“What is Faith?  What Glasses Are You Wearing?”

First Congregational UCC – May 22, 2011

The Rev. Sharyl B. Peterson

 

Scriptures:  Luke 12: 22-32; Ephesians 5: 1-2, 8-10, 18b-20

 

For the past two Sundays, we have been considering the question:  “what is ‘faith’?”

The first Sunday, we noted that the commonest understanding of “faith” in today’s culture is that it’s about believing certain things, about assenting intellectually to certain ideas about God and about Jesus.  We also noted that this particular understanding of faith is relatively new in the history of Christianity, and that until a fairly short time ago (historically-speaking), most people felt that faith-as-just-beliefs-in-your-head was only one of four parts or dimensions of what it means to be faithful.  And further, we noted that the other three dimensions or parts of faith were considered far more important than simply faith as belief.

            Last week, we considered two of those other three dimensions of faith, both of which have to do with our relationship with God.  Not with what we believe to be true about God, or what we think about God, but about our relationship with God.

            One of these dimensions is about having radical trust in God.  Or, to use Soren Kierkegaard’s beautiful metaphor, as we float in the seemingly endless depths and currents of life, it means that we “trust in the buoyancy of God” to hold us up, to support us, whatever life may bring.

            The second of those dimensions of faith we considered last week was the notion of faith involving fidelity in our relationship with God.  Just as we are called to show fidelity – faithfulness – in our relationships with people whom we love … being trustworthy … constant … loyal … giving them a central place in our lives and in our decisions … faith is about showing those same characteristics in our relationship with God.

            And today, we turn to the fourth dimension of faith, which may help us tie together our relationship with God with the way we live our lives.  This fourth dimension of faith – in Latin – is visio.  That sounds a lot like the English word “vision.”  Which isn’t entirely coincidental, since the word “vision” comes from visio, and it has to do with how we see the world.  And that, of course, shapes how we live in the world as we see it.

            I’d like to offer you a concrete analogy before we delve into the headier, theological stuff.  Most of us who are over 60 years of age can remember going to the “picture show” in our youth, and sometimes being issued a special set of cheap cardboard-and-plastic glasses, in which the two lenses were of two different colors.  The absolute cutting-edge in cinema technology in the 1950s, 3-D film hits included some classics some of you will remember, like House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, musicals and comedies like Kiss Me, Kate and Top Banana, and It Came From Outer Space, one of several space-alien 3-D films.

            For those of us who are under 60 years of age, especially the under-40 folks, we can remember going to the movie-theater, perhaps in the last couple of years.  We paid an extra four dollars for the privilege, and were issued a special set of much-less-cheap plastic glasses that opened to us the world of a totally new breakthrough 3-D technology with amazing films like The Polar Express, Avatar, Coraline, and Alice in Wonderland.

            If you have ever seen a 3-D movie – either the old-school kind or the new-school versions – you know they completely transform the movie experience.  You put on those cheap plastic special glasses, and suddenly images on the screen don’t just look a little closer to you than the background, they fairly leap out of the background at you, which is used especially effectively when monsters attack the good guys.  In Avatar, as the baddest of all bad guys attacks the good guy “wearing” a giant bulldozer fit with metal claws that could crush anything, the thrust of the giant claw into what appears to be your face leaves the audience members recoiling in their seats, and gasping or screaming in fear.  (In fact, just for fun, some time go to a 3-D movie, and instead of watching the film, watch the audience – it’s a hoot!)

            The point is, the special glasses you are wearing to watch these films completely changes how you see, and what you see.  And so it is with the “glasses” we wear (not the plastic or cardboard kind, but the internal (often unconscious) kind) every single day of our lives.  Just as with 3-D movie glasses, these internal glasses we wear affect how we see, and what we see, and so, how we respond to the world around us.

            In his book The Heart of Christianity – Rediscovering a Life of Faith, Marcus Borg argues that “there are three ways we can see the whole (see reality), and each goes with a particular way of responding to life[1].”

            The first of these three ways, he says, is to see reality – to see the world around us – as hostile and threatening.  Taken to a clinical extreme, of course, this worldview is paranoid, but you don’t have to be clinically paranoid to view the world this way.  In fact, I’m guessing that every one of us here this morning knows at least one person who views the world like this.

            They believe that everyone (and perhaps everything) is out to get them, personally.  Risks that most of us see as normal parts of life – risks like taking a new job, or entering into a new relationship (or cutting off an old relationship) – they see as particularly threatening.

In fact, they may be so ingrained in this view of the world that even mundane – even apparently positive (to the rest of us) events may be reinterpreted through their lenses of suspicion and distrust and fear.  For example, a friend calls and invites them over for dinner.  Instead of responding with joy or gratitude, these people begin to look for the hidden motive behind the invitation, for the hidden costs of accepting it, and may end up constructing a scenario so complicated, and so negative, it is hard for others (who don’t share their worldview) to believe.  Their inner dialogue might go something like this:  “Well, it’s nice they invited me for dinner, instead of just for breakfast or lunch … but of course, that means I’ll owe them a whole dinner in return … and of course, dinner means I should bring a bottle of wine, and I can’t stand the swill that they usually serve, so I’ll have to get a really good bottle, even if none of them appreciate it, and you can bet they’ll never bring anything that good here if I ever invite them over… and of course, right now we’re in-between holidays, so they can serve just anything for dinner, but it’s only a month or so ‘til Christmas, and I probably won’t be able to invite them back to my house until then, which means I’ll be stuck for Christmas decorating, and special food, and …”  You get the picture.

            If people see reality this way, through these “glasses” (as it were), they generally respond to life defensively.  They try to figure out all the angles on how someone else might be taking advantage of them, or trying to hurt them, and they try to figure out all the possible ways they can protect themselves.  All of their effort and energy is expended on staying safe and secure, no matter what the other costs might be.

            And sadly, when it comes to the church, we aren’t exempt from this outlook either individually or as an institution.  In fact, for centuries (and still, in some faith communities), would-be people of faith were told it was God who was out to get them – unless they offered the right sacrifices, or behaved the right way, or believed the right things.  It then becomes crucial for us to “get it right” (whatever that may mean) in order to escape from the dreadful punishments our very own God has in mind for us.

This is an understatement, but this is not exactly a healthy stance to have when it comes to God, to faith, or to life in general.

            Borg suggests that a second way of seeing the whole, of seeing reality, is as indifferent.  Unlike the first view, this perspective does not assume that the world is hostile, or that people are out to get us.  Instead, it assumes that “what is” (which includes people, God, the rest of creation) simply doesn’t care about human beings or human purposes.  And in fact, this is probably the most common modern secular viewpoint in our culture.  Including in many, many churches today.  As Borg puts it, it’s the notion that:  “The universe is made up of swirling force fields of matter and energy, but it is neither hostile to nor supportive of our lives and dreams.  Though it may be perceived as elegant and even magnificent, it is ultimately indifferent to human meanings[2].”

            Some of you may recognize this as the popular Enlightenment view called Deism, which suggested God wound everything up, and let it all go … with no investment whatsoever in what might happen next.  Through this lens, God isn’t particularly relevant or meaningful, or needs to be taken seriously.  God may not be out to get us, but God’s certainly not looking to do us any favors either.

            Now, if this is the way we see reality, we’re not as likely to be as anxious or as paranoid as folks are who have the first perspective.  After all, there’s a big difference between going through life believing “they’re out to get me,” and believing “realistically, nobody gives a rip about me.”  On the other hand, with no-one or no-thing to trust in or rely on beyond the self, folks with this viewpoint are still likely to be defensive and precautionary.  After all, if the universe isn’t sympathetic to us in any way, isn’t out to be good to us, or to support us, we’d better defend ourselves against whatever could go wrong, and we might as well get as much good stuff for ourselves as we can, because no-one else is going to do it for us.

            For example, suppose we are choosing whether to take Job A or Job B.  Job A pays considerably better, but involves sales and marketing for a product that is known to have negative effects on people’s health.  Job B pays less, and involves more travel, but involves sales and marketing for a program that is known to have great positive effects on people’s health.  The person operating from this second way of seeing the world, assumes that the universe doesn’t care which choice she or he makes, and is likely to opt for Job A, since her or his primary concern is the payoffs to herself/himself.

            People with this world-view may well live very rich lives aesthetically, and even try to take care of the world as well as they can, but the bottom line is, it’s all about them.  And their concerns, their time, their energy, their resources are all going to be directed at doing good for themselves, and for the people they care most about.

Borg suggests that the third way we can see “what is” is to view it as life-giving and nourishing.  As having given us life, and as continuing to feed and nurture our lives, in a multitude of ways.  It is to see reality – as a whole, as interconnected, as complex, as including wonder and beauty, as well as pain and suffering, with neither of those having the upper hand.  Theologically, it means seeing the world as “gracious.”  As filled with – and reflecting – God’s divine grace.  As filled with – and reflecting – God’s generosity.  As filled with – and reflecting – God’s love. 

            It is what Jesus is talking about in the passage we heard today from Luke’s Gospel when he says, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds! …Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will God clothe you!”  In a four-word summary, “God cares about you.”

            When Jesus admonishes his followers as “you of little faith,” He is clearly not talking about the faith beliefs or doctrines they agree to, but how they see the world.  And if they fail to see the wonder and beauty of the world, if they fail to see God’s graciousness, their visio is not one of “faith” as Jesus understands and models it.

            Throughout the course of His life, the God about whom Jesus speaks, the God whom Jesus shows us in the flesh, is a God of grace … of generosity … of mercy … and of love.  So, to the degree that we really do follow Jesus, really do look to Him as our model of “faith,” so we adopt this gracious way of seeing and responding to the world, this visio.  And as Paul reminds us in this morning’s passage from his letter to the Galatians, this way of seeing leads to a life marked by “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, and faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22).

            If we do see reality through those glasses, with that perspective, then we are able to radically trust God.  We are able to let go of at least some of our anxieties and worries.  We are able to let ourselves “spend and be spent for the sake of a vision that goes beyond ourselves[3].”  We are able to be faithful – to show fidelity – to God, and to trust we’ll get that same fidelity back.

            Now, this third way of seeing may sound naively optimistic.  Unbearably Pollyana-ish.  After all, we may think, the world of Jesus wasn’t nearly as difficult or awful as our world is today (if you believe this, you might want to go back and read some history of Jesus’ time).  Those people might have been able to see the world as gracious, but that’s because they didn’t face the challenges that we do today.

            And yet, friends, look at the Bible – in both the Old and in the New Testaments.  We find story after story of wars, droughts, famines, people losing their homes to natural disasters, people losing their families, losing their babies, being forced to leave their home-land and live in a foreign land under terrible conditions – and more.  But over and over, the Scriptural stories make it clear that in spite of/in the face of all those dreadful things that happen to human beings in the world, each of which is very much a part of human life as we live it, creation is still designed as “good” and God is still described as “good.”

            The Biblical attestation is that we are part of a creation brought forth somehow through positive intent and beneficence, and that we are called to manifest that same positive intent and beneficence toward those folks and creatures with whom we share the creation.  But whether we do that or not depends on which of those three sets of glasses we choose for viewing the world, and for viewing our lives, and for how we will decide to live them.

            As a closing concrete example, as soon as our worship service is over this morning, we’re going to be invited to adjourn to our Fellowship Hall, and enjoy a Church Potluck and our Annual Meeting for the election of new church leaders.  Some of you have already been asked whether you specifically will be one of those new church-leaders.  It’s an invitation that gets extended to every one of our church members and friends, every year, through our Time & Talent form – which, you may notice, is in your bulletin this morning.  It is your invitation to share your particular gifts and skills, your time and your talents, to further the work of this part of Christ’s body.

            Conceivably, your response could be, “no, I’m not going to agree to do anything.  I’m not checking anything off on the form.  In fact, I’m not even going to turn it in.  They’re all just trying to take advantage of me, and besides, I’ve already been there and done that, and I’m not about to do it anymore.”  (That would suggest you may be wearing Glasses Set Number One.)

            Or, you might respond, “No, I’m not going to mark anything.  There are plenty of other people to do the work, and I need to save my time and energy for the stuff that’s important to me.  Besides, what I could do doesn’t make any real difference anyway.”  (That would be the Glasses Set Number Two shaping your vision and your response.)

            Or, you might say, “well, I’ve never done that particular thing before, but I guess I could give it a try.”  Or “I’m worried about how much time this will take, but I also know this is really important.”  And you might say one of those things because you’re also saying to yourself, “I know that God cares about me.  I know that each one of us is beloved child of God.  And I want other people to know, in some way, the love that I’ve found in this place.”  (That would be a response based on wearing Glasses Set Number Three).

            Folks, today and every single day, we have a choice about which set of glasses – which perspective – we’re going to put on for the day.  We may not think we do – we may have grown up with adults modeling one of those perspectives so fiercely, we think it is the only way of seeing things.  Any other outlook may simply seem foolish.  Or wrong.  And yet, as people of faith … as people who believe, in some way, in the Still-Speaking God, we know that when we get stuck in old ways of seeing, we can choose a new way.

            We can pray for help.  We can look to other people we admire, and follow their examples.  We can even try a deliberate practice, like each and every day looking for just one thing that is beautiful … or wonderful … or gracious in the world.  And that may help us live into a four-fold experience of faith:  believing that God is … trusting in God … longing to be faithful to God … and see everything around us as God’s gracious gift.  Amen.