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Marks of Faith
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19 April 2009 Just two short weeks ago, President and Michelle Obama were off to Europe, off to the President’s first G20 summit. You know the media hype, the calculated positions marked by England’s Gordon Brown and other leaders, the demonstrations against the G20, the paparazzi-like attention given to everything said and done by the President. But the high point of the trip–at least as far as press attention seemed to be concerned had less to do with the global economy than with the Obama’s meeting with The Queen–and the Touch Felt Round the World. I am referring, of course, to Michelle Obama’s arm around the shoulders of Queen Elizabeth, caught on video from behind the two women so that there was no doubt as to who’s arm was around whom...and of the Queen’s quick response to an equally touching gesture with her arm around the First Lady’s waist. We’re more than two hundred years beyond the Revolution and still challenging the British. Incidentally, according to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, we can thank Thomas Jefferson for the fact that Supreme Court justices wear plain black robes. John Jay, the first Chief Justice to the Supreme Court appeared to do his duty wearing a splendid robe of crimson and black with gold detail separating the large bands of color. When Jefferson saw him, he observed that they’d fought a revolution to get away from that kind of display and the hierarchy it projects. Whether we’re talking about the First Lady and the Queen, or the first Chief Justice, protocol’s vastly nuanced range of expressions either facilitates or impedes relationships. Faith and the vision it facilitates and impedes is no less nuanced–especially in the gospel according to John. On Easter Sunday, John’s empty tomb version is the double story of Peter and the beloved disciple doing a two-step to get into the tomb. John reports that the disciple whom Jesus loves believes because of what he does not see. Mary Magdalene then sees Jesus outside the tomb and proclaims him as Lord when he calls her by name, but she is not allowed to touch him. In this week’s double story, the ten – male – disciples gather and experience Jesus’ post-crucifixion presence in a way that leads them to faith...but the disciple Thomas is not present. Thomas is unwilling or unable to base his belief on the testimony of the others, even though they join him in their special relationship with Jesus as apostles, and even though he is courageously devoted to Jesus. This provides a major point of reassurance for all of us. The combination of the beloved disciple’s testimony, Mary’s testimony, the testimony of the ten male disciples, and finally, Thomas’ testimony suggests that people come to faith in a range of ways. It suggests that the apostle Paul’s Road-to-Damascus experience is not the norm, but the exception. It appears that the writer of John is taking great pains to tell us that faith is rarely born in one full, dramatic instance.[1,242] That at least for the apostle Thomas, one of the important factors in his own faith is his ability to see and touch Jesus. Different strokes for different folks. But there is an additional lesson here. Thomas’ need to touch is not an issue of protocol; it is an important mark of faith. It reminds us that faith is not just a matter of belief, but takes form in a fully hands-on manner. While I was in Spokane last week, Dad and I took my mother to her first day at an adult health day care center run by the Sisters of Providence. Mother was greeted by name. Staff introduced themselves to her and showed her where to find the restrooms and coatroom; they guided her into the social hall for coffee and conversation. From the moment we walked in, it was a high-touch environment, giving expression to faith shown in compassionate service. In just three short months, our own youth will be giving some high-touch expression to their faith as they help with the on-going rebuilding of New Orleans and the surrounding area, now four years after Katrina. Once a quarter, UCCSV-ers of all ages clean up litter along Middlebrook Road; other members and friends staff the soup kitchen appropriately called the Lord’s Table; we donate food regularly to Germantown Help in their ministries to the hungry. UCCSV’s own Emergency Assistance program provides resources for people in the immediate area who need help with rent, utilities, or medications. Conference resources, funded by our UCC congregations, support Earl’s Place in Baltimore, a half-way house for men. National resources support ministries from emergency relief to educating girls in Turkey. All of these ministries are marks of faith, high-touch expressions of the commitments we make at the time of our baptism that live into the new vision of community begun by Jesus and the early church. But for all of the good they do, even these high-touch marks of faith have a sobering dimension. Our scripture reading from Luke’s book of Acts shares a vision of a community in which members are cared for so well, that there is no need among them. More specifically, the care comes from the voluntary sharing of possessions as a mark of faith. When the church first began, this extensive care did not extend beyond the faith community. As the church increasingly became aware of the broader needs, it also expanded its vision to meet those needs. My mother is a direct recipient of that expanded vision. So are the Germantown residents of UCCSV’s Emergency Assistance. Today stands at the intersection of three anniversaries. Columbine: April 20, 1999. Virginia Tech: April 16, 2007, Earth Day, April 22. Each of these anniversaries bears testimony to a particular vision: a life-denying vision, or a life-sustaining, life-giving vision. As we live into this season of Easter, as we acknowledge these anniversaries, we also live out a vision. The question is whether our vision is broad enough to include a world ravaged by the violence of poverty and pollution and aggression. The question is whether our vision is deep enough to live out the words with which Jesus greets his disciples, “Peace be with you,” so that in our living, peace may truly be the mark of our faith and of the church. *** [1] Preaching the New Common Lectionary: Year B, Trinity Press, pages 237-242. |