10th Pentecost C
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 14, 2022
Jeremiah 23:23-29 • Hebrews 11:29-12:2 • Luke 12:49-56
We have talked alot about faith the past couple weeks. Today continues our exploration of faith, but it looks at the hard stuff. Faith can divide, it can say difficult things. And today, with all that is going on in our country and our world, it’s easy to understand Jesus talking about households being divided. Faith is even used by some to justify political positions that seem counter to the core message of Jesus in the gospels.
So, perhaps we should try to define what exactly faith is and is not. I bet most people, when they hear the word faith, think of a particular group of beliefs, such as the Catholic faith or the Muslim faith. This makes faith a very static thing. Faith, however, is much more active than simply a deposit of beliefs. To me, faith is more like a verb. It is active—faith combines trust, hope and community.
We have faith in something, such as electricity. Or we have faith that our ATM will work when we need some money. Deeper, we have faith in Someone, namely, God. Faith includes hope that what we believe is real and true. Finally, faith is best lived out in some form of community. Let’s take a moment to think of some pillars of faith. Think of one or two saints that you particularly admire and also think of a few friends, family members or neighbors who model faith for you. Take a minute or so in silence to call some of these people to mind. (PAUSE) We just celebrated the memorial of Florence Nightingale this week in our Episcopal calendar. She is a woman of profound faith and she let her faith direct her actions in very tough circumstances. Another saint that comes to my mind is Francis of Assisi. He put his faith into action, working with the poor and challenging some of the assumptions of his time. In my personal experience, someone who was a beacon of faith for me was my friend Barbara. She lived her beliefs daily and was very involved in the life of her church community. She also never avoided confronting injustice or unfairness in her workplace or our civic community.
Jesus invites us to follow him, to practice the message of love and faith that he lived and proclaimed. The real question is not why did Jesus teach that following him could be divisive, but why does our faith never disturb anyone? In what ways are we holding back? How should we be bolder instead of remaining silent? The gift of speaking the truth in love is not the division we fear, but the deep peace for which we long. We are all called to express our faith in action, because faith without works is dead as the Epistle of James tells us. Let us walk together the way of faith as we come to our table of abundance and receive the strength of the Eucharist. Amen.