More Faith. That’s the hornets nest that the disciples kick in the Gospel for today and the passage really presented me with a lot of questions. One was what is faith and what does more of it look like? I have determined, in light of Jesus ‘ response to the disciples, that this is more than a fair question. Jesus’ response made me question some of the things that I may have thought that I had the clearest understanding of. Confronting my uncertainty led me on a very exciting path and I want to share with you some of what I found that I feel brought me to a deeper, more complex understanding of my faith and my relationship to God and to each and everyone of you. A passage by Karoline Lewis really got the ball rolling for me, and believe me this was no ordinary ball. This was a snowball that seemed to keep growing as it rolled on. She writes “Increase our faith” indeed comes from fretting and not trusting in the Lord (Psalm 37:1-9). It’s the appeal born out of anxiety. It’s the wish that gives witness to our uncertainties. It’s the petition that points to our discomfort with perplexities. It gives voice to those times in our lives when we just need Jesus to make things easier, when we need some answers. It gives voice to our tendencies toward self-indulgence and our desire for the quickest way to get to the end. It gives voice to when we just want to get done and be done. It gives voice to those moments when we are tired of thinking and just want assurance. It gives voice to wanting quick solutions instead of making the effort that is necessary to discover the root cause. It gives voice to our ultimate idolatry when it comes to God — certainty.” Now when I am studying God’s word, sometimes some really troubling questions pop up and a certain amount of fear presents itself down in the pit of my stomach. It’s that age old fear of, “if you are asking those questions, you don’t have the real bona fide faith, therefore, you are in some sort of jeopardy.”. And here I believe we are. This is the thing that we need the most, a church that is willing to boldly hear and discuss real life doubts and questions. Honesty with ourselves and with God is where the Holy spirit can help us to grow. The search truly began for me when I thought that a quick solution to a problem that we bring about by an action, let’s call it faith, sounds suspiciously like magic. There, I said it. That sent me on a quest, the fruits of which I think would do us all good to hear. Magic is defined as, the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. I have heard that the prosperity gospel is a religious belief among some Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being is always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations will increase one’s material wealth. Bruce Wilkinson says, concerning the prayer of Jabez, “I challenge you to make the Jabez prayer for blessing part of the daily fabric of your life. To do that, I encourage you to follow unwaveringly the plan outlined here for the next thirty days. By the end of that time, you’ll be noticing significant changes in your life, and the prayer will be on its way to becoming a treasured, lifelong habit.” Say the incantation, or do the right action and poof you get what you get a blessing. That is without a doubt, magic. You are only sick because you have an unconfessed sin. Figure out what it is, confess it and poof, you are made well. Magic. There are so many aspects and so many teachings out there. We are a hurting people, a lonely people, a sick people, a poor people, a dying people and all that fear, all that anxiety culminates in our believing that if we just had enough faith that God would intervene and straighten the whole thing out. I wish that I could stand here and proclaim that as the truth, but each one of us knows from experience that it is not true. God is not refusing to save a dying child or send a hurricane out to sea because you’re just not doing it right. That’s like when someone flicks their wand wrong in Harry Potter and causes an explosion. That’s magic, not faith. So, faith. I found the words of Dr. Greg Boyd to be helpful here. Faith is about trusting in the beautiful character of Christ, about being transformed from the inside out by the power of his unending love, and about learning how to live in the power of the Spirit as you increasingly reflect his love and his will “on earth as it is in heaven.”. When we try to provoke or curry God’s action to accommodate our will we are no longer walking in faith. This is not saying that we should not take our concerns and needs to God, especially the needs of others. It is saying that we must be on guard against trying to manipulate God. I remember hearing one time that you had to be specific in your prayers and very careful because God answers prayers just as they are asked. The example was something like, God just get me to my street safely. I mean, how often do we all pray for safe travels? Well, the end of the story was that they made it to their street and when they thought they were home free they had an accident. That’s essentially saying that you have to swish and flick your wand correctly and make sure you say the words right and prayer or wish granted. So much of God’s word has been ceded to those that practice spiritual malpractice. Faith is not about the easy way. It’s not about how to get our way. Pastor Anthony Auer points out that even Paul struggled with this. In II Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul tells about some “thorn in the flesh,” some problem that he repeatedly prays for God to take away. He says, “Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” Remember, this is the same apostle Paul whose handkerchiefs were used to heal people. Not even Paul could manipulate God; he could only place himself in God’s hands trusting himself to God’s grace. That is the difference between faith and magic. Magic is when you go to church to improve your bank account. Faith is when you go to church to improve your relationship to God. Magic is when you put money in the offering so that God will bless you. Faith is when you put money in the offering so that God will bless other people. Magic is when you baptize your children in order to protect them. Faith is when you baptize your children so they will become followers of Christ, even if it means they end up carrying a cross. Maybe this is the connection that we have struggled with as Lutherans. Faith and action being hopelessly entangled where you can’t readily see where one starts and the other ends. David Lose suggests that Faith isn’t an idea, it’s a muscle. And the more we use that muscle, the stronger it gets. Or David Sellery points out that Christ’s message to us is that we are here for one reason… to be active witnesses to Christ’s love in the world; loving God; loving neighbor. We were never meant to be inert, couch-potato Christians asking Jesus for a fresh order of faith before we can stir ourselves to follow him. In Baptism we get a life-time supply, the seed is planted and watered. It is up to us to keep the tank topped-up. Faith evaporates when it is idle. It multiplies when it is active. In this gospel Jesus tells us we were meant to grow it, to show it, to share it. That’s nurturing that mustard seed within us to grow and whereby that faith propels us to provide for, serve and protect others, even our enemies. Amen……
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