Faith Means Taking Risks

 

My faith is getting put to the test every week in this country as more and more outrageous news comes pouring out of Washington, DC. 

And Austin, TX.

And Tallahassee...always.

So I felt fortunate to have heard the "Strict Scrutiny" podcast where they interviewed former SCOTUS clerks who had served with late New Hampshire justice David Souter. As I listened to them reminiscing about him, it felt familiar, soothing and sad. Souter's demeanor and his way of viewing his role as a justice reminded me of my dad...and a brand of conservativism that wasn't destructive and crazy, but was deliberate and worked to find the best answer to pressing issues.

I miss my dad. And I miss a judiciary that behaved more responsibly. I didn't always agree with every ruling. But at least I had a fair shot at thinking they might have done the right thing instead of cringing as the SCOTUS aids and abets the destruction of democratic norms.

I mean, I seriously wonder if we're going to be at a place in the not too distant future where a lawyer stands before the nine justices and starts, "May it please the court, f---k you!" 

Justice Souter died in May at age 85. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. 

And may his approach to justice that helped start this sermon on faith resonate with you. 

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40

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I was recently listening to a podcast where I heard an interview with two women who had clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

During the course of their reflections and remembrances of their former boss… they talked about a commencement address that he had made at Harvard University.

So naturally…I went scouring the internet to find a video of his remarks.

It was an excellent speech about the judiciary…and especially the way in which Souter approached his role as a judge looking at the United States Constitution…and how best to apply the law in any particular case.

Justice Souter talked about one of the greatest fallacies that’s out there when it comes to thinking about the Constitution.

So many of us expect it to be straightforward…and can be read plainly.

For instance…the Constitution makes it very clear that in order to run for the United States Senate…a person must be at least 30 years old.

That’s an absolute…a certainty.

But Souter says so much of the Constitution has competing good things.

There’s a desire for security on the one hand…and liberty on the other…and that’s where he saw the breathing room in the document.

Paying attention…and honoring the different ideals in the Constitution…requires reason…and discernment…and a sense of the real people…not just theoretical ideas… but the actual flesh and blood humanity…that would feel the effects of whatever decision that was rendered by the court.

And while he didn’t use the word…I would say that what he was talking about requires faith.

As our Letter to the Hebrews says:

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith requires us to let go of certainty…and live into the true ambiguity of the world.

Faith means that we put our trust in God…this unseen power of Love that surrounds us…that has made a promise to us over and over never to leave us…or abandon us…even in those darkest hours of our souls.

As we see in this anonymous Letter to the Hebrew followers of Jesus…the author cites the many examples of our biblical ancestors who…despite any misgivings or doubts they might have had…still put their trust in God and took risks that might have seemed illogical.

For example…Abraham and Sarah set out on a journey.

They moved away from their familiar land…and were in fact…dwelling as foreigners in a strange place.

They had no guarantee of anything good coming from this.

But acting on faith…they followed God’s lead.

Sarah…who was an old woman…didn’t think it was possible for her to have a child.

And yet…she bore Isaac.

Isaac…who would miraculously…and fortunately…be spared from getting sacrificed by his father.

Because he survived that terror…Isaac would marry Rebecca…who would bear and raise twins…one of whom was Jacob.

Jacob would then become Israel…and the story goes on from there.

All of this done in the uncomfortable space of not knowing…no absolutes…. only hope in the assured promise that God would be with them.  

Faith requires us to allow God to lead us…and that can be terrifying for the human mind that so desperately wants to be in control.

It’s hard to let go and let God when you have bills to pay…or when you’re not feeling well in your body.

To live into a life of faith is to be willing to take risks.

I think that’s why it’s important for us to hear what Jesus is saying in this morning’s Gospel.

We can’t always be 100-percent sure of what’s coming next…like the owner of the house knowing what time the robber is going to show up to ransack the place.

But even so…we also can’t live in fear…and put multiple locks on our doors…or as the parable said last week…build a bigger barn so we can hoard away all our ‘stuff.’

Because “stuff” isn’t what matters to God.

What matters to God is us…and how we care for the creatures of God.

And we must be prepared to follow…to take the risk of answering the call that God places on us.

That’s why we gather here…Sunday after Sunday.

Our prayers…our rituals…are not the “thing”…but they are the means by which we continue to open ourselves up and invite God to do the work in us to prepare us for the greater acts that we must do out in the world.

How we treat our loved ones and our friends on a day-to-day basis.

 

The way we interact with our colleagues at work or at school.

The willingness to go into those places that take us out of our comfort zone…and do the things we do to bring about a more just society.

We’re living in a time of turmoil…and fear…with players who are intentionally and deliberately undermining our sense of a shared common humanity.

They are provocateurs of our basest instincts…and preying on our most atavistic fears…leading us into “us” vs. “them” camps.

And while this all may feel like some fresh new hell for us…sadly it is not.

As our wise writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes says:

“There is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccl. 1:9)

This is not anything God…or Jesus…or the Holy Spirit haven’t seen and experienced before.

The cruelty inflicted on immigrants…the whipping up of worries about transpeople…and the pain and destruction of war from Ukraine to Gaza.

The Scapegoating.

Betrayals.

Violence.

We need only remember the crucifixion to know that Jesus is keenly aware of how evil manifests in the human heart.

But we also look to that same cross and know that Jesus shows us that sin and death did not defeat goodness and love.

In all of it…our Holy Trinity is still with us…working in us and through us…even with tears and sighs too deep for words.

This is how keeping the faith…the hope in those things that are unseen…can helps us.

If we can remember that God is never far from us in our struggles…it can be like an extra battery charge when we feel our energy getting drained by the world around us.

Faith means to take the risk of living into Love in a world that doesn’t reward us for caring about those that the powers-that-be would have us despise and call “other.”

But this is the risk God is commanding us to take with the promise that we are trotting the   path of our biblical ancestors.

And we are never walking this path alone.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.