the
gracious call of God. – Susan Grove Eastman
Lisa Marie Belz, an Ursuline Sister from Cleveland, Ohio, is assistant professor of
religious studies and graduate ministry at Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, Ohio.
Susan Grove Eastman, ordained in the Episcopal Church, is associate professor of New
Testament at Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC.
Homily
Service 40, no. 11 (2007): 3-11.
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