Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Proper 14 (19) - Year C
Faith is currently defined in Mirriam-Webster as:
1) allegiance
2) belief and trust in
3) that which is believed
How does this differ from:
1) assurance of that hoped for
2) conviction of the unseen
3) a source of approval
After you have played with the intersections of the connotations of the above, we are then given an example that adds a fourth category:
4) obedience
Now, against what you first came up with between definitions, play again with “obedience”. How does that change things? Is obedience a matter of faith? When? Under what conditions?
Etymologically, obedience is to be oriented (ob- —toward) what can be (-oedire —heard). What have you heard calling to you this week? Something in the news? A community still to be brought into being by our choices throughout the day?
At stake is what is so firmly grounded in you that whether or not it comes to pass in your lifetime, you will live for it to be available for some generation to come. Remember realized eschatology and be glad.
= = =
realized eschatology: being engaged in the process of becoming, rather than waiting for external and unknown forces to bring about destruction
For extra credit there is this paper to consider.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/08/pentecost-12-year-c-hebrews-111-38-16.html
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
We talk so much about faith as though it were a solid object that could be handed around for inspection and wonderment. Faith has gotten tied with results - "If only we have faith enough, everything will turn out aright." And, then, when it doesn't we redefine things so even this bad thing is part of some larger plan that we will now have faith in because we must have faith in something or fade away.
Here faith is not something accomplished or justified. Here faith stands and falls in the presence of a distant vision, a far-off welcoming.
It is so easy to turn faith into fact and then get trapped by the facts into needing to tell lies to reconnect these dissonances to faith.
Faith is part of seeking, not its end.
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Sabina (Reader)
Do I have to route my replies through the internet or may I just hit reply on outlook express.
I often answer in sounds bites ~ needing time to really digest and flesh out my thoughts. So here it goes.
I feel that faith is colored by attitude. Attitude changes as faith matures. I agee with Thomas that faith is seeking. How stagnant we would be if faith were an end unto its self.
These days we are bombarded with another's fear. Fear produces anger. It is hard to being a loving, kind person if one is afraid and angry. I choose to take the attitude I am not afraid. And guess what? I am not afraid. Be it on the street at night or of the world at large. But, I try to put my self out of harm's way as much as possible
Sabina
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Wesley (Blogger)
Sabina, as one who receives the messages posted here directly by email, instead of coming here to check if there is a new posting, you just need to do what you did (isn't it great when it works that way!) - simply click on the reply link. Following that process will send your messages to the dialogue for all to ponder.
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The connection between attitude and faith seems to me to be a fruitful place to reflect. In some ways it brings together the internals and externals of our lives. In some other ways our attitudes are closely tied to our personalities which seem to remain fairly consistent or change-resistant over time. I'd be interested in your further digesting and fleshing out this connection between attitude and faith.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/august2004.html
The measure of G*D's pleasure seems here to be tied with our desire for something better than we currently have.
What could be better than this current experience of ours? -- Where is unemployment today in your life, in the life of your community, nation or world? Where is health today in your life, in the life of your community, nation or world? Where are relationships today in your life, in the life of your community, nation or world? Where is the understanding of the interconnections of life today in your life, in the life of your community, nation or world?
This line of questioning could go on for a long time. The basic question is whether or not you and I, as individuals, and ourselves, together in community, desire something better. Is our prayer that heaven come on earth keen enough to lead us to make the transitions needed to draw near to our desire?
As long as we are on that path we honor G*D, not embarrass G*D. When was the last time you looked at the theology of G*D's embarrassment or being ashamed? This helps us get out of some of the triumphalist tendencies within the Christian tradition.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/august2004.html
"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (11:1) ... "[the faithful] desire a better country" (11:16)
So often faith relates backward. It circles around an assent or belief that we have come to.
We sometimes encourage one another to have faith enough to move forward with fear and trembling.
Here faith is not a grit your teeth and move ahead or a casting a fond eye over our shoulder to days gone by. Here faith is hardwired to assurance and conviction. These are the measuring rods of faith, not stated belief or hoping for the best. Of course assurance and faith are tricky categories as we can fool ourselves without even blinking. We can be quite sure and dead wrong. We can have the strongest of convictions without having helpful behavior.
Here faith is communal, even over time, where the common thread of assurance and conviction are equally tied to a desire or yearning for a next better place to be, better person to be. It is this communal nature of faith that can ground it with more confidence (even when in the middle of a generalized cultural delusion).
How clearly can you name a better situation than the one you are in and find a next step toward it? Odds are it will be in concert with others with the same desire.
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by faith calls are heard and followed
into an unknown territory
of a better country
this is our Darwinian genetic heritage
to stay in a tent in this land
and the next land
and any other or returned to land
as we discern where we are
and where we are yet headednot even the nearness of death
will stay the faithful one
from their appointed rounds
snow and sleet are nothing
compared to disappointment
at our distance from better
and so strangers and foreigners
in this place we set out again
to what we know is yet there
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html
Take 1
By faith Abram and Sarai set out. If you are not up to the faith standard, there are still hope and love and additional ways to journey.
Try this variation: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the love of things not seen. Even without assurance that hope will be fulfilled, one can still hope and still love.
Whether by faith, hope, love, or some other path, we can still desire a better world than we currently find. Of course it will require changing ourselves as well as the world, since we are still very much connected. It does open the possibility of modeling the changes we desire.
Whether working from a position of assurance or hope or love or something else, have at it so that you can be grounded in this place and not need some other in which to live and move and have your being - here is enough.
Take 2
Yes, yes, yes, faith is directly connected with assurance and conviction. That is exactly the problem. Anything outside of faith must be prohibited for assured faith is convicted and convinced that it is the totality of what is possible.
Faith is the source of approval, so faith must be secure for all time.
It is in this sense that faith is connected with an other-worldly heaven. Faith and Heaven - between the two of them there is no other option than the option of what is currently understood to be faithful and heavenly by those who control access to either (as either implies both).
Watch out for an unashamed God insisting on faith and offering a heaven, someday. There you will find an idol, secure, never-changing, ever pure. There you will find Crusades and Inquisitions.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/08/hebrews-111-3-8-16.html