who has faith?

(Based on two bible readings for Sunday June 2nd, 2013.  Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10)

What is faith?  What does it mean to be a faithful person?  In general, we may define it as one who is a devout adherent to a religious system of belief. A faithful Muslim prays five times a day; a faithful Jew learns the Torah and observes the Sabbath; a faithful Hindu prays to the gods and goes to temple.  A faithful person is someone who practices a religion. One can be a faithful spouse, too.  Synonymous with faith, a person of integrity, trustworthy, loyal, committed.  The U.S. Marine corp. are always faithful, “semper fidelis.” --To the corps., its principles, duties, and national defense calling.  To be faithful is to adhere to an ideology or to love what one has been taught.  One can be a faithful democrat, a faithful bigot, a faithful shopper, a faithful friend, a faithful anything really.  To devote one’s self to something or someone is to be faithful.   To whom or what are you most faithful? Who is faithful to you?

More specifically now, what does it mean to be a faithful Christian?  There may be some confusion about this question.  Why?  Because Christians have made it difficult to know what it means to be a faithful one, because there are so many kinds of Christians who exercise faithfulness in so many different ways.  Christians have defined themselves in a variety of ways, and by defining who they are have defined who they are not. We call that dogma or doctrine, human interpretation of belief. Some have defined Christianity too narrowly, choosing an issue or a moral opinion as the defining matter. As a result we have drawn distinctions and separated ourselves from other Christians and even more so from non-Christians.   The diversity of religious expression and our compulsion to be right has meant that Christians do not live in unity with one another. This is a hurtful scandal. Christian faith excludes, establishes certain boundaries, and develops systems to uphold those exclusive boundaries.  Congregations are the end product of private individuals practicing faith with like-minded individuals.  Often, churches have a circle-the-wagons mentality that divides the world into faithful insiders and unfaithful outsiders. We have chosen to be part of the church, chosen how to be faithful here together.  What does faithfulness look like here?  To be moral, follow biblical rules, go to church regularly, pray, give, be baptized, take communion, show up on Sunday, and contribute in some way?  Sometimes we confuse being faithful to a congregation or a pastor or a liturgy or a biblical tenet with having faith in Jesus. And when we do, we suggest that our ways are the only ways, our ways define faith. We get stuck in traditions, in rituals, in behaviors, with people that may not help us mature in faith in God, in Jesus.  So what is Christian faith?

Faith is both caught and taught. Having faith is a mystery.  Some people have it, some don’t. Faith believes what is not seen.   Faith is a way of seeing things that includes the holy, the divine, the supernatural. We heard two stories that give expression to the question of what it means to be a faithful Christian. Paul’s letter to Galatian Christians is a defense of his authority and teachings. We will hear the letter over the next few weeks, so I invite you to read it in its entirety at home.    

Paul says Christian faith starts with Jesus Christ.  Being a faithful Christian means to believe the story of Jesus is the story of God saving and redeeming all of human kind.  God is setting right whatever is wrong with the human condition, with the whole creation.  Or God is revealing the true created goodness within all things and calling all people to recognize and embrace what is true. The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of a new age, in which God’s gentle rule of compassionate service and peace is embodied in and through believers. This is called the gospel.  It is good news.  To have faith is to trust that gospel, that says you are of value to God just as you are; and God has rescued you, reconciled with you, journeys with you, is present, cares about you, has adopted you, welcomed you, claimed you, God is committed to the health and well being of every living thing, including me and you. Even in death, God cares for us and promises the restoration of life. This gospel includes both Jews and Gentiles, everyone.  A faithful Christian needn’t be a faithful Jew, according to Paul.  This was a conflict for early Christians, whose faith in Jesus emerged out of Judaism.  Jesus was a Jew sent for the Jews.  And yet he was so much more.  His vision of God as loving Father of creation, meant that everyone was included in the embrace Jesus offered from the cross. Jesus himself included non-Jews in his healing, calling some of them faithful simply for seeking him out and trusting him.  Paul taught that God’s grace included everyone freely, without merit, without adherence to a set of laws, or a religious system.  This grace is costly; God was willing to die for the world, in order that it might be reborn free of human divisions.  Faith sees the possibility of a God-centered world.                   

Who is faithful?  A worthy/ unworthy soldier, occupying military oppressor of the Jewish people who built their synagogue.  His compassion for his slave and his humble trust in Jesus is FAITH.  That’s all He trusted that God’s goodness could be contained in the work of a fellow human being, that a man could contain the divine life.  That’s enough. See the image of God in someone else and trust that they might have something to contribute to your well-being. People who come to Peter’s Porch, who trust us to bless them with God’s abundance, have faith.  That begs one final question: 

Can a person be faithful and not religious? At the heart of it Christian faith is an evolving personal relationship with GOD.  A friend says; if you start with church you may not get to Jesus.  But if you start with Jesus you’ll always get the church.. Jesus comes to us through the story, the bread, the neighbor.  And you and I reflect Jesus for others. Christian faith leads to Christian community.  Christian community leads others to Christian faith, which leads to Christian community and the church is formed.  So, the faithful are contagious, if Jesus is the one they trust.  Have faith. God is with you.  Share what God has given you.  Invite others.  Trust that God is already at work on their lives. We may see what we hope; more faithful people worshiping and serving Jesus together.  Amen.