The Eighth Sunday after Trinity 10 08 25
FIRST READING: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
NEW TESTAMENT READING: Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16
GOSPEL Luke 12:32-40
If there is a word that is crucial and central to Christian spirituality, it is Faith. We hear this word in the hymns, readings and sermons all the time. We speak of having faith in ourselves, having faith in others and having faith in the world. The Bible speaks of having faith in God, which can transform our lives.
It is God who is the initiator of faith, it is seen as a free gift of God offered to people. There are people who receive it and live a life holding on to their faith in God. Faith is not merely belief or trust or confidence. It can be a combination of all this and it is a life of constant dependence on God. Having faith in God initiates us to a new way of living.
The Old Testament writers speak so much about faithfulness.
While in the New Testament Faith is a key word. The new age inaugurated by Jesus our Lord is founded on Faith. St. Paul while writing to the Romans, ‘For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’ (Romans 1:17).
The Gospels tell us that Jesus was helping people to receive this gift of Faith and he not only taught people he demonstrated in his life what it means to live by faith.
How do we get a clear understanding of Faith?
The classical example of faith is what we heard in the reading from the epistle to the Hebrews, The 11th chapter of the letter to the Hebrews helps us to get a clear understanding of Faith.
The writer gives us a simple yet profound definition of Faith:
‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’ (Hebrews 11:1).
It is the assurance of things that we hope for. We need many things in life, we hope many things to happen in life. God wants us to have the assurance that we will receive and it will happen. Receiving this assurance without doubt is one dimension of Faith.
The other dimension of faith is the conviction of things that we cannot see. We do not see God but having the unshakable belief that God exists and God is present in worship, and whenever we seek him. We have not seen heaven but we are convinced that there is a heaven, trusting in the word of God.
We do not see the future but to have the conviction that whatever the future unfolds God will guide us through. This is the wonder of faith. It may not sound logical and cannot be comprehended by reason. However, this is the experience of wonder faith in God enables to experience.
Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of faith as the power to see the impossible become possible. He said to them, ‘For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’ (Matthew 17:20). Problems that appear as huge as mountains would move out of the way.
Jesus also said, ‘Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’ (Matthew 21:22). Praying with faith gives power to prayer.
Jesus also demonstrated that the faith of the friends of a paralytic man brought healing to him. ‘When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’’ (Mark 2:5). We can impact the lives of our friends and family with our faith.
As we hear about faith, we have to remember what the writer to the Hebrews says: ‘looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God’. (Hebrews 12:2). We seek the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord who is the ‘pioneer and perfector’ of faith to help us grow and be strengthened in Faith.
‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.’ (Hebrews 11:6).