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SERMONS

The Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 20, 2001

"Faith"

By John Hamman

Faith -- something that is believed with strong conviction. We have contrasting views of faith in the reading from acts…
In lystra, paul saw the conviction in the crippled man's eyes and he said to him, "stand upright on your feet". 'for he had been crippled from birth,' luke reminds us - this will be something to see. The crowd gathers and looks on, interested, wondering, tension builds, sweat beads on the crippled man's forehead, he trembles. Paul has been spreading the gospel of jesus christ to the gentiles - and these are his people. Lystra is in southern turkey, 100 miles or so northwest of tarsus, paul's home. The crippled man was listening to paul and he has heard what paul has said. Something inside of him stirs - but he knows not what, his legs twitch - and bend. Suddenly his weight shifts on his legs, still bent below him - he's never felt this before! Slowly he begins to rise, back straightening, legs unfolding to bear weight they've never borne. He rises to his feet, stands upright and begins to walk as paul has commanded. The crowd goes crazy. "the greek gods have come down to us in human form!" They shout in their pagan-ness, forgetting all about the news of the living god that paul has just given them. They begin to offer sacrifice - this was, after all, a popular practice their old religion. They just reverted to their old ways… paul and barnabas try to turn things around and remind them of the living god and the many gifts he has already bestowed upon them… but they are intent upon having their barbeque and doing shish-ke-bobs. They just don't get it, they just weren't ready for this new faith. We don't hear of the ex-cripple again, he stands forever as an example of faith in god.

Faith -- belief and trust in and loyalty to god. Paul tells us in romans "you have been justified by faith". This was the key of his message to the gentiles, 'you do not have to become jewish to believe - you don't have
To eat this - and not that, and don't worry about sun-down, your faith in christ jesus puts you right with god'. In god's heavenly kingdom, there is no temple we are told in the revelation to john. No temple, no night, no sun, no moon, the gates are never closed, no abomination or falsehood, nothing to detract from the glory of god, the object of our faith. In the new jerusalem the faithful shall receive their reward - we shall see god's face, and his name will be on our foreheads. We will worship god forever and ever, amen.

And now, an un-paid theological announcement…five years ago, i went to father john sewell with some questions - i don't remember now what puzzled me so, but he suggested i explore education for ministry. It was another year before i was able to set my personal calendar right and we began in the fall of 1997 - 8 pilgrims on a spiritual journey, led by david christian and barbara macdonald - in year two, cynthia low replaced david as our co-mentor. Efm has been an eye-opening, thought provoking, beliefs-challenging and beliefs-confirming adventure on our collective spiritual journeys. We have built a very strong spiritual community, people have come and people have gone (i've done both), but four of us have stayed the course these four years. Our faith has been questioned, and it has grown. We've celebrated life, and mourned the passing of friends and family, we've sung songs and shared silence. We've laughed and cried, fought and built strong friendships, we've asked hard questions, discussed difficult answers, disputed solutions and have grown together in the holy spirit, we made breakfast for 80 high-school students and hosted a spring lecture series; and, we learned the art of theological reflection. Reading the bible, going to church, living in the world (but not of the world) forces us to ask questions that are not always answered to our satisfaction. Efm doesn't guarantee the answers, in fact, ask a question, and the answer will probably trigger a geometric avalanche of more questions!! But for anyone seeking solace and understanding, and an environment where your faith can truly grow, efm is the place to begin. It's hard work, there's lots of study. The prospectus states: about an hour or two per week (yeh, right! - i found myself spending far more than that and wanting for more time) it requires a commitment of time and self and an openness to christian community. I recommend efm to anyone seeking personal spiritual growth.

Faith implies certitude even when there is no evidence or proof. We read in the gospel just a few weeks ago about thomas, one of the twelve who was with jesus during his ministry. He refused to believe the stories
Of his resurrection until he 'placed his fingers in the nail holes, his hand in the spear wound on his side'. Jesus said "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe". In today's gospel reading
Jesus is talking with the disciples about the coming events - giving them a 'heads-up', so to speak. The other judas has just asked him "lord how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus tells them to love him, to keep his word - to love god with all their heart, all their mind and all their soul, and to love one another and that the holy
Spirit is coming. The holy spirit will interpret jesus' teachings, impart his peace, and act as a reminder of all that he has said. Then jesus tells them he is going away - to the father and that they should rejoice in his
Going. Quickly, he adds that he has told them this so that when it does occur, they may believe. Somehow, the belief of 'those who have not seen yet believe' seems a stronger faith, but jesus is just making sure, covering all the bases - as usual they don't get it either. He does have to deal with all of us - the crowd in lystra, the apostles, even you and i, on a daily basis.

Belief, trust, loyalty, certitude without evidence. These are a few of the traits of faith we claim to possess - we exhibit our faith from time to time - look at this wondrous place we call the chapel of the cross!
But sometimes i wonder, were paul of tarsus to meet us, you or i, out on the streets of madison -- would he recognise the faith in our eyes?