Increasing our Faith...What is Faith

The Apostles came up to the Master and said, “Give us more faith.” That is a pretty bold request, don’t ya think? Their demand does not appear to be too out of the ordinary, for us does it? I mean, who has not asked for more faith? Especially at this time in our history when there is so much turmoil and war or talk of war and uncertainty. You know my background. I came from two previous careers, one in the military and one as a paralegal. When it came time to discern a call to the ministry, my first response was “who me?” Are you sure God this is what you want me to do? I immediately jumped to the notion that I would need a lot of faith for this and I was not so sure I had enough to continue going to church; let alone leave my job security (what little there was) and go to seminary.

I started asking for more faith because I was not sure that I had enough. I am sure that we all have experienced that in our lives. It might not be a career change but it could be making it through an illness, finding a job, the loss of a loved one, divorce…there are any number of things that could cause you to question whether or not you have enough faith. We have all been there or are there. It is that question that we ask of ourselves every day…”Do I have enough faith to get me through this (whatever it is)?”

It is a common question because we are taught to question. After all, that is how we obtain knowledge is through the questioning of something we may not fully understand. Sounds simple doesn’t it? I want to know how to turn on the computer at home. I find the answer by going to the owner’s manual or now I find the little universal button that we associate with power and push it. We get that knowledge and now we know how to do something. We figure out how magic tricks are done and we feel more important because we know how it is done.

Faith is quite different. There are no owner’s manuals on faith. There is no instruction book on how to obtain faith. Faith is not something that you can see, touch or feel as we think in our conventional wisdom. It is not a tangible product like this pulpit or the choir members or us sitting in the pew, for now and I will come back to that in a little while. Society dictates to us how we measure things. For instance if you “get a bargain” that means you may get 10, 20, or 30% off on a product or a two for one deal. Society wants to measure everything in things you can touch feel, see. Society wants us to obtain and hold onto whatever it is for ourselves.

Faith is not like that. Jesus tells us that faith cannot be measured by a more or less. There is only faith. Even if your faith was the size of a mustard seed, poppy seed…the point that Jesus is making is that faith is faith. It is what is in your heart, your mind and your soul. He is wiping any kind of standard off the map. God does not have a scale to measure your faith because God has your heart. While there is no owner’s manual, there is a book to help us develop our faith. We all know that book that is the bible; yes that’s the book for me. This book is about God’s relationship with us and our relationship with God and with one another.

It is the story of God’s love poured out for us through carrying us through difficult times, teaching us about Our Creator and it is the book that teaches us about the immeasurable love of God. It is immeasurable in the God delivered a Son into this world and it is the same God whose only Son went to the cross, suffered and died for our sake…so that we would have faith, no matter how great or small, that we are valued; each and every one of us is God’s precious creation. The story does not end with death on the cross but continues in the Good News that Jesus was raised from the dead to show us that God will always have the last word. The story does not even end there because Jesus words to the disciples and us were and are to share the Good News of everlasting life.

A friend in Christ, Faith is not necessarily determined by what we can see, touch or feel; however, faith is observed, is touched, and is felt. When we gather to worship it is faith that brings us together to share and sing the praises for God who has delivered us from sin, death and the devil. It is our faith in God that is with us when we seek or offer forgiveness from others and from ourselves. It is faith in God and in Jesus Christ when we receive the ultimate act of forgiveness in the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion. It is our faith in the God who promises everlasting life when we hand our children over to God through the gift of Baptism.

That is faith in our worship lives but what about when we walk out these doors? Faith carries us through our difficult times. Especially today when we hear the words “unemployment, divorce, illness” or words like “layoffs, sequestration, or shutdown” These are troubling and painful words yet we put our faith and trust in God who uses our congregation, friends, and family to help us through difficult times. We have faith, and faith alone, that calls us and teaches us that we help one another as much as we can; in our everyday lives.

    Faith is not some heroic act that will get your name in the paper. We can want it to be and hope it to be but the truth is that when our faith is lived out, it is done so with no news crews or paparazzi hanging outside our door. Faith guides us in our words and actions in our every day life. Faith is lived out with the purpose of knowing that it is God’s call and it is not for fame and fortune because quite frankly, fame and fortune is not the purpose for living out our faith. The purpose of living out our faith is because of the gifts that God has given to us in our daily lives; the gift of love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy and it is our response to these Gifts that we give and share with others God’s gifts with everyone else.
   I don’t know about you but I don’t know if I can move a mulberry tree. I don’t know that my faith will do that but I do know that our faith keeps Christ in our hearts, minds, and souls…even on those days when we don’t feel like it, we still have faith. I know that faith keeps us in relationship to God and with Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Faith is what holds us together as the body of Christ and sustains us as Children of God: AMEN