Christianity is all about faith. But what is faith?
Faith means different things to different people.
Modern men have been conditioned to measure the validity / truth of a statement against empirical evidences. Therefore, they prefer speaking of confidence instead of faith because they are able to quantify confidence, but not faith. Statistically speaking, confidence is expressed as a percentage. Adding up all available evidence, a broker can state that he has a 95% confidence that tomorrow, a particular stock will rise; a scientific officer can predict with a 72% confidence that the weather will be suitable for fireworks display next Tuesday etc. Such a way of speaking is appropriate for the science community but not for the world of interpersonal relationships. We do not say a child has a 86% confidence that its mother loves it. Nor do we say that this business partner has an integrity level of only 62%. No. Such a language is inappropriate for social interactions. We do not express faith in terms of percentages. In the end, faith in God is boiled down to interpersonal relationship.
Faith means different things to different people.
Modern men have been conditioned to measure the validity / truth of a statement against empirical evidences. Therefore, they prefer speaking of confidence instead of faith because they are able to quantify confidence, but not faith. Statistically speaking, confidence is expressed as a percentage. Adding up all available evidence, a broker can state that he has a 95% confidence that tomorrow, a particular stock will rise; a scientific officer can predict with a 72% confidence that the weather will be suitable for fireworks display next Tuesday etc. Such a way of speaking is appropriate for the science community but not for the world of interpersonal relationships. We do not say a child has a 86% confidence that its mother loves it. Nor do we say that this business partner has an integrity level of only 62%. No. Such a language is inappropriate for social interactions. We do not express faith in terms of percentages. In the end, faith in God is boiled down to interpersonal relationship.
God freely enters into relationships with men. Here, "freely" does not mean being casual, being playful and irresponsible. It means "not out of necessity". There is nothing to force God to do so. If God does it in order to achieve another purpose, then this "it" is a necessity and God is not free. But God is free. It is out of His whatever that God builds up relations with us. For the time being, I am still unable to fathom the motive of God. Thus, this "whatever" is a place-holder only and I don't mean to offend my readers.
Though there is an infinitely big gap between God and men, God is able to make His presence felt in human history. Because of this difference in positions and levels, God set the relation up as a covenant. Covenant is a promise to be honoured by two parties. But in this case, the two parties are not of equal status. God is in a superior position and we are lowly in front of His majesty. Therefore, God's covenants are pretty much lopsided. There is not much we can do for God, to God but He can do a lot for us, to us. God promises us an eternal life which we do not deserve. The only thing we are required to do is to believe in Him, to have faith in His promises. The story of Abraham is one such example.
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised (Romans 4:18-21).
This is a reflection of the life of Abraham by St. Paul. The experience of Abraham is an excellent illustration of what faith is. It is meaningful to talk about faith only in a relationship. A promise is made by one party and calls for a response from the other. The other party can decline but if he accepts, he accepts with faith. Of course, the other party can demand a guarantee but no guarantee can increase the faith. Either the first party honours the promise or he does not. That is all. A guarantee can only raise the stakes. If the first party does not honour the promise, the other party can at least get some advantages. Out of His benevolence, God gives a guarantee, His Spirit. The Holy Spirit will stay with us until the end of time, until the promise finally actualized. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit teaches us all we need to attain this promise of partaking in the eternal life of God.
Though there is an infinitely big gap between God and men, God is able to make His presence felt in human history. Because of this difference in positions and levels, God set the relation up as a covenant. Covenant is a promise to be honoured by two parties. But in this case, the two parties are not of equal status. God is in a superior position and we are lowly in front of His majesty. Therefore, God's covenants are pretty much lopsided. There is not much we can do for God, to God but He can do a lot for us, to us. God promises us an eternal life which we do not deserve. The only thing we are required to do is to believe in Him, to have faith in His promises. The story of Abraham is one such example.
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised (Romans 4:18-21).
This is a reflection of the life of Abraham by St. Paul. The experience of Abraham is an excellent illustration of what faith is. It is meaningful to talk about faith only in a relationship. A promise is made by one party and calls for a response from the other. The other party can decline but if he accepts, he accepts with faith. Of course, the other party can demand a guarantee but no guarantee can increase the faith. Either the first party honours the promise or he does not. That is all. A guarantee can only raise the stakes. If the first party does not honour the promise, the other party can at least get some advantages. Out of His benevolence, God gives a guarantee, His Spirit. The Holy Spirit will stay with us until the end of time, until the promise finally actualized. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit teaches us all we need to attain this promise of partaking in the eternal life of God.
St. Joseph was a righteous man (Matthew 1:19). He did whatever he could to support Mary and her child. He might never be able to understand thoroughly God's promise. Yet, he faithfully executed his mission quietly behind the scene. St. Joseph, pray for us before the Lord.
Dear Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief (Mark 9:24). Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment