Sunday, August 25, 2013

PLENTY WORTHY ENOUGH

August 25, 2013
Pentecost 14
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Luke 13:10-17
(prayer)
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:5)
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That’s verse five of one of the most beloved and well-know bits of scripture: the 23rd Psalm, where God is generous banquet host.  The first four verses use a different image for God - the wise and compassionate shepherd - who makes sure that the sheep want for nothing.  //
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 
I think we can read the word ‘enemies’ very broadly here: not just those who fight against us, trying to defeat us in some way - but those who are opposed to who ‘we are’: enemies to our true and honest self - the voices that say “you’re not yet good enough”.
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Canadian Comic, Jeremy Hotz, had a routine about going to the dentist.
He quipped that (to the dental hygienist) no matter how much flossing you’ve done, “it’s never good enough for her!”
Our world can do that to us: make us feel that we have not achieved enough, done enough, look good enough, lived well enough. We are told that we don’t really “belong” the way we are. The way we are is just not going to do.  And therefore we must be unhappy and long for the better life that could be.  The present is always a place of “not enough’.
Coincidently, there is no shortage of peddlers wanting to sell us on the next big fix to the problem that is our under-achieving life.
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“You don’t want me as a prophet to the nations, God; I wouldn’t know what to say. And who would listen to me anyway, I’m too young.” 
I’m not good enough, Jeremiah responds to his God.
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Jesus touched the woman and said, “you are free of your ailment”.  And she stood up straight (without pain) for the first time in 18 years.  The words she then spoke were praises to God.  The other words heard that Sabbath day came from the leader of the synagogue where this all happened - “this is the holy day of rest, come see your healer on any other day not this one!”
In other words, you are not worthy of being ‘freed’ today.  As Jesus pointed out: if you were a donkey who needed to be led a watering hole that would be one thing, but you’re not that important.
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A couple of weeks ago, I went and saw the new Matt Damon/Jodie Foster movie, Elysium: a futuristic action flick set in the year 2154.  Apparently in 141 years, earth will be so over populated, polluted and disease riddled that a small segment of the population has moved off-world to live in an orbiting habitat called Elysium, where life is calm, green, luxurious and healthy.  Homes have private medical beds that can cure any disease with as much effort as using a 21st century tanning bed.  Of course this technology is only available to the citizens of Elysium: the most wealthy and privileged of people.  The people of earth are at best a workforce to provide goods to meet the needs of Elysium and at worst a burden and a threat.
It’s the classic struggle between the few haves and the many have-nots, cloaked in violent CGI-ed laser gun battles, un-caring robots and powerful people going to any lengths to not lose what they have and to gain what power they don’t already possess.
In this movie, the human race had developed all of the techniques and technology to deal with the problems of disease and poverty, but the culture had decided that vast majority of people were simply not worthy of the benefits of those advancements.
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I hope that is not our future: that we don't take the conversations and cultural assumptions about worthiness to the extreme.
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A woman in pain has waited 18 years, why couldn’t she wait one more day?  It’s the law after all.
Jeremiah makes a logical assumption that people won’t be able to look past his age and inexperience.
But they WERE worthy of divine support and encouragement - they didn’t need to wait until a later time when others might be ready for them to engage their best potential. 
Through as story of healing, Jesus demonstrates that all people are of value and worthy of enjoying the wholeness of life.  A young boy is called to speak for God, despite his young age.
To believe that God views us as worthy runs counter to the culture that tells us we are not good enough, yet.
There are so many bible stories where the underdog is vindicated, where the child is welcomed, where the outcast is given love.
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What difference might it make if we can be open to the notion that God overflows our cups with compassion and mercy?
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·         Search you own history to times where you have been judged as not ready, worthy.  Maybe when you have judged others.
·         Be open to the promise that God is not like that.
·         This assurance is our foundation: our rock, our anchor.
·         Discover our gifts.
·         Learn, grow, but know we are worthy of God’s love and care NOW.
·         View others through God’s eyes.
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They/We are worthy of this gift!  And all of the opportunities that come with it.


Let us pray:
You love us as we are, O God.  Help us to have the same attitude within us.  Amen.


#675VU “Will Your Anchor Hold?”

Sunday, August 18, 2013

FAITH AND PRACTICE

August 18, 2013
Pentecost 13
Isaiah 5:1-7
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
(prayer)
If you were in church here last week, you might remember that the author of the letter to the Hebrews made the case that people in the church can follow historical examples of faith – “faith” being the assurance of things hoped for and the confidence of things unseen -even if a fulfillment of these hopes is not realized right away.
The early part of Hebrews chapter eleven spoke about: Abel (Adam and Eve’s son); Enoch (Noah’s great grandfather), Noah; Abraham and his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob.
Each of these heroes of history were said to have lived ‘by faith’.
In today’s reading, the Hebrews author writes a list of others who he could go into detail about, but doesn’t think he has to: Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah (jef-tah), David, Samuel and the prophets.
There was one last detailed description did come at the start of today’s reading from Hebrews.
Rahab (rA-hab), a resident of Jericho, who was spared when the walled city was attacked by Joshua and the Israelites because she had helped the Hebrew scouts who had come earlier to spy on the city’s defences.
What makes Rahab different from the others we read about last week is that she is not Hebrew and not only that, she is a prostitute: a foreigner engaging in defiantly distasteful behaviour.  But those distinctions don’t matter, by faith she survived the invasion.
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Faith – for the author of Hebrews – is not about status, nationality, gendre; but is about a state of mind and heart > an openness to a mysterious God, who has ways and means beyond our understanding.
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The early Christians (at the time Hebrews was written) were experiencing hardship, even persecution for what they professed.  The message to them was that they could endure “by faith”.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been reading a book by Reza Aslan called “Zealot.  In it, he attempts to tell (in basically chronological order) the context of Jesus’ life and how his teachings and actions fit into the time of the early first century.  Aslan actually begins several decades before Jesus’ life to help the reader understand the world that Jesus was born into.  And Aslan, goes on to describe the development of Christian thought and theology through the later years of first century after Jesus death and resurrection.
One of the theses of Reza Aslan’s book is that Jesus could be seen alongside other Hebrew charismatic teachers who promoted the revolutionary idea that Judea and Galilee should be free from the rule of the Roman Empire – that the throne of David should be restored - that God was their sovereign, not Caesar. 
As you may have heard me preach on Good Friday (and at other times), Jesus’ death came as a result of him being convicted as an enemy of the empire – his crucifixion was punishment for the fact that he challenged the authority of Caesar, even taking on (passively or explicitly) the radical title: King of the Jews.  The word “Messiah” (Christ) means “anointed one” – it was a royal reference - referring to coronation rite of anointing the leader with oil.  Aslan makes the same point in this book (as I have here before) that Jesus was executed for sedition/treason.
All of the conversations about blasphemy with the high priest and the Sanhedrin are a side show.  Clearly the religious leaders did not like Jesus or the anti-temple content of his teachings, but Jesus died as a revolutionary traitor of the empire.
As I mentioned, Aslan does a really nice job recounting the history of others around Jesus’ time who could be said to have has messianic aspirations – tried to lead a popular uprising against Rome to re-establish Hebrew self-rule.  Many of these co-called messiahs are known by name; some are even mentioned in the Bible.  But most of us know little or nothing about Theudas (thA-dus), or someone called “The Egyptian”, or Athronges, or another messianic leader simply known as “The Samaritan”, or Hezekiah the bandit theif, Judas the Galilean, Menahem (me-nah-hem), Simon son of Giora (gE-or-ah), or Simon son of Kochba (kok-ba).  We don’t know about them because when the authorities finally saw fit to stop them, that was it.  A messiah who fails to establish the kingdom was a failed (false) messiah.
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What makes the Jesus movement different is that, even though Jesus also failed in a mission to rout the Romans and re-establish Hebrew self-rule, his followers had a conviction that was unique – they maintained their belief that Jesus was messiah.
You see, to the early followers of Jesus, (as the author of Hebrews expressed) ‘faith’ included the conviction of hopes not yet realized.
One of the things I really liked about the book, Zealot, is that the early Christians adjusted what freedom and liberty meant - even in the context of empire, oppression and suffering.  Even without realized justice in the here and now, the church was encouraged to hold to a faith that - true freedom and liberty was known in the realm of the spirit and the soul.  Even Caesar had trouble dousing that fire.
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And so how does that inform us as we live today in a world, where there is an expectation that everything we might desire in the moment must be ‘in stock’, on the shelves.  Our box store, drive-through, 4G/LTE mentality is making patience hard to come by.
Did you hear the story out of Edmonton about the man who had his car seized by police because over the past eight years he has been convicted or charged with eight counts of ‘road rage’.  The law they are using is usually reserved for the vehicles of criminal gangs and drug lords.
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Patience seems to be a scarce commodity in the world of today.
We want easy answers; we want quick answers; we want results… now!
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I don’t want to suggest that we lose our desire to make real the practical justice demanded by Jesus’ mission of compassion and love.  In fact, I believe that our scriptures point us to enduring even when change is slow and elusive.
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‘Slow and steady’ is a tried and true way of working toward a goal.
The challenge is to not let frustration or apathy win the day.
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Many of those who are commended for their faith by the author of Hebrews did not receive a full fulfillment of what was promised. 
Their example for us is not the ‘receiving’ but in the ‘persevering’.  Because we are part of a long lineage of faithful people - a cloud of witnesses (as Hebrews puts it), we are encouraged to move forward... in faith.
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This is very similar to what the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans: 5:2Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Suffering > Endurance > Character > Hope
Not that we are to go out of our way to find suffering so that we can know hope.  But, being able to suffer through the difficulties that lie between us and our goal is a characteristic that the early church leaders wanted the followers of Jesus’ Way to develop.
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In light of this discussion, let’s have a look at the passage from Isaiah - a parable about an unfruitful vineyard.  At first glance, it is describing a vineyard owner who gives up on the land which is not producing good fruit.
It seemed to the vineyard owner that he had done everything right - the land was fertile, it was cleared of stones and choice vines were planted, he build a protective wall and planted a hedge - and yet the fruit was bitter (no better than wild grapes).  “What more could I have done?”
The vineyard owner is ready to give up - let the weeds and briers overtake the land and choke out the worthless plants.  This plot doesn’t even deserve any rain.
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Isaiah chapter five is a harsh bit of scripture.  Especially when we read that there is no mystery what the metaphor of the unfruitful vineyard refers to: the vineyard is the house of Israel and the people of Judah!
Is God ready to give up on the people and let other nations come and do with the land as they choose?
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As the book of Isaiah begins, Uzziah is the king of Judah.  According to accounts in the books of 2nd Kings and 2nd Chronicles, he was a vigorous and able ruler and  did what was right in the sight of God.  At least that was the description early in his reign (he became king at age 16 and reigned for 52 years).  In Isaiah’s time, Uzziah had run afoul of the Temple high priest for taking upon himself to burn incense at the alter - a task reserved only for the priests - not even the kings was allowed to perform such sacred rituals.
It is the waning years of Uzziah’s kingdom that has the prophet Isaiah’s attention as we read chapter five.  To the prophet, the vineyard of God has become unfruitful as the kingdom of Judah has become unfaithful.
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In this song of the vineyard, is the call to return to faithfulness.
It is the same theme that John the Baptist would preach: repent, for the Kingdom of God is near.  Jesus borrowed those same words as he began his ministry - repent [return to faith], God’s kingdom is in your midst.
In Isaiah 5, what sounds like a condemnation, is really a promise about the presence of the Holy in the here and now.  And there is the call to appreciate and enjoy that.
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So, for us today from these scriptures are two promises - well it’s really one promise, known in two different ways:
The promise is (as we will profess as we come to the table in a few minutes for communion)... WE ARE NOT ALONE.
We are part of a long lineage of faith and action - a veritable cloud of witnesses, who are our guides and inspiration along the Way.
And... the realm of God is in our midst.  For the writer’s of the gospels, this was two-fold - God is our true sovereign, not Caesar and Jesus, in the flesh, was a manifestation of God - even if that was not fully appreciated at the time Jesus lived and moved and had his being in this world.
God is in our midst.  We are not alone, we live in God’s world!
Now, most times when we look at the world, we might call that proclamation into question - there is much that works against the compassion and justice that Jesus preached.
Sometimes, all we want is to understand a world that seems to defy explanation.  We want all of the answers and we want them now.  We don’t want to be patience.  We don’t want to have to persevere.  We don’t want to have to hope.  We want the easy quick understanding.
But, the experience of that cloud of witnesses tells us that - even among the most faithful of our kind - that has never been the case.
The best we can do might be to let go of the things that weigh us down (the distractions, the unfixable worries) and simply “be” - to move ahead on this path of life and faith (i.e. persevere) looking at the example of Jesus, who did not avoid difficulty when it came to proclaiming his message of compassion and justice - a message that is now ours to live out and followers of Jesus’ Way.
Slow and steady is a means of faithful living - it is a spiritual discipline.

Let us pray:
God, sometimes faith is hard; easy answers and clear understanding would be so much easier.  But I’ll try.  I’ll move ahead in faith.  In Jesus’ name, I pray, AMEN.


***offering***

Sunday, August 11, 2013

READY FOR ACTION


August 11, 2013
Pentecost 5
Hebrews 11:1-16
Luke 12:32-40

(prayer)

I am hoping that you will be patient and forgiving with me this morning, since this is my first Sunday back in the pulpit since late June.  For the last six Sundays, I have sat in the pews and worshipped in Devon, Edson, Fort Saskatchewan and Leduc.  There were two Sundays that I wasn’t able to get to a church.  As Jim Steinman once melodically wrote: “two outta three ain’t bad.”

I hope I am ready for this task today.  I think I have all of the things I need here:  I have my guitar, my chorded hymnbooks; my tablet is charged up: I have my sermon notes, clean underwear, a microphone or two.  Physically, I’m ready for the acts of preaching and helping lead worship.  To paraphrase Jesus (as quoted in the Luke passage this morning), I am dressed for action and have my lamp lit.

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Being physically ready is not enough.  Even more important is the place of my heart and mind – am I (inwardly) ready for this valuable task in our life together as a church... today?

I think so.  I hope so.

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“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.”

Am I ready for this?  I guess that I will have to rely on faith.

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The letter to the Hebrews is a bit of a puzzle within the New Testament.  It is clearly a letter-like sermon, but if it ever included a specific reference of who wrote it and who the original recipients were, those sections have been lost to the void of history.  In the final chapter, there are personal greetings – mention of early church leader Timothy and the church in Rome, but that’s as close as it gets.

One unique aspect is that (based on its content), it seems that the audience was primarily made up of Jewish Christians – people like Jesus’ original followers, the apostle Paul and others in Judea, Galilee and throughout the diaspora who came to faith in Jesus as a natural evolution of their Jewish faith.  Most of the New Testament is written with a particular approach that would be understandable by the increasing population of gentile Christians.

One thing that is pretty much universally agreed to by biblical scholars is that the Apostle Paul (author of letters to the Thessalonians, Philippians, Philemon, Corinthians, Galatians and Romans) is NOT the author of the Hebrews letter.  The main reason for this assertion is that the style of greek used in this letter is the most formal, most sophisticated in the New Testament.  Paul’s letters are written in a very colloquial style: conversational – everyday greek.  But Hebrews is formal, poetically flowing, scholarly, more essay than letter. 

You could compare it to a letter written by me to Patti ("it was nice getting to know you at camp this summer") to something written by Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett ("I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett... [their] fresh strange music, the affluent language, the exquisite pathos and true new brave thought.")

I am not a greek scholar.  I barely recognize the letters of the alphabet.  But I trust what I read in the commentaries and textbooks about this subject.  Hebrews is unique among the New Testament letters.

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Hebrews chapter eleven is an astounding essay on faith.  Not everyone in churches can identify it as Hebrews 11:1, but many people have probably heard before the words of that verse in some form or another:  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is knowing what you are hoping for and being convinced by what you can’t see.

This a very similar theme to what comes out of the story of Jesus’ follower Thomas, who cannot take the other disciples at their word and has to see the resurrected Jesus for himself before he will believe.  In John 20:29, the Risen Christ is quoted as saying: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

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The author of Hebrews supports his thesis by listing off a litany of faithful people from the past: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob.  The Abraham story is particularly highlighted in Hebrews 11.

The crux of the essay seems to be that, when we are experiencing hardship and despair, we can be inspired by the old stories of faith – the example of those who did not look back, but looked forward.  They were able to focus on the promise of what was to come (things unseen) and trusted in those promises.  The Hebrews author even notes that not all of these people lived to see the fulfillment of what they hoped for but that their faith sustained them along the way.

Obviously, the implication for the early Christians who received this letter was that they were encouraged to do the same.

Again, I have no fluency in greek, but my understanding is that the word translated as ‘faith’ in Hebrews 11, pistis (πίστις) can perhaps best be expressed as ‘trust’ and ‘reliability’.

Abraham trusted God.  That was the centre of his faith.  And Abraham and Sarah’s faith informed their actions moving forward.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

I like the way that Jim Wallis (editor of Sojourners Magazine) puts it:  “faith is believing, in spite of the evidence.”

Wallis often follows that statement up with a future focused phrase:  “Faith is believing, in spite of the evidence.  And then watching the evidence change!”

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That’s the next step isn’t it.  Faith is more than belief.  Faith is about trust and loyalty and where we dare invest ourselves.  To say we have faith in God is to do more than simply ‘say it’ – to have faith means to live in a radical was, trusting that tomorrow is not faced alone:  that tomorrow is taken care of in the hands of God. (Seasons of the Spirit Fusion P1 2013)

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Life for the people of Jesus’ day (in a land occupied by empire and controlled by an elite whose power relied on roman complicity) was desperate and hard.  The same goes for the early Christians later in the first century.  There were real experiences and good reasons to be skeptical of hope and faith: the evidence was hard to see.

It is into this context that Jesus says (and Luke writes) Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

The kingdom represented a power they didn’t have: a life devoid of worry and fear.  That’s how they viewed Pilate in Judea, Herod in Galiee, Ceasar in Rome.  It was a life they could only have dreamed of.

The ‘kings’ of the world had all the excesses the needed to give away whatever they wanted or waste as much as they desired without a worry of whether they would have their next meal or a secure place to live.

When Jesus says to ‘his audience’, sell what you have and support the poor, the future was far less certain.  Would these people still be able to support themselves?  Would they have a future?

Jesus’ next words are all metaphorical:  to those tempted to hoard what they have, he notes that their purses are vulnerable.  Time will eventually decay away the material, if the moths don’t get them first.  So, make purses of faith that hold the treasure of your trust in God’s promised presence in this world and the next.

Put your money where your heart is!

What is important to you?  Invest in that.  Trust that you are cared for now and in the days to come.

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Jesus wants his followers to live now as if the kingdom of heaven was a present reality.  Don’t hold off on living your faith, hoping to bring it out at exactly the appointed time.  Do it now and you will be ready for whatever the future holds.

Jesus used the image of a group of faithful servants who dutifully waited and were ready when their master came home from a wedding feast.  In a second image, Jesus talked about a homeowner who was alert enough to not let a thief rob the place.

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As an image for this message this morning, I chose a picture of Matthew in his football uniform, down in his three point stance – dressed and ready for action.

There is a scene in the football movie “Friday Night Lights” where (late in a game that they were way ahead), the coach (played by Billy Bob Thorton) wants to give his star running back a rest and get the backup some game reps.

This could be a modern sports fan version of the parable that Jesus told about being ready.

 
It's more than having the right equipment ready, you’ve got to get your head in the game!

 
In community, it is all of our best interests that we “are ready” together.  It is the combination of our readiness that can make a difference in this world.

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Jesus' vision for this kind of life is far less possible in isolation.  One person on their own taking on (say) the task of a ministry with the poor is going to have a minimal impact and is likely unsustainable as a solo act of faith. 

Jesus’ promise is most trustworthy in the context of community – where people support and care for each other – sharing joys and burdens.

That was the original vision for the church as described in the book of Acts: All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds* to all, as any had need. 46Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home* and ate their food with glad and generous* hearts, 47praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (2:44-47)

Basically, this is the way modern churches function and operate today – the pooling of talents and treasure in an environment of mutual support and common mission – so that the blessings of the kingdom can be shown and known in the world.

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“Faith is being sure of what you hope for and being convinced of what you can’t see” (Hebrews 11:1). At its best this is exactly what faith is – a deeply held assertion that has no proof attached, just a feeling that it is true.

I have to admit that in my experience, Full Faith like this can be elusive, hard to grasp. I suspect that (more often) we experience something a little less convincing – To paraphrase Hebrews a practical faith is having a “pretty good idea of what we are hoping for and a willingness to accept that we can’t see everything.”

I do believe that this assertion is just strong enough to encourage us to move forward as if it were true. This Less Certain Faith is as good as it gets sometimes ...

and it is good enough.

The bible promises us that as we are able to be ready for “what might be” by trusting in God’s faithfulness and compassion, we will have a spiritual wealth more valuable than all the kingdoms of the world.

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It begins with an openness to the feeling that we are not alone that we live in God’s world and that we are loved, just as we are.

Let’s be ready together.

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Let us pray:


 

Loving God, we try to journey by faith each day.  Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is not.  Help us to know in heart, mind and soul that we are not alone.  Amen.

 

#603VU “In Loving Partnership”