NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

[cappie]

We are born of the faith of our ancestors, descending from a great cloud of witnesses whose faith is attested to on every page of Scripture.  Our ancestors, we are told, trusted in the Word of God, put their faith in His oaths. They were convinced that what He promised, He would do.

We don’t know who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews. But what we can tell from reading the letter is that it’s written to people who are giving up, who are leaving the church, who are leaving the faith.  These people are growing weary. They can only see what’s immediately in front of them, and they don’t like it. They think they can get a better deal somewhere else. So, Hebrews is the sermon of a preacher to people who are heading out the door. This is the preacher’s message: Don’t give up. Have faith. Trust. Jesus Christ is the one in whom we can hope,  the one in whom we can trust,  the one in whom we can place our faith because Jesus Christ is faithful. You have not seen the future, but Jesus holds the future. Have faith in Jesus because Jesus is the faithful one.

It always matters that we show up. That we keep giving it another try, that we keep at it even if our efforts seem tiny and all we experience in the short term is how tired our arms are,  because it’s Jesus’ faith and faithfulness that really matters. 

In baptism, we are connected to Jesus’ faith and faithfulness. Whether the trust that is faith comes easy to us or feels like it takes great exertion, we all receive the same strong Jesus. Jesus is enough to carry us into a future that is unseen by us.

 Our writer’s by faith… by faith… by faith… is encouragement to stick with the community of Christians and to stick with Jesus Christ, to trust that by living with willing hearts, hearts open to the future God has prepared, like our forebears in faith did, we too become inheritors of that future, a future better than anything we can ask for or imagine.

It’s Jesus’ faith that makes the difference.   What Jesus did for us, what Jesus does for us, and our sometimes tiny, mustard seed-sized faith that connects us to him, means we can hope, serve, enjoy. Jesus can see a future we can’t, but we can look for, prepare for, and do our part for. Jesus made a future for us that we couldn’t make for ourselves.

Yes, we cannot see the future, but God in Jesus has made a future that awaits us and it’s that future that forms us and can inform our present if we let it. Yes, we cannot see the future, but in Jesus, God shows us a future of which Jesus is the first fruits, the first of those living fully a resurrection life, a life marked by love and meaning and possibility and peace beyond death. Stick with Jesus.

And stick with the church. The church is a place where we practice and see faith, faith that relies on the promises of God and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, faith that stands on the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.  There is faith that rebuilds relationships, even after heartbreak. There is faith that endures and carries people through incredible physical suffering and pain. There is faith that allows people to give up addictions and ask for help. There is faith that makes people keep showing up to care for children others would leave behind, faith that asks for forgiveness, faith that reconciles, faith that changes lives.

 Even a little bit of faith, even a little bit of openness, even a little bit of seeking and acknowledging God can lead to hope and joy and strength and peace and a future we cannot yet see, but of which we can be assured and confident.
 
 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, cappie said:

by faith… by faith… by faith

Amen.  Lord please hear our prayer.