Readings
for Proper 14C
Proper 14: Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33; Hebrews 11:1-3; 8-16; Luke 12:32-40
August 8, 2004
The Rev. Mary B. Blessing
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
This summer I found myself reflecting on the question: What is Faith? The writer of Hebrews says: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. It is a compelling definition. The very essence of faith is having confidence in those things for which we hope. Faith is the conviction that things we cannot see will become real. This kind of conviction is not simply a subjective attitude. Unseen realities are tested and proved by experience. That is why Hebrews goes on to give a catalogue of examples of people who showed extreme faith in God. The 1st C. Christian who wrote these exhortations of faith witnessed severe persecution for following Christ. Yet was led to encourage others to "keep the faith", to live with hope and the conviction that God would prevail. (Harper Study Bible, p. 2263)
My own reflections on faith started while in Tijuana, Mexico, at a little mission on top of a barren hillside. The catalyst for my faith question was the moment our little band of "missionaries" got within 50 yards of the mission.
Sitting in my comfortable Town and Country Van, precariously perched at the top of a steep, water-worn, very rough dirt road, I looked down to our destination, wondering how in the world will we ever get this vehicle down this road? Our missionary guide, Pat McCormick, from St. Timothy's, said, "Just wait here, I'll get the pastor's wife."
I was instructed to sit in the back seat while Guille, the pastor's wife-a woman I had never met--drove us down the dirt road, which was half washed away. The road clearance between the driver side wheels and the cliff next to us was only inches. All of us piled in the back seat instinctively leaned our bodies away from the cliff as we bumped down the road.
We placed our faith in Guille's experience, while we prayed that God would protect us. We placed our confidence in Pat, who knew the driver and had done this before. We held on to the conviction that we would safely pass along this dangerous path because God would protect us. It was an act of faith because we trusted God, and we trusted these women whom we knew to be people of God. This moment was a kind of ice-breaker--opening our hearts to new expressions of faith in the power of Christ working in this little mission called La Roca.
La Roca was formed out of nothing on a desolate piece of land, homesteaded by a man who, like Abraham, left the land he knew to inhabit a desolate land, because God told him to. A man who gave up life in the U.S. as a college professor to be a pastor to poor street people of Tijuana. Beginning with bare land, no water, no electricity, no roads, he and a few Christian "brothers" started with a humble 16' X 20' building-with a simple cross on top. Everything happened in that building: eating, sleeping, teaching, chapel service, everything. By placing complete faith in God's ability to provide what was needed, the pastor created a safe shelter for children off the streets of Tijuana, and later, single moms with broods of children. Over the next 16 years this little mission blossomed into a shelter to rehabilitate and educate single moms, providing them with training for trades to get them off the streets and into viable vocations.
La Roca is more than a church, more than a mission. La Roca is a kind of community center offering counseling, social work, computer classes, literacy courses, and an elementary school, not just for those living there, but also for neighbors.
Before La Roca was founded, almost no one lived in the neighborhood. But because God planted a group of Christians with a mission to serve anyone in need, people gradually set up small plywood houses, all hodge-podge along the hillsides. Everything looks very make-shift from our American viewpoint, but these are their homes. They are lucky to have this much.
As our time unfolded in La Roca, we witnessed time and time again "faith as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Children expressed their faith as they offered prayers of thanksgiving for simple things-for mom, for a brother, for food, for a bed, for "los Americanos", for God's love. Women expressed their faith as they shared their pride in the new work they found. The pastor and his wife expressed their faith as they valued help from American missionaries.
The faith we saw displayed at La Roca Mission is not the "blind faith" that blissfully announces "no worries, if it is meant to be, God will provide" and then sits around waiting for God to act. No. The faith we saw was more like faith as defined by 13th C. Dominican monk and theologian, Thomas Aquinas: faith is informed by love and is a gift of grace infused into the soul, which leads to good works and which thus makes a person righteous before God. (Owen Thomas, Introduction to Theology, p. 204.)
Pastor Miguel and his wife, Guille, are filled with the love of Christ. Miguel did not always have this deep sense of love for Christ. He was not always a man of faith. Born in Guadalajara, and raised in a Mexican home, he says "my grandparents were more Catholic than the Pope." But, he was brought to the United States, where he became highly educated (he went on to receive a Ph. D. and taught in the California community college system). He focused on achieving the American dream, and wandered far from faith. It took a failed marriage and personal loss, for him to finally hit the wall using only his own ego strength. His heart was opened to receive the gift of faith.
By the grace of God, and the invitation of a black Baptist woman filled with Christ's love, Miguel felt the power of faith as "a gift of grace infused into his soul." This new found feeling of God's grace did not bring about sudden change, but over time and with the love and support of Christian community, Miguel eventually found himself called into ministry. His Ph.D. was on how to create a Co-operative Network to Enhance the Viability of Mexican American Entrepreneurial Businesses. Much to Miguel's surprise, God called him back to Mexico to train poor men and women of Tijuana to become small business owners. Government leaders from Tijuana encouraged him to return to his people and apply his vision in Mexico. To this end, he left his position as co-pastor of a California Baptist church, and founded La Roca Mission, a non-denominational Christian mission.
Pastor Miguel tells his spiritual journey with caution. He hesitates, not wanting to appear vainglorious, for he seeks no glory for himself-he seeks only to glorify God. He knows he failed in earlier stages of life because he turned away from God. Now, he sees the growth of La Roca Mission is completely due to God's blessing upon this ministry. The gift of faith he received infused his soul and led him to good works. Through love and faith he and his wife offer the community the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. In turn, women and children who were abused, neglected, perhaps self-destructive, in the streets of Tijuana now find peace, shelter, comfort, the reality of new life, strengthening of the soul, a sense of forgiveness, training and faith to live in health and wholeness. Lives are transformed because of the gift of grace leading them to good works.
Do you have this kind of faith? Do have faith that is informed by love? Faith that is a gift of grace infused into your soul? Faith which leads you to good works, and thus makes you righteous before God?
AMEN
| Updated 8/20/04 |
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