ON FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING . . .
The Revd. Deacon Polly M. Bowen
One night I put a quote on the board for my EFM class. It sparked a lot of discussion (and it gave me something to write about.)
The quote was from Augustine of Hippo, a fourth century African bishop and Doctor of the Church who argued persuasively against several early heresies. “If you understand it, it isn’t God,” Augustine said. Some people loved the quote. Others weren’t so sure, and one person was even offended. The diversity of opinion surprised me.
I think the key to the various opinions is that we all have different ideas about the meaning of faith. St. Paul had a lot to say about faith, describing it as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) But there is more. I can’t begin to define faith, but that won’t stop me from trying . . .
For me, faith is a gift involving an essential relationship. To believe in something (or someone) with all my heart, to know in my mind that this is right and good and true, to be able to put my whole trust in that something and live confidently in it is truly a gift. But a gift of faith does not necessarily include understanding.
To put it more simply, I believe in quantum physics (I guess), but I don’t understand it. I have faith that my doctor will choose the right drug to cure my pneumonia or that my mechanic will make that funny noise go away from my car, but I don’t understand the things they understand about these problems. And, at least in the case of the mechanic, I can say that I don’t care how he does it, as long as he does it.
But this is a utilitarian viewpoint. It’s perfectly proper in the case of the mechanic – he is paid to keep the noises out of my car, and we have a satisfactory agreement about it. It is not proper to translate this utilitarian attitude to my religious life. God is not a commodity to be used, whether it’s to heal us (or our loved ones) when we are ill, or to get us out of the jams we get ourselves into, or to find us a parking spot, or even to bring down peace among the nations without any effort on our part. And we do not pay him off by being good or by praying or by tithing our income.
A faith-relationship with God is more than that. It can’t be put on a utilitarian level from either side. We can talk about stewardship and about our duty as Christians and about what we owe God (all legitimate topics for discussion, but not for a discussion about faith) – and we can sound very pious and self-satisfied about it. And all the while, we’re missing the mark. “Missing the mark” is the literal translation of the word that we translate as SIN.
The “mark” that we miss is union with God. That’s what we were created for. Aquinas called it our “natural end.” The Deuteronomist called it our “eternal dwelling place (Deut. 33:27). What we sometimes fail to realize is that Salvation isn’t a fix-up measure; it’s part of Creation. It’s part of God’s original plan to protect and cherish his people, even though we sometimes miss the mark. Faith is the relationship that supports and sustains us on the way, or, as Paul put it, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
But good relationships don’t just happen. You have to work at them. They have to be encouraged and nurtured. God gave us the Scriptures and the sacraments and prayer and the faith community to nourish our relationship with him.
And most of all, he gave himself. It was a powerful Love that made that sacrifice. I don’t understand that kind of love. But I don’t have to understand it to respond to it. God enables my response (that’s called prevenient grace), and that response is the faith relationship I have with God. It’s a very precious gift.
I don’t really understand any of this. But then, as
