Introspection: Dancing with Words on a Date with Destiny

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Comments are always welcomed.

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Dancing with Words on a Date with Destiny

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy."  But the Lord said to me,

"Do not say, 'I am only a boy';

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you,

says the Lord."

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

"Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant."

Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NRSV)

This is your life, are you who you want to be?

This is your life, are you who you want to be?

This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be

When the world was younger and you had everything to lose?

From "This Is Your Life" by Switchfoot

To guide my devotional Scripture reading, I use the Daily Lectionary, a three-year cycle of daily readings that accompany the weekly readings used by many churches around the world.¹  In the last couple of months, I've read a number of passages from the books of the ancient Hebrew prophets, brave men who spoke on behalf of God.  To be honest, I've found most of these passages rather depressing, as they are full of confrontational language with long, drawn-out descriptions of the consequences that awaited the people if they did not heed the prophet's words and change their ways.  There's nothing like a literary punch in the gut to start one's day.

Last week, I started reading from the Book of Jeremiah, a book that, for some reason, seems to appeal to me more than the other prophetic books.  Perhaps I like the fact that the book is written from a first person perspective, meaning that the book not only tells us what Jeremiah said but also gives us some insight into what he experienced.  Perhaps I like the fact that Jeremiah was brutally honest with God about how he felt about being a prophet.  Perhaps, as someone who is prone to melancholia, I can identify with the one known as the "weeping prophet."

The book begins with a story that speaks to me in a number of ways.  It is what clergypersons might name a "call story," a story of a person's being called by God into the ministry or into some other profession.  It seems to me that God does not simply call Jeremiah to be a prophet: God reveals that Jeremiah had been set apart to be a prophet all along, even before he was born.  The story, as I see it, is less about God's calling a person to do something and more about God's revealing a what a person was created to do, in other words, a person's destiny.

There was a time when I longed for a sense of destiny.  For my first professional job after I graduated from college, I worked as a software engineer for a company that manufactured slot machines and video poker machines.  During that time in my life, the sense of shame I felt for working in such a seedy industry seemed to follow me wherever I went.  I longed for a higher purpose in life.  That job eventually came to an end, and I now work as a computer programmer in higher education.  Though I am no longer haunted by shame related to my place of employment, sometimes I still find myself hoping that I was meant to be more than just a "computer geek."

Almost eight years ago, while I was still working in the gambling industry, I asked my pastor if I could have the chance to try my hand at preaching.  After I had delivered a couple of sermons, I started this blog because I hated the thought that something I had written would be left to collect proverbial dust on my hard drive.  When I realized that my opportunities to preach might be few and far between, I started writing regularly so that I could keep updating my blog.  So began my love affair with writing.

When Jeremiah learns that it is his destiny to be a prophet, he starts to feel a bit inadequate for such a lofty purpose.  As someone who wrestles with insecurity, I can appreciate his reluctance.  Jeremiah tells God that he does not know how to speak because he is only a boy.  God tells him not to say such things about himself and then promises to give him the words to say and to protect him from those who would do him harm.  We must not sell ourselves short, for God can do great things through us, regardless of whatever limitations we think we have and regardless of how young, inexperienced, or unqualified we think we are.  I say this as someone who has spoken at churches where I was, by a rather wide margin, the youngest person in attendance.

God reaches out to Jeremiah and touches his mouth, saying, "Now I have put my words in your mouth.  See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."  As a writer, I feel that this statement is a testament to the power of words, especially words from God.  It has been said that "the pen is mightier than the sword."  Totalitarian regimes would not burn books if they did not believe that the thoughts contained therein held the potential to pose a serious threat.

I will not claim that the words I write are given to me by God, nor will I claim that God does not give me words to write.  I make no such claim at all - I do not know if it would be worse to claim that my words are God's or to claim that God's words are mine - instead, I simply hope that God somehow inspires, convicts, or blesses people through my writing.  What I will say is that, when I put for the effort to write, I feel that God blesses my efforts.  People have encouraged me to continue writing, so writing is what I will continue to do.

Belief in destiny can be like a two-edged sword.  In times when we're tempted to think that life is chaotic and meaningless, we can find comfort in thinking that we have been created for some profound purpose.  On the other hand, believing in destiny can be very discomforting for a person who thinks that his destiny is something he cannot escape or for a person who feels that her destiny is leading her where she does not want to go.  God has told Jeremiah that he was born to be a prophet, but Jeremiah will one day curse the day he was born.²  He will find that hates constantly preaching doom and gloom, but he will also find that the words God has given him to say are like a fire in his bones that he cannot keep contained within himself.³

I do not know if what was true about Jeremiah is true about everyone, that each of us has a destiny.  Whether we are created for a purpose in life or a purpose in life is something we create, I think that we all crave a sense of purpose.  We all need something greater than ourselves to which we can give ourselves, and we all need something we can contribute to the greater good.  One piece of advice from the wise Frederick Buechner gives us a good place to start searching: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."⁴  Written within each of us are talents and sources of joy, and, wherever we are, we all find ourselves in the midst of need.  The challenge is to find where all of these intersect.


Notes:

1. http://www.commontexts.org/publications/
2. Jeremiah 20:14
3. Jeremiah 20:8-9
4. Frederick Buechner.  Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC.  1993, HarperOne.  p. 119

The photograph of the fountain pen was taken by Antonio Litterio and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Jeremiah on the ruins of Jerusalem was painted by Horace Vernet in 1844.

Sermon: From Sinai to Zion

Delivered at Bethel United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on August 21, 2016

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

From Sinai to Zion

Audio Version

You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.  (For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death."  Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear.")  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!  At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven."  This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken - that is, created things - so that what cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:18-29 (NRSV)

We're marching to Zion

Beautiful, beautiful Zion

We're marching upward to Zion

The beautiful city of God

From "Marching to Zion" by Isaac Watts and Robert Lowry

One of my favorite movies is the 1999 cyberpunk thriller The Matrix.  This film depicts a very bleak future in which humans are the underdogs in a war against machines, and the protagonist Neo finds himself a somewhat reluctant hero in this conflict.  At one point in the film, a comrade named Tank tells Neo about the last human city deep below the surface of the earth - a city that happens to be named Zion.  Tank says to Neo, "If the war was over tomorrow, Zion's where the party would be."  It is no secret that the creators of the film drew a lot of inspiration from various religious sources.  I cannot help but wonder if maybe this part of the story was inspired by Scripture passages like today's reading from Hebrews.

As we read the message originally addressed "To the Hebrews," the unnamed author encourages us to hold fast to our faith in the midst of difficult times.  He or she goes on to describe faith as "the assurance of things hoped for" and "the conviction of things not seen," reminding us of numerous heroes of faith from the Hebrew Scriptures.  Some performed great feats; some witnessed great miracles; some endured great hardships; some suffered great pain; and some worked for great things they would not live to see.  The author compares the life of faith to a race we run in front of "a great cloud of witnesses," all of the men and women of faith who have run the race before us.  Our example, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith," is none other than Jesus, the teacher, the healer, the wonder-worker, the "suffering servant."  The author encourages us to remember the One who suffered on our behalf and to treat our own hardships as strength training for the race.  He or she calls us to run toward the goals of peace and holiness, as we throw aside the weights of bitterness and selfish indulgence.¹

As we continue to read this message, the author takes us back to the time when the Israelites reached Mt. Sinai shortly after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.  In preparation to meet God, Moses instructed the people to consecrate themselves by washing their clothes and abstaining from intercourse.  Only when the people heard a trumpet blast were they allowed to ascend the mountain.  Until then, anyone who touched the mountain was to be put to death, and any human or animal who touched anyone who touched the mountain was to be put to death as well.  On the day the trumpet sounded, a thick cloud and thunder and lightning had descended upon the mountain, and God descended in fire and covered the mountain in smoke.  As the trumpet blasts grew louder and louder, God spoke through thunder, causing the mountain to shake and the people to tremble.  In the end, only Moses and Aaron were allowed to ascend the mountain.²  The author of Hebrews describes that dreadful scene, saying that nobody present could bear what they heard and that even Moses was trembling with fear.

The author of Hebrews goes on to say that we are not journeying to Mt. Sinai but to Mt. Zion.  We are not approaching the Mt. Zion located in Jerusalem in the Middle East but rather a heavenly Mt. Zion and a heavenly Jerusalem.  There we will see God, Jesus, angels, and saints, all gathered for a celebration.  St. John uses similar language in his apocalypse when he writes of God's final victory over evil.  He writes of a time when heaven and earth are made new, when a New Jerusalem descends from heaven, and when God's home is with humanity.³  This time of communion between God and humanity is compared to a wedding banquet.⁴

The depiction of the festive scene at Mt. Zion is a far cry from the depiction of the terrifying scene at Mt. Sinai.  As people who sing that "we're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God," are we really approaching the same God the Israelites met at Mt. Sinai?  Did God somehow change between one mountain and the other?  Was it perhaps our understanding of God that changed?

It was at Mt. Sinai, that God made a covenant with the Israelites.  Through Moses, God said to them,
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.  Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples.  Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.⁵
Priests are mediators between humanity and the divine: they show the world what their deity is like.  As a priestly kingdom, the Israelites were called to represent to the world the God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt.  They were to carry out this function by following the Law, which they received at Mt. Sinai.  The Law was a series of rules meant to form them into a just society, a society fundamentally different from what they had experienced in Egypt.⁶

People are generally unable to follow rules perfectly, and the Israelites were no exception.  Within this kingdom of priests was an order of priests, descendants of Moses' brother Aaron, who were responsible for atoning for the people's transgressions against the Law through ritual sacrifices.  The author of Hebrews notes, earlier in the message, that these priests could not perfectly atone for sin.  They had to stay on their feet because they had to keep offering sacrifices, for the sins of others and also for their own sins.  Furthermore, the office of priest had to change hands because nobody lives forever.

The author of Hebrews tells us that we have a High Priest who is like no other priest who ever walked the earth.  This High Priest is from an order that preceded the order of Aaron.  He did not need to offer sacrifices for His own sin, for He was without sin.  He did not have to offer sacrifices over and over again, because He offered a single once-and-for-all sacrifice, His own flesh and blood.  His priesthood did not change hands with His death, for He serves eternally.  He does not serve in a human-made temple or shrine, for He serves at the right-hand side of God.⁷  Our High Priest is none other than Jesus Christ.  St. Paul writes in one of his letters, "There is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all."⁸

If it is indeed the task of priests to show people what their deity is like, I would argue that Jesus was the only priest who could adequately show the world what God is like.  One early Christian hymn calls Jesus "the image of the invisible God."⁹  Another hymn teaches us that, in Jesus, "the Word [of God] became flesh and lived among us."¹⁰  Brian Zahnd, one of my favorite preachers likes to say, "God is like Jesus.  God has always been like Jesus.  There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus.  We have not always known what God is like - but now we do."¹¹  Christ came into the world not only to show us what God is like, but also to enter into the human experience.  The God described at Mt. Sinai was frightening and unapproachable.  By contrast, the author of Hebrews writes that our High Priest intimately understands our experiences as humans and is fully able to empathize with us, so we are free to "approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."¹²

Not long after Jesus began His public ministry, He returned to His hometown of Nazareth to preach in the synagogue on a Sabbath day.  When He stood up to read, He was handed the Book of Isaiah.  He opened the scroll, searched for a certain passage, and read the following to the congregation:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Jesus rolled up the scroll, sat down as rabbis did whenever they started to teach, and then announced to the congregation that Isaiah's prophecy had been fulfilled that very day in their midst.¹³  It was this passage that would set the tone for Jesus' entire ministry.  We see in Jesus what we also see in the Exodus story, that God in the business of setting people free.

Later on, on another Sabbath day when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in another town, He spotted a woman who, for the last eighteen years, was unable to stand up straight.  In the middle of His teaching, He announced to her, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."  Immediately, she straightened up and began to praise God.  The leader of the synagogue spoke up and said to the congregation, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."¹⁴  He was, of course, referencing the Fourth Commandment, one of the rules given to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai:
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work - you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.¹⁵
Acts of healing were considered work, so, by the letter of the law, they were forbidden on the Sabbath day.

Consider for a moment why God would give the Israelites such a commandment in the first place.  Only a few months before the Israelites reached Mt. Sinai, they were slaves in Egypt.  When Moses and Aaron first approached the Pharaoh, they requested that he allow the Israelites to leave Egypt for a few days so that they could worship their God.  Angered by their insolence, the Pharaoh took out his rage on the Israelites, requiring them to start gathering their own straw to make bricks while still maintaining their daily quota.¹⁶  In Egypt, the Israelites were not treated with the dignity meant for human beings who bear the image of God; they were treated as machines, valued only for what they produced.  The Fourth Commandment was not merely a stricture on the amount of time the Israelites were allowed to work: it was a gift from God to the Israelites.  The Sabbath day was a mandatory day of rest intended to uphold their humanity.  It was a symbol of their freedom and a reminder that God is invested in people's freedom.¹⁷

Over time, the observance of the Sabbath day had become one more rule the people were required to follow or else face serious consequences.  What was meant to protect people from oppression had become oppressive in itself.  Jesus, on the other hand, understood that "the sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath."¹⁸  While the leader of the synagogue thought that people should not seek healing on the Sabbath day, Jesus thought that the Sabbath day was the perfect occasion for the woman in the synagogue to be given rest from the ailment that had oppressed her for the last eighteen years.¹⁹  Is there any better day than the day meant to symbolize freedom and uphold people's humanity to celebrate the release, recovery, freedom, and favor Jesus came to bring?

In Christ, we do not see a God who hands down extremely difficult rules and then sits in waiting, ready to strike us down the moment we break those rules.  In Christ, we see a God who gives us freedom - freedom from the things that hold us captive, freedom from fear, and freedom from legalistic religion.

This good news of freedom does not come to us without a warning.  The author of Hebrews reminds us of how the earth shook at Mt. Sinai and then calls to mind the words of God as told by the prophet Haggai, "Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land."²⁰  The author reinterprets this prophecy as a warning that someday the whole cosmos will be shaken - or perhaps tested or judged.  All that can be shaken will come to an end, and only what is unshakable will remain standing.  Among what will cease to exist is anything that contributes to suffering or impedes flourishing.  In St. John's description of the coming of the Kingdom of God, God announces, "Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."²¹  If we are to experience the freedom God desires for us, some things must come to an end.

The author of Hebrews writes that "our God is a consuming fire," but I think it is important to remember that the fire of God is not merely destructive but purifying.  The author has already told us that if we are to run the race set before us, we must "lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely."²²  God wants us to be free, but sadly we sometimes think that the chains that keep us in captivity are made of gold.  If we cling to the things that need to come to an end, we will be burned.  As Brian Zahnd would say, "The wrath of God is the love of God wrongly received."²³  Imagine for a moment you just received the news that illicit drugs will soon cease to exist.  This is especially good news for addicts, for they will soon be free from the thing that enslaves them.  Sadly, because of their addiction, they might not perceive this as good news.  Like an addict, we find ourselves attached to things that are harmful, to ourselves and to others.

At work in our world are sinful systems that benefit some people to the detriment of others, in the same way that, in the Book of Exodus, the Egyptians benefited from the slavery of the Israelites.  If there is no death, mourning, crying, or pain in the Kingdom of God, then such systems must come to an end.  Their end will good news for everyone; in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."²⁴  It will not seem like good news to those of us who benefit from such systems.  There is a reason that the announcement of the coming of the Kingdom of God is coupled with a call to repentance.²⁵  God is in the business of setting people free, and we do not want to stand in the way when God is at work.

There are many images of God that strike fear into our hearts, but Jesus Christ, our High Priest, shows us that God loves all of us and that God wants us all to be free.  That said, let us throw aside all of those things that hold us back as we strive to run the race that is the life of faith.  Let's throw aside theology that gives us a distorted understanding of God.  Let's throw aside legalistic religiosity that keeps us from experiencing God's grace and extending it to others.  Let's throw aside anything that oppresses other people, and let's work to help others experience the freedom God wants for all of us.

Amen.


Notes:

1. Hebrews 10:19-12:17 (NRSV)
2. Exodus 19:9-25
3. Revelation 21:1-3
4. Revelation 19:9
5. Exodus 19:4-6a (NRSV)
6. Rob Bell and Don Golden.  Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for a Church in Exile.  2008, Zondervan.  pp 28-36
7. Hebrews 7:11-8:7
8. 1 Timothy 2:5 (NRSV)
9. Colossians 1:15 (NRSV)
10. John 1:14 (NRSV)
11. Brian Zahnd.  "God Is Like Jesus."  BrianZahnd.com, 08/11/2011.
12. Hebrews 4:14-16 (NRSV)
13. Luke 4:16-21 (NRSV)
14. Luke 13:10-14 (NRSV)
15. Exodus 20:8-10 (NRSV)
16. Exodus 5:1-9
17. Bell and Golden, pp 34, 191
18. Mark 2:27 (NRSV)
19. Luke 13:15-17
20. Haggai 2:6 (NRSV)
21. Revelation 21:4 (NRSV)
22. Hebrews 12:1 (NRSV)
23. https://twitter.com/brianzahnd/status/416799972810436608
24. From King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
25. Mark 1:15; Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17

The engraving of New Jerusalem was made by Gustave Doré in 1890.

Perspective: A Case for Positivity

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

A Case for Positivity

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions, and give alms.  Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:32-34 (NRSV)

Don't think about all those things you fear

Just be glad to be here

From "Hayling" by FC Kahuna

In Jesus' day, the Jewish people often looked to rabbis to settle their disputes.¹  One day, a man approaches Jesus and asks him to get his older brother to divide the family inheritance with him.  In regards to inheritance, the rule of primogeniture was the custom: the oldest son was to receive two-thirds of the family estate.²  To someone like myself whose culture emphasizes fairness, it does not seem right that things like gender or order of birth should privilege one child over another.  Naturally, I would expect Jesus, who typically sides with the underprivileged, to side with the younger brother on this matter.

Apparently Jesus is not the least bit concerned with this particular dispute.  More interested in the way the man regards material possessions, Jesus warns him to guard himself against greed.  He then tells him a parable about a farmer who is blessed with an extremely abundant harvest of grain.³  The farmer has more grain than he ever imagined he would have, so he does not have enough room to store it all.  He decides to demolish his barns and to build bigger barns.  With plenty of grain stored up, he will be able to live a life of ease for many years.

Sean Gladding points out that, if this particular farmer had a good harvest, then it is likely that other farmers had good harvests as well.  If they all took their excess grain to the marketplace, the prices of grain would plummet, and the poor would greatly benefit from the low prices.  If the farmer stored up his grain and waited until there was a famine to sell it, he could charge whatever he wanted and make a killing.⁴

Unfortunately, the farmer soon dies, and what happens to his grain is undetermined.

Jesus then encourages His audience not to worry about their needs but rather to rely on the God who provides for all of creation, even the birds, the flowers, and the grass.  Jesus promises that, if we seek God's kingdom, all we need will be provided for us.⁵  By transitioning from a teaching on greed to a teaching on worry, perhaps Jesus is implying that our relationship with our material possessions is somehow connected to our anxiety.

In the series of teachings commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us a number of things about our relationship with our material possessions.  He encourages us not to treasure temporal, earthly things that ultimately end up rusted, busted, or boosted but to instead treasure eternal things that can never be taken away from us.⁶  Soon afterward, He reminds us that we can serve either God or money: we cannot serve both.⁷  Between these two rather straightforward teachings, Jesus makes a statement about our eyes.

Jesus says that, if a person's eye is healthy, then he or she will be full of light but that, if a person's eye is unhealthy, then he or she will be full of darkness.⁸  Our eyes are light receptors that give us the sense of sight.  If our eyes function properly, then our lives will be full of light and color.  Without light, there is no sight, so, if our eyes don't function properly, we will, in one sense, live in darkness.  The very fact that this teaching is nestled between two teachings about material possessions would seem to imply that it is somehow related.  That said, I do not think that Jesus is referring to our literal sense of sight.

I wonder if maybe Jesus' teaching about our eyes involves not our ability to see the world around us but rather the way we see the world around us, in other words, our general outlook on life.  It has been said that what we seek we shall find.  If we look for the fingerprints of God in the world, we will find goodness, but, if we look for the work of the devil, we will find evil.  In the words of John Milton, "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."

If our outlook on life is generally negative, we will find ourselves full of anxiety, and when we're afraid, our priority becomes self-preservation.  Anxious about the future, we become greedy as we start stockpiling money and goods.  Greed and accumulation fuel our fear.  We become paranoid that others who are more desperate, less prepared, and less scrupulous might want to benefit from what we have accumulated, so we take measures to protect what is ours.  Given enough time, the farmer in Jesus' story might have built guard towers and razor wire fences around his new barns.

On the other hand, if our outlook on life is more positive, we will experience less anxiety.  With less anxiety, we will hold our material possessions a bit more loosely, so we will be free to be generous with them.  Our focus in life will not be on accumulating the material goods we think will protect us from future hardships, and we will be free to serve higher causes as we seek the Kingdom of God.

If we live happier, less anxious, more generous and loving lives through positivity, then should we not try to maintain a positive outlook on life?  Jesus teaches us not to worry about our needs but to trust in God as we seek God's kingdom.  Perhaps the facts, figures, and data that would give us reason to be negative are not quite as truthful as we think.

Ultimately, it all comes down to what we choose to trust,
the nightly news or the Good News,
the kingdoms of the world or the Kingdom of God,
the "as is" or the "already" and "not yet,"
the visible or the Invisible,
our perceptions of reality or Ultimate Reality.


Notes:

1. William Barclay.  The Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition.  1975, Westminster Press.  p. 164
2. See Deuteronomy 21:15-17.
3. Luke 12:13-21
4. J.R.D. Kirk and Sean Gladding.  "Slavery and Food, Sex and Money with Sean Gladding."  Homebrewed Christianity's LectioCast, 07/25/2015.
5. Luke 12:22-34
6. Matthew 6:19-21
7. Matthew 6:24
8. Matthew 6:22-23

The photograph of the glass of water was taken by Derek Jensen and is public domain.  The author is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Sermon: The Journey of Faith (2016)

Delivered at Travelers Rest United Methodist Church in Travelers Rest, South Carolina on August 7, 2016

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

The Journey of Faith

Audio Version

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.  By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.  For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them.  They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-10, 13-16; 12:1-2 (NRSV)

You call me out upon the waters

The great unknown where feet may fail

And there I find You in the mystery

In oceans deep my faith will stand

From "Oceans" by Hillsong United

When I was in college, I was involved with the Wesley Fellowship, a United Methodist collegiate ministry.  During the fall semester after I graduated, I had the opportunity to join the group for a weekend getaway at Asbury Hills.  This camp, like many retreat locations, has ropes courses, which are structured to build trust and teamwork within groups of friends or colleagues.  The low ropes course we tackled that weekend included a trust fall.  In a trust fall, a participant will climb to a height of at least six feet and then fall backward so that his friends can catch him.  That day, for some reason, I volunteered to be the first in my group to attempt the trust fall.  I climbed up to the platform, crossed my arms over my chest, gave the signal that I was ready, and then fell backward into the waiting arms of my friends.

I had no way of knowing for certain that my friends would catch me that day.  After all, I was the first person in my group to attempt the trust fall, so I had no evidence with which to judge whether or not they were up to the task.  The reason I participated in the trust fall was that I had faith that my friends would actually catch me.

In the Bible there is a document, the title of which is literally translated, "To the Hebrews."  The authorship of this document is unknown, but some speculate that the author was an associate of Paul, maybe Barnabas, Apollos, Luke, or Priscilla.  Some argue that it was written by a woman, reasoning that, if it had been written by a man, we would probably know who wrote it.  Though we typically refer to this document as the Epistle to the Hebrews, scholars generally consider this work to be more of a sermon than a letter.¹  A major theme of this work is Christology.  The author paints a picture of Christ as an empathetic high priest who mediates between God and humanity in a way that no other priest ever could.  The author calls his or her readers, who are apparently facing increasing harassment from the world around them, to remain faithful to Christ and to the life to which He has called them.  In the midst of these exhortations, the author launches into a beautiful discourse on faith.

So what exactly is faith?  The Mirriam-Webster online dictionary offers a number of definitions of faith, many of which concern a person's beliefs:

• belief and trust in and loyalty to God
• belief in the traditional doctrines of religion
• a system of religious beliefs
• something that is believed especially with strong conviction
• firm belief for which there is no proof

Other definitions pertain to a person's character:

• allegiance to duty or a person
• fidelity to one's promises
• sincerity of intentions²

The author of Hebrews defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for" and "the conviction of things not seen."  These definitions are a bit different from the ones we find in the dictionary.  If you feel as though these almost poetic descriptions of faith leave something to be desired, I would suggest that maybe what the author calls faith is something that cannot be easily defined.  Perhaps faith, like love, cannot truly be defined; perhaps it can only be experienced and described.

The author's definitions suggest that faith concerns our hopes as opposed to certainties and things that cannot be observed as opposed to things that are observable.  The author writes that it is by faith that we proclaim that the universe we observe all around us was created by God, One who is not observed with our senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste.  Faith is that which enables us to trust and to even experience what cannot be observed or proven.

One of my favorite hymns, "O Love that Will Not Let Me Go," was written in 1882 by George Matheson on the evening of his sister's wedding.  His sister, who had always looked after him, had left to start a family, and the wedding had undoubtedly triggered some painful memories of his own broken engagement years earlier.  In the midst of great loneliness, the words of comfort that became the beloved song came to him.  The most poignant part of the hymn, in my opinion, is the third verse:

O Joy that seekest me through pain

I cannot close my heart to Thee

I trace the rainbow through the rain

And feel the promise is not vain

That morn shall tearless be

What I have not told you about this story is that Matheson had lost his sight years earlier.³ Though he could not see the rain, he could still hear, feel, taste, and smell it.  A rainbow, on the other hand, is a phenomenon that can only be seen, yet Matheson speaks of tracing a rainbow through the rain in the present tense.  Without the sense of sight, the only way he could possibly experience a rainbow is by having faith that one would indeed emerge after the rain stopped.

We will all face times in our lives when we will have trouble seeing a rainbow – a symbol of God's promises – when the dark clouds descend upon us.  We will all face times of doubt and darkness when God seems very far away.  Faith allows us to trust in God's promises even amid the storms of life.  It is this same faith that we read in the words of a young Polish Jew who faced persecution at the hands of the Nazi regime: "I believe in the sun, even if it does not shine.  I believe in love, even if I do not feel it.  I believe in God, even if I do not see Him."

After describing faith, the author of Hebrews calls to mind a number of men and women from the Hebrews' history who lived lives of faith.  Some people call this part of Hebrews the "Hall of Faith."  The author writes of Abel, whose faith led him to offer a sacrifice acceptable to God.  The author writes of Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and through the wilderness to the land God promised their ancestors.  The author writes of Joshua who circled the fortified city of Jericho with his troops for seven days until the walls miraculously fell.  The author writes of Rahab, a resident of Jericho who hid Joshua's reconnaissance team from the local police.  The author reminds us of Gideon, who led three hundred men into battle against an army of soldiers as uncountable as grains of sand on the seashore.  The author reminds us of David, who challenged a fully-armed giant, with nothing but a slingshot and a few stones.  The author mentions other leaders and warriors who defended Israel against insurmountable odds.⁴

Sometimes we mistakenly think that faith is something that happens in our heads, but we must remember that faith is much more than mere belief.  What all of these men and women of faith share in common is that they are known not for what they believed, but for what they did.  Faith is more than what we believe in our minds and hearts: faith is that which puts hands and feet on what we believe.  Faith is that which drives us to act on what we believe, to live for what we believe, and even to risk our lives for what we believe.  Having faith is the spiritual equivalent of "putting one's money where one's mouth is."

I have never been skydiving, nor do I have any desire to ever do so, but I think that living a life of faith is a lot like strapping on a parachute and jumping out of an airplane.  A skydiver must put a lot of faith in her parachute.  A person can stand inside an airplane with a parachute on her back and proclaim, "I believe that this parachute will see me safely to the ground," but she does not demonstrate her faith in her parachute until she actually jumps out of the airplane and pulls the ripcord.  Skydiving is an act of faith even if the skydiver is afraid or has doubts that her parachute will open.  To paraphrase St. Paul, we walk by faith and not by certainty.⁵

In the Jewish Midrash, an ancient collection of often imaginative commentaries on the Scriptures, there is a story that I think illustrates this aspect of faith very well.  When the Israelites flee Egypt, they find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place – the impassable Red Sea in front of them and the Pharaoh's army in hot pursuit behind them.  Moses raises his staff as God commands him, and nothing happens.  While the rest of the Israelites cry out in despair, a man named Nahshon jumps into the water and begins to wade.  Only when he has waded to the depth at which the water is up to his nose – the point at which he is no longer be able to breathe – does the water finally part, allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land.⁶  Nahshon had faith that God had indeed called the Israelites out of Egypt and that God would ensure the success of their flight.  He had so much faith that he was ready to cross the Red Sea even before the water parted.  Where the rest of the Israelites saw certain destruction, Nahshon saw possibilities.

The person who is featured most prominently in the "Hall of Faith" is the Jewish Patriarch Abraham who, at seventy-five years of age, was called by God to leave everything familiar to him to travel to an unknown land.  God said to Abraham, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  God promised Abraham that his offspring would inhabit the land God showed him.⁷  Abraham and his wife Sarah wondered how their progeny would become a "great nation" when they had no children of their own and when Sarah was well beyond childbearing years.  When God promised them that they would have a child together they both laughed.  When they finally did have a child – when Abraham was 100 and when Sarah was 90 – God made them name him Isaac, a name that means "laughter."⁸

We often look to Abraham as an example of someone who had great faith, but faith was something Abraham had to learn.  In his story we read of a number of times when he and Sarah faced difficulty because they took matters into their own hands instead of trusting God to keep God's promises.  When Abraham was afraid that someone would covet his wife Sarah and kill him, he caused trouble by hiding the fact that they were married.⁹  When Abraham and Sarah had trouble believing they would ever have a son together, Abraham fathered a child with Sarah's handmaid, creating jealousy and discord in the household.¹⁰  Like all of us, Abraham had to grow in faith and learn to trust in God.

According to the great thinker Frederick Buechner, "Faith is not being sure where you're going, but going anyway.  A journey without maps."¹¹  Faith enables us to leave what is familiar and to follow God's call into the unknown because we trust God with the journey.  Faith enables us to embark on a journey we don't know how we'll complete because we trust God with the outcome.

The author of Hebrews suggests that maybe the Promised Land the Jewish Patriarchs desired was not a mere tract of land, but something far greater.  I believe that they sought something that, deep down, we all want.  The author writes that they desired "a better country," "a heavenly one," and a "city... whose architect and builder is God."  I believe that they held on to a hope that we express in prayer every week.  When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them a prayer that includes the words: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  Though these words might, at first, sound like two different petitions, these words actually express a singular hope.

The Kingdom of God is the place where God's will is done.  It is the place where "justice roll[s] down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."  It is the place where swords are beaten in to plowshares and where the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth "as the waters cover the sea."¹²  The Kingdom of God is a reality that is often described as both "already" and "not yet."  Though we look forward to a time in the future when Christ Himself reigns on earth, the Kingdom of God already exists in the hearts of all people who follow Christ.  The prayer that God's will is done on earth as in heaven is not merely a wish for the future but a way of life for everyone who has decided to follow in Christ's footsteps.  As Christians, we look forward to the day when Christ returns to reign on earth, but, by faith, we live as though that day has already come.

The author of Hebrews writes that the heroes of faith "died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them."  The Jewish Patriarchs lived as foreigners in the land God had promised them.  Moses led the Israelites though the wilderness to a land he would not be able to enter for himself, though he was able to view the land from a mountaintop.  Living a life of faith sometimes means working for a something we might not see in our lifetimes.  A chaplain at my alma mater always closed chapel services with a benediction that contains these words: "May Christ come behind you, completing and fulfilling all of the things you leave undone (and there will be many)."

I am reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had a dream of a world in which all people, regardless of skin color, could "join hands... as sisters and brothers"¹³ and who worked to make such a world a reality.  On April 3, 1968, the day before he was murdered, he delivered a speech in Memphis Tennessee.  In reference to recent threats on his life, he said,
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place.  But I'm not concerned about that now.  I just want to do God's will.  And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain.  And I've looked over.  And I've seen the Promised Land.  I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.¹⁴
By faith, King lived and died working to create a more just and Christlike world, not just for himself but for future generations.  Though he did not live to see such a world, by faith, he could see that such a world will someday become a reality.

Faith is a journey, but it is not a journey we were ever meant to take by ourselves.  All journeys have the capacity to become difficult and even treacherous at times, so it is best not to travel alone.  In the words one ancient sage, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.  For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help."¹⁵

Drawing imagery from the ancient Olympic Games, the author of Hebrews describes the life of faith as a race we must run with perseverance and without anything that would hold us back.  The author writes that it is as if we are running in a stadium filled with "a great cloud of witnesses," the innumerable men and women of faith who have run the race before us and are now cheering us on from the stands.  As we run, striving to follow Jesus, we can also turn to each other for support, for we are all running this race together.  To borrow a phrase from my congregation's recent conversation with our Muslim neighbors, it is as if we are "competing for the good."¹⁶  We compete, not to try to prove ourselves better than each other, but to bring out the best in each other and in ourselves.

In the Gospels we read a story about a group of men who have a friend who is paralyzed.  When they hear that Jesus is in their town, they make up their minds to do whatever it takes to get their friend to Jesus, hoping that he might be healed.  The men put their friend on a stretcher and carry him to the house where Jesus is teaching, but, when they see the crowd that has gathered, they realize that they won't be able to get their friend anywhere near Jesus.  One of them looks at the roof of the house and has an idea.  The men climb to the roof, tear a hole in it, and lower their friend through the ceiling in front of Jesus.¹⁷  What I always find remarkable about this story is that it is not the faith of the man on the stretcher that motivates Jesus to act, but rather the faith of the friends who brought him.¹⁸  So often we think of faith as a personal matter, but the truth is that we need the faith of other people and that other people need our faith.

I have a long way to go on my own journey of faith, but I feel that I have traveled a long way thus far.  Though there were a few times in my life when I took the initiative to take my next step forward, I understand that I cannot pat myself on the back too much, for I would not be where I am on my journey without the people along the way who believed in me, walked with me, encouraged me, guided me, and even pushed me at times.  Where would I be without my mother and my grandparents who took me to church every week from the time I was very young?  They instilled in me a weekly rhythm that is still a part of me to this day.  Where would I be without the teachers at Hampton Park Christian School?  It is true that they taught me a lot of things I would later have to deconstruct, but, by the time I graduated from high school, I knew my way around the Bible, thanks to them.

Where would I be without my friends from the Furman Wesley Fellowship, whom I mentioned earlier?  When I graduated from high school, I knew that I needed to be a Christian, but I wasn't quite sure I actually wanted to be a Christian.  I didn't think I could be a "real Christian" and actually enjoy my life.  To be honest, when I learned about the Wesley Fellowship, I started attending their gatherings in the hopes of finding a girlfriend.  I did not find a girlfriend in the group, but I did find a community of friends who showed me that one can indeed be a devoted follower of Christ while enjoying life.  I went with them on my first mission trip, and they introduced me to both swing dancing and contra dancing.  It is to this group that I owe my love for the United Methodist Church and for the Wesleyan tradition.

Where would I be without my dear friend Laura, who was also my pastor for six years?  Laura took an interest in my journey and encouraged me to cultivate my spiritual gifts.  It was she who encouraged me to start taking classes with Lay Servant Ministries.  Where would I be without the people of Bethel United Methodist Church, the church I attended for most of my life?  They gave me the space I needed to cultivate my gifts, lending their ears to the youngest member of the congregation when I taught Sunday school and preached on occasion.

Where would I be without my friends from Bring Your Own Bible, a young adult Bible study group that once met at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church?  There have been times in my life when I wanted to root myself where I was, but the journey of faith does not afford anyone such a luxury.  My friends from B.Y.O.B. welcomed me into community with them when I knew that I needed to move on from the Wesley Fellowship.

Where would I be without my friends Jeanne and Steve, who have a knack for getting me into trouble in all the best ways?  A few years ago they invited me to go on a spiritual journey called the Walk to Emmaus, and this ultimately led to a number of opportunities to serve other people on their journeys of faith.  I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Epiphany ministry, which provides a similar spiritual weekend for incarcerated youth.  Believe me when I say that serving at a detention center was not an opportunity I sought out for myself.  It was Steve and Jeanne, who have served in this ministry for a number of years, who invited me to join them.  Sometimes we need people who will get us out of our comfort zones.

Faith is a journey.  It is a journey into the unknown at the call of One whom we cannot see and cannot prove.  It is a journey to places we thought we would never go.  It is a journey to a Promised Land, a Kingdom "not of this world" where Christ reigns.  It is a journey we take in fellowship with each other.  It is a journey people have taken long before we got here and a journey people will continue to take long after we're gone.  So, in the words of the author of Hebrews, "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."

Amen.


Notes:

1. Wikipedia: "Epistle to the Hebrews"
2. Mirriam-Webster: "Faith"
3. Richard Niell Donovan.  "Hymn Story: O Love that Will Not Let Me Go."  2008, Lectionary.org
4. Hebrews 11:4, 23-32
5. 2 Corinthians 5:7
6. Wikipedia: "Nahshon"
7. Genesis 12:1-4, 7 (NRSV)
8. Genesis 17:15-22; 18:9-15
9. Genesis 12:10-20; 20:1-18
10. Genesis 16:1-16; 21:8-21
11. Frederick Buechner.  Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC.  1993, Harper One.  p. 30
12. Imagery taken from Amos 5:24, Isaiah 2:4, and Isaiah 11:9 (NRSV)
13. From King's "I Have a Dream" speech
14. From King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech
15. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
16. Jonathan Tompkins and Akan Malici.  "Competing for the Good: A Congresation with Christian and Muslim Neighbors."  The Travelers Rest United Methodist Church podcast, 04/18/2016.
17. Luke 5:17-26
18. Luke 5:20

The photograph of the trust fall was taken by Flickr user klndonnelly and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  The photograph of the tandem skydivers is used courtesy of PROskydiving.com.  The photographers are in no way affiliated with this blog.  Abraham's Journey from Ur to Canaan was painted by József Molnár in 1850.  Le paralytique descendu du toit was painted by James Tissot in the late 1800s.