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Weekly Sermons>
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Aug 10, 2008 --
What is Faith?
1.
Today, August 10, is a special day.
For this is Dale and my wedding anniversary.
17 years of wedded bliss.
I mention our wedding anniversary
because I ask the question this morning, “what is faith?”
Weddings, I believe, help us answer this question
because weddings are an exercise of faith.
Too often we want to make weddings coronations.
We want to crown the bride and groom for their success in finding Mr. and Mrs. Right.
We make weddings coronations to be certain
that the bride and groom will live happily ever after.
But weddings are not coronations,
they are acts of faith.
When a bride and groom repeat their vows
this is not their confirmation of finding their perfect partner.
Instead, the wedding vows are their promises
to open their individual lives,
and make space for the other,
as they step into a very uncertain future.
It is an act of faith.
They do not know what awaits;
but they have faith in each other that whatever they face
they will be blessed by their marriage.
2.
What is faith?
Sometimes the opposite enlightens the word we seek to define.
Often it is said that the opposite of faith is doubt.
If you doubt the presence of God you don’t have faith.
But this is not true.
People of great faith have their doubts.
It is unavoidable.
The mention of God suggests mystery.
And the nature of mystery is the element of the unknown,
which can’t help but lead to doubts.
I like to say that doubt is the beginning of faith
for our doubt force us to ask questions,
and it’s only the asking of questions about God
that can lead to answers.
Scripture is full of doubters.
Look at Peter and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus comes walking out to them and they doubt that it is him.
They think they are seeing a ghost. Peter says,
Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.
That is not a great confession of faith. “If it is you.”
We can’t say that the opposite of faith is doubt.
3.
Neither can we say that the opposite of faith is fear.
Now I must retract because I often have said this.
If we have faith in God’s presence we have no reason to be afraid.
As the disciples’ boat is battered by the waves this morning
and the disciples think they see a ghost in Jesus, Jesus says,
Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.
If the disciples had faith they would not have been afraid.
But do our fears deny our faith?
Who among us has never been afraid?
We’re all afraid.
We’re afraid of getting sick,
we’re afraid of stormy seas,
we’re afraid of high gas prices.
Is this to say we have no faith?
4.
So what is faith or what is the opposite of faith?
Anne Lamott, in her book, Plan B Further Thoughts on Faith,
has caught my attention on this quest to define faith.
She says that the opposite of faith is certainty.
How can that be?
If we are certain about God, don’t we have great faith?
But this is what she writes:
I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me, that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. I wish faith wrapped you in a bubble, but it doesn’t, not for long. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.
5.
Look again at Peter.
When does he have faith?
It is not when he sees Jesus walking on the water.
It is not even when he is walking on the water.
Peter has faith when he begins to sink.
When he is unsure of what is happening,
as he goes down,
he expresses his faith in Jesus.
But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord save me!”
6.
The problem with certainty is that it can quickly turn to arrogance and idolatry.
If Peter would not have sunk,
if he would have succeeded in walking on water all the way to Jesus,
he quickly could have convinced himself of his invulnerability.
If he did not sink,
he wouldn’t have cried out for Jesus,
and that would have been the real danger he would have faced.
Let’s go back to the bride and groom who turn their wedding into a coronation.
It is easy to take on a sense of invulnerability.
It is easy to believe that nothing will ever challenge their love.
But this is when brides and grooms get into trouble.
I will never forget a conversation Dale and I had with her Aunt Corky.
We spoke about a troubled marriage and very casually Dale said,
“Oh that could never happen to us.”
And Aunt Corky said, “Oh yes it could!”
It doesn’t mean it will,
but we could not be so certain that our marriage could never be challenged.
That certainty takes on an air of arrogance which can be a very slippery slope.
Or when we are so certain of God’s will
or so certain that our interpretation of the Bible
is the only interpretation.
Is this really great faith, or is it idolatry?
Does our certainty speak more about our need to be right,
than being open to the surprises of a living God?
Lamott gives us something to think about when she says that the opposite of faith is certainty.
6.
So, after all of this, what can we say is faith?
Let’s look at the gospel and say,
Faith is the willingness to get out of the boat.
So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
Like a bride and groom opening their lives to each other,
faith in Jesus Christ is the decision to open our lives
to the surprises of God’s mercy.
Sarah Dylan, an Episcopal priest lifts up Peter as the example of faith.
Peter doesn’t have it all together.
Peter does not fully understand or consistently appreciate what he eventually will proclaim.
But Peter stepped out of the boat,
however clueless, however clumsy;
he made space to encounter God’s mercy.
Dylan writes,
A faithful person eventually gets to the point at which she or he can say to God, “I don’t know where we are going, but I know wherever it is, I’d rather be drowning with you, then be crowned by somebody else.
Peter wasn’t certain of anything except when he was sinking.
He knew then who to call.
“Lord Save Me!”
Amen
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