Thursday, August 17, 2023
The Rev. Rob Stevens
What is a Life of Faith?
To answer that question would take a lifetime…perhaps more. But, it is a question that I ponder often and am asked about regularly. Throughout my life I have heard and read much about faith and how to practice ones life in a way congruent with that faith. A daily reflection cannot encapsulate all, but I have discovered four words that describe a life of faith and some of the movement necessary to live faith well. These words are belonging, becoming, believing and bestowing.
1. Belonging…we humans have a strong desire to belong. It may be one of our most basic emotional needs. Churches have not always been the most welcoming places and belonging used to require quite a bit of hoop jumping. At St. John’s that is not the case. We “welcome ALL in the name of Christ.” We are first and foremost a community that welcomes all to join us in our search for God and our quest to live a life of faith. People ask what do I have to do to be a member…my simple response is to say, “To be a member you have to have the desire to be a member and show up.”
2. Becoming…participation is essential to a life of faith. Frederick Buechner writes Faith is a verb more than a noun, more of a practice than a possession. This understanding of faith requires action and participation. How is your life ordered so that you are exercising your faith? Just like muscles we grow our faith when used and it can atrophy if left unused. Whether small groups, worship, serving others, reading and study, singing, the list goes on and on, we have an opportunity to become more and more fully who we are each and every day if we are willing to be intentionally active.
3. Believing…this is perhaps the word that needs the most unpacking and perhaps redefining. So often our faith and our community where we seek to live our faith is limited severely by “what we believe.” Church can be reduced to a “belief contest” and the understanding of faith as active and alive reality is thwarted. How many times I have heard people say, “I don’t go to church because I don’t believe all that stuff.” I now respond, “You don’t believe in community?” It changes the conversation so that we can find common ground. I am confident that if I were to take a poll on just about any church doctrine at St. John’s that I would get a varied response to say the least. This is not a weakness this is a strength because if we are honest all of our belief is our best attempt to address the mystery of God and humanity. When we can remain open to wonder and remain curious our faith has much more opportunity to grow than when we are rigid and certain in our beliefs. This open understanding of believing is what allows for our parish to thrive and grow. It is not that we do not believe anything, but rather that our belief like our faith is alive and it needs to be tended and nurtured, but not defended.
4. Bestowing…this is the fun part. A life of faith is a life that is given. A person of faith (at our best) realizes that life is a gift and that our proper and good response to that gift is to keep it giving. The whole “pay it forward” movement is a secular realization that life works best when we bestow goodness on others. That is basically Jesus’ message in one sentence. How is our life of faith shared? It is rare that telling someone about God or Jesus has a lasting effect…it is usually the actions of our faith that inspire others. One of my dear friends is not Christian, but I must say she acts more Christian than most Christians I know. She just shares her life beautifully. She has taught me how to live my faith even though she does not “believe” the way I do.
A life of faith is more art than science. There is definitely science involved, but the artwork of our faith takes time, has loosely defined rules and thinking and living outside the box is (or at least should be) encouraged. My hope is not that this reflection will “answer all your questions” but rather it might cause you to wonder, question and perhaps start or continue a conversation. The journey of faith awaits!