Share the Faith

It has been an overwhelming week. All of us, I expect, in our own ways have been affected by the images and stories coming to us from the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Each of us will process those images and stories somewhat differently, through the filter of our own individual lives and experiences. Each of us will have different contact points, different points of resonance, different flash points, different reactions. And yet, despite those differences, respecting those differences, I remind you that we are all Christians. And I hope that that perspective, that Christian "filter" will be dominant for all of us, as we seek to interpret and to respond to what is happening.

Today’s Scripture readings are all about responsibility and sharing. It seems that they are uniquely appropriate. And yet, I suspect that no matter what the particular passages appointed for this day might have been, we would have the Word of God appropriate. But today Ezekiel, Paul and Matthew all remind us of our interconnections and our responsibility for one another. Especially our responsibility for sharing with one another out of the resources of our faith.

The nature of our responsibility for other human beings is perhaps the second oldest question debated by people of faith. The first oldest being: where did the world and all that is in it come from? But not long after, it was Cain, human kind’s first born, who asked "Am I my brother’s keeper?" Who are we responsible for, and how? In times like these most of us, to our credit, feel a powerful, instinctive welling up of compassion. We do feel responsible and want to help. Tragedies that are sudden and close to home generally bring out the best in human nature. But one additional hope I have in the midst of all this is that this tragedy will remind us of our Christian nature, and the broader responsibility borne by us as Christians to be responsible whenever and wherever we are able. Even when the disaster is not sudden, nor close to home.

Today’s Scripture lessons are, in fact, all about responsibility. These readings may not specifically answer every facet of our questions about our responsibility for others, but these passages do give us some pretty strong direction about one way we, as people of faith, are to respond to others. We are people of faith. People who bear "the faith." It its most basic level, I would define "the faith" as the conviction that: God is real. God is good. God is present… present, as Matthew reminds us, whenever two or three gathered. To be people of faith is to claim our conviction that God is real; God is good; God is present. And today’s readings remind us that we are to respond to the world, to live in the world, as people of faith. We are to share with the world from the resources of our faith. That is our responsibility.

Ezekiel is pretty clear that the responsibility of the sentinel is to proclaim the presence of God with the people of Israel. The sentinel is to tell the people of Israel that God is with them and that their relationship with God is in trouble. If the sentinel fails to share this conviction, fails to share the faith, then the sentinel will bear full responsibility for "the wicked who shall die in their iniquity." It is not the sentinels responsibility to make the people good or to make them behave or to make them faithful. But it is the sentinel’s inescapable responsibility to witness to God’s presence with the house of Israel.

In Ezekiel’s day and time, that meant sharing a prophetic word of judgment upon the house of Israel. I am NOT saying that that would be the appropriate response now. In different times and different situations, sharing the faith means quite different things. But sharing the faith remains the inescapable responsibility of all of us. Sharing the faith that God is real; God is good; God is present. Right now that means being people of prayer. Be, as Paul reminds us, fervent in prayer. It also means witnessing to our faith as we offer material or financial aid. I would NEVER suggest that our aid should be dependent upon the faith of the recipient. But it should be dependent upon our faith. We share with one another because we believe that God is real, God is good and God is present. And our offering should be an explicit witness to our faith.

Consider Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome. He speaks broadly of the Christian life as a witness to the faith. The way we live is a witness to our faith. God is real. God is God. God is present. "Love one another," Paul says, "with mutual affection. Contribute to the needs of the saints. Extend hospitality to strangers. Be fervent in prayer." Witness to the faith. "Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep."

Living a life that shares the faith is what it means to be a Christian. We often think that "having" faith is what matters most in our Christian lives. But sharing the faith isn’t so much about something we have or don’t have; it isn’t about the state of our individual souls. Sharing the faith is action, a way of living, something you or I can choose to do. To be a Christian is to live a life of offering the resource of the faith to the world.

The faith. God is real. God is good. God is present. If those words mean nothing to you at all, I don’t know why you’re here. But if those words mean something, anything at all… then you can live as a Christian. One of the wonderful things about this way of living is that you can live a life that shares the faith even when you’re not so sure that you yourself have faith. Even if you’re not 100% sure today that Jesus Christ is your personal Lord and Savior and has redeemed you with his blood… Even if you only believe 50%, or even 5%… Even on the days you only want to believe, you can still act. You can still offer the faith to others.

Sharing is the key word. Sharing. One of the important implications of sharing is that you must find someone to share with. The Christian life must involve connections with others. It’s also important to remember that sharing takes action, effort. It doesn’t just happen. And it doesn’t necessarily come naturally to human beings. Those of you who are parents will know that children typically don’t just share on their own. They have to be taught. And yet, it is a choice anyone of us can make. Absolutely everyone can do it if they choose. Finally, remember that sharing doesn’t mean giving up all of what you have. It doesn’t mean forcing yourself on others. It means sharing.

Sharing the conviction that God is real. God is good. And God is present.

And remember also that sharing the faith is not just a responsibility or a burden. It is a blessing. Sharing the faith with others… sharing with others out of the resources of your faith… is probably the best way to enrich the faith in your own heart. Belief often follows action.

No one has ever said it better than St. Francis. "Lord, make us instruments of your peace…" Or we might better say "presence." "Lord, make us instruments of your presence. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love."

"For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

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