Instead of laughing, when Jesus asks "do you believe I am able" they readily respond "yes, Lord." And, interestingly, Jesus says "according to your faith let it be done to you." Here we have the faith/belief distinction. It is one thing to believe that God is capable of all things. That is sort of an intellectual assent. But, to have the faith that God can and will do impossible things, that is more of a faith/trust assent that comes from deep within our gut.
Our questions for reflection ask us to list five things we are certain God can do, and three things we are not so certain God can do. I have trouble thinking of God's power in terms of can't or not able. God can do all things, period. Will I understand God's action, presence, absence, or providence? No, I won't. And, I have surrendered to not trying to grasp, manage, or seek after that? Most of the time, yes. If faith is the assurance of things hoped for, my questions lie not with God's power to fulfill promises but with my own understanding of what I truly hope for.
I think the question of ability lies with us. Are we able to trust? Are we able to cultivate a faith that is at peace with what is? As Jesus asked his disciples, "can you drink from this cup," I am reminded of the truth of this quote: The
paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter
tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less.
We buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more
conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge,
but less judgment. More experts, yet more problems. More medicine, but less
wellness.
Is God able to deliver us? Absolutely. Will we surrender? That is the question.
I find today’s transformative thought by St. Augustine to be a conundrum. "Faith is to believe what you do not yet see: the reward for this faith is to see what you believe." It almost sounds like St. Augustine is saying that if you have faith, you don't need faith. Pastor Joy, you referred to the faith/belief distinction. Is there a difference between faith and belief? Is it only when our trust is in “things not seen” that we call it faith? Does the difference lie in knowing with our intellect vs. knowing with our heart? If “seeing is believing”, then is faith believing without seeing? In the post-modern world we are trained to look for the evidence. How do we reconcile faith with scientific thinking? What is the evidence for God? Or for Jesus as God’s son?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Jesus, when saying 'your faith has made you whole' has pulled a piece of the divine from within us, shown it to us, and made us whole. We may believe and trust in God, yet we do not know what we are or who we are. It would seem that Jesus calls us out like a person once dead, and calls us to rise and be whole.
ReplyDelete"I have come into this world to judge it, so that those who are blind may see and so that those who see may become blind"
Will we have the will to see? Sometimes the flesh is too strong and the spirit too weak.