Collect for The Second
Sunday of Easter
Almighty and everlasting
God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation:
Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may
show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Amen.
BCP, p.
224
I have spent many years studying
the content of our faith and I am a preacher
who feels constantly challenged to provide a reasonable exposition of “the hope
that is in us” [1 Peter 3:15]. Yes, our faith, in this sense, is
complicated. So I understand all too well the reluctance that many of us have to
tell others why being a Christian is a good thing. We, the baptized who bear
the name of disciples of Jesus, all too often fear that we do not quite know what
we believe, or that we do not understand enough about it to share it.
Add to
our reluctance, the negative connotations that the word “Christian” now bears
in society and in the market of ideas: polls tell us that the words most
associated with “Christian” include bigoted, intolerant, homophobic, fear
monger, and hateful. In the aftermath of the culture wars, “Christian” is a devalued
currency, and some might even feel it has become worthless. Sociologists tell
us that the fastest growing category of people who are surveyed about their
faith is not “None” but “Done.” As in, I am done with religion.
Is it
any wonder that many of us limit the proclamation of our faith to the few
minutes in which we recite the creed (and, perhaps, with reservations about
some of the truth claims made therein)?
Seldom have
I met people who have intellectually convinced themselves of the fallacy of
believing in God. (Which is not to say that there aren’t any real intellectual
problems to address!) But I have all too frequently met people whose life experiences
with self-proclaimed believers have driven them out of belief in God.
Learning
the content of the faith, questioning it to make sense of it, acquiring skills
to think theologically about our lives, exploring the implications of belief
for all aspects of life, and becoming adept at communicating and sharing our
faith with others: these are very important pursuits. And I want to encourage
us as a community of faith to become more conversant with our faith. Yes, this
is a shameless plug for participating in the Sunday Adult Forum and other occasional
educational offerings.
However:
Long before it can be told, faith must be shown. That God is love is not a proposition
that can be proved with our minds; it is an experience that can only be shown
with our lives.
Perhaps
we should call it, not faith, but faithing.
Faith is not a noun—an object to be examined—but a verb, tangible actions that
can be observed and imitated. Faithing
refers to all the small acts that add up to a lifetime of compassion, kindness,
justice, mercy, truthfulness, integrity, patience, presence, mindfulness,
forgiveness, encouragement, and reconciliation. We need to continually asking
ourselves: are my words and deeds kind? Are they truthful? Are they necessary?
Do they build community or destroy people? Do they increase or decrease the
wellbeing of my neighbor? In short, am I showing here and now that God is love?
Professing
our faith with our lives: that’s where the rubber meets the road. This is how
we live in the joy of the resurrection.
Under
The Mercy,
Daniel+
