In the early 2000’s a study
was done of American youth and what they believe. Though American, I think the results can
apply up here. The study involved nearly
3000 teenagers and the results were published in the book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.
Here’s what they found that
youth believe: “1) A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches
over human life on earth; 2) god wants people to be good, nice, and fair to
each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions; 3) the central
goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself; 4) god does not need
to be particularly involved in one's life except when god is needed to resolve
a problem; 5) good people go to heaven when they die.”[1]
The authors of the study gave a name to this religion – Moralistic
Therapeutic Deism.
You may have noticed that in Moralistic
Therapeutic Deism the god doesn’t require faithfulness. The god is grossly undefined. He is just part of a moral system with
therapeutic benefits. Be good and be
happy and you will be blessed. There is
no talk of sin, no talk of denying oneself and serving this god. The authors of
the study describes this god as “something like a combination Divine Butler and
Cosmic Therapist: he's always on call, takes care of any problems that arise,
professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not
become too personally involved in the process.”[2]
It is no stretch of the
imagination to say that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism among teenagers at the
beginning of the 21st Century is the culmination of institutionalized
Christianity being the “civil” religion of North America in the 18th,
19th, and 20th centuries.
The church produced this water-downed, nebulous belief system. Teenagers and their parents and even their
grandparents don’t come to church now because Moralistic Therapeutic Deism everywhere
abounds. Moreover, in a society of
religious pluralism Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is so generic it no longer
needs its institutional mother.
Recalling last weeks’ sermon,
faith as we find it defined in Hebrews is not a subjective or in-the-head
belief in ideas that helps us make sense of reality. A subjective faith over time evolves through
simply being a matter of private belief ultimately into atheism. As you may recall faith is the “hypostasis”
of the hoped for things, the coming to light of things hidden. Faith is a sphere of reality in which God’s
plan and purpose for his creation is “actualizing”, “sedimentizing” in the
midst of the sphere of fallen reality.
In, through, and as Jesus Christ, God the Son become human, and by and
through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit God has called us and made us
to be participants in this sphere of faith by uniting us to Jesus in the bond
of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, to speak
of “our faith” or “my faith” is to speak of faithfulness due to trust in God that
he will bring his plan and purpose for his creation to culmination, specifically
his promise to save it from sin, death, and evil.
Looking at our text today,
Paul remembers some faithful people and brings the sphere of faith to its
culmination in Jesus who is its Author and its Completion. He is the author and the end of the
story. The sphere of faith is where
Jesus is constantly making himself known through mighty works. In the sphere of faith the Israelites passed
through the Red Sea on dry ground. But
the Egyptians, being outside the sphere of faith, drowned. In the sphere of faith the Israelites marched
around the seemingly impenetrable walls of Jericho until, according to God’s
promise, the walls came down. In the
sphere of faith Rahab the prostitute gave shelter to the Israelite spies who
came to scout out Jericho and she and her family were spared when the
Israelites took the city. Please notice
that Rahab was a prostitute. This indicates
that faithfulness does not indicate total moral uprightness.
These were big miraculous
events that happened in the sphere of reality called faith. Lest we get the idea that faithfulness in the
sphere of faith leads to health and wealth and the happy ever after’s that TV
preachers say will result by monetarily supporting their ministries “in faith”,
Paul gives us a list of nameless martyrs; people who died for their
faithfulness within the sphere of faith. Paul also says that none of these heroes of
the faith and martyrs saw the perfect completion of their faithfulness for it was
yet to come in Christ and still is yet to come awaiting his return. Jesus is
the Author of the sphere of Faith. He is the one writing this story. All that the ancients did in the sphere of
faith was by his own handwriting. He is
indeed himself the sphere of faith and life “in him” is faiths perfection,
culmination, completeness.
Such is our life. We
participate in Jesus who is the sphere of faith. We were crucified with him and
are and will be raised with him. Being born
of the Holy Spirit we are in him just as by physical birth we are in Adam. We will not understand what faith is unless
we understand that we are participants in Jesus’ own life. We do not live in the sphere of faith by our
own effort. We live in it because we live in him by his faithfulness. We live in and by his faithfulness not our
own. Our lives are a playing out of his
faithfulness. He even makes our
unfaithfulness work out for good in the sphere of faith.
Therefore, if our
faithfulness is participation in Jesus' faithfulness, then for us true
faithfulness – the visibility of the Sphere of Faith – is our living according
to the way of the cross. Faithfulness is
not Moralistic Therapeutic Deism where we good people live happy comfortable
lives and call ourselves blessed. It is
not the happy fulfilled life of success that is free of suffering. It’s a life and death struggle against sin in
ourselves and our cultures ways. It’s a
life of self-denial. It’s a life of
putting the real needs of others before our addictive pursuits of our own wants
and false needs. There is and will be
suffering but we do not suffer alone or as those who have no hope. Jesus is with us working all things to the good in the sphere of his reality.
Paul leaves us with an image
that is quite current as the Olympics are happening. He says we are surrounded by a great cloud of
witnesses. This is like competing in an
Olympic race in the Olympic Stadium with a great crowd cheering us on. But it’s no ordinary crowd. It’s everybody who has run this marathon
before us. They know how hard it is and
they know we can do it. This great cloud
of witnesses, the faithful in all times and places, is watching and cheering us
on as we run to further bring our Perfecter to the completion, the fulfilment
of his faith – the kingdom of God come in its fullness; when it is on Earth as
it is in Heaven and the new humanity is complete. If you think your life is insignificant. Think again.
Run the race with perseverance.
Amen.
