The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost 2007
This sermon was preached on the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, October 14, 2007 by the Revd Deacon Polly Bowen.
ABOUT A YEAR AGO, there was an extended period of time when I had no car. I prevailed upon just about everyone for transportation to and from the church – Martin the Sexton, Alice Brown, Tom Alcamo, the Maksons, sometimes I walked – and finally, that charming, compassionate couple who live in the rectory handed me the keys to one of their cars. I didn’t want to be responsible for someone else’s car, so at first I refused, but I relented rather quickly, and a week or so later they said, “Hey, we really don’t need that car any more – it’s yours.”
AND SO I INHERITED the Rector’s car. And along with it I inherited his peculiar collection of bumper stickers. Now, I like a good slogan as well as anybody – years ago when I sang in the choir I had a favorite T-shirt with music notes sprinkled all over it, and it said, “God hears me in perfect pitch.” Of course, nobody else did. But I have never been one to put bumper stickers on my car. These do offer some interesting reading, however. I have a growing reputation – perhaps it’s notoriety - around town as people in various parking lots comment on the messages displayed on my car.
AMONG THE VARIOUS MESSAGES is one that says, “If you’re not outraged, you haven’t been paying attention.” That’s a message that may ring true in today’s world, but it could easily have been attached to the writings of today’s Old Testament Prophet. He, too, lived in a culture of conflict, injustice, trepidation. How long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Habakkuk was paying attention, and he was outraged. Strife and contention arise, the wicked surround the righteous, and justice goes forth perverted.
HE WAS OUTRAGED, but not out of control. Habakkuk’s anger was a righteous anger, and he was not without hope. One of the problems with our practice of reading little snippets of Scripture is that we rarely get the whole picture. But we hear enough today to know that Habakkuk prayed, and he got an answer – the righteous shall live by faith.
TODAY’S NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS give us the same message: Timothy is reminded of the faith of his mother and his grandmother, and of the faithfulness of his companion and teacher, Paul. He is admonished to persevere by keeping that faith alive in his own life and ministry.
I LEARNED A LONG TIME AGO that the opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt can be a healthy thing that causes us to question, to explore and learn, so in the long run it may even serve to strengthen our faith. The opposite of faith is FEAR. When we are afraid, the fight or flight mechanism kicks into high gear. This inhibits our imagination and gets in the way of constructive thought. We become self-centered rather than Other-centered or God-centered. Who will protect me – and my stuff? I wonder if I should get a better alarm system, or more locks, or a big, nasty dog, or maybe move to a gated community. Are my bank account and my credit card safe? Should we pass more rigid laws, establish more prisons? Shall we build more and bigger bombs?
IN THE GOSPEL LESSON Jesus gives his disciples a rather extraordinary illustration of what faith will do. The first thing it does, of course, is to banish fear, and then I suppose if you really want to uproot your sycamore tree – well, let’s don’t even go there. I think of that sycamore tree as a metaphor for all the ugly stuff we need to uproot from our lives.
THE DISCIPLES were asking for more faith. More faith? How much? A liter? A board-foot? A wagonload? I don’t think faith is a quantitative gift! I don’t think Jesus thought so either, or he wouldn’t have used the example of the most miniscule quantity he could think of producing the most outlandish event, however metaphorical it may have been.
THE POINT IS that faith is a gift from God – but it’s not measurable. It’s not how much we get, but how much we make use of it that makes the difference. When we let go of the fear that inhibits our thinking we can recognize the power of God already at work, and we can find ways to cooperate in God’s work. This doesn’t mean that everything will always come up roses for us, but it will increase our vision and inspire us to find new ways of coping.
THE THING ABOUT FAITH is that the more we become aware of it as a gift, the more we understand that it isn’t something we actually possess. It’s a power we sort of plug into – keeping in mind that God is the author of faith and that we are in such a grace-filled relationship that we are able to live by that faith.
SOMETIMES IT’S HARDER to live by faith than at other times. We have to call on a lot of other God-given qualities – selflessness, because we have to want the best for everyone – even our enemies; humility, because we have to serve one another without keeping track or expecting thanks or rewards; patience, because we live in a want-it-now world and God lives in eternity.
ONE OF THE THINGS we have talked about at vestry meetings when we have shared our hopes and dreams for the future of this parish is that God has already given us the resources for everything we need. When our goals are worthy goals, there is already the brainpower, the leadership skills, the energy and even the funding to accomplish them. We just have to find ways to tap into these gifts.
FAITH IS THE BEGINNING. Paying attention, going to God in prayer, tapping in to the power of faith – God will work wonders through us. The outcome may not always be exactly as we expect – God is full of surprises. Listen to what the writer of Lamentations – which we used in place of the psalm today – says, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is his faithfulness. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
MAY WE ALWAYS BE FAITHFUL in remembering this. Amen.
