The Sedimentation of Faith

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Hebrews 11:1-16

My great-grandmother lived in a little house in the country.  Oddly, she had no well.  Instead, she had a rainwater cistern at the end of the back porch with a hand-crank pump on it.  She didn’t have indoor plumbing so she didn’t need a lot of water.  She had a tin roof with eavestroughs that emptied into the cistern to provide her with water.  All the water she needed for drinking, cooking, dishwashing and bathing came from that cistern.  I remember having to carry an old metal bucket out to the pump and cranking that pump to fill it and then struggling to carry it back in without spilling.  For a drink of water, you ladled it from the bucket into a glass. The water always seemed so clear and fresh, but my dad always said, “Don’t drink what’s at the bottom of the glass.”  Once it sat there for a minute or you knew why.  There would be bits of rusted metal and who knows what else that had washed down off the roof with the rain…but we drank the water anyway as per dad’s instructions.  It was good, fresh water instead of city water.

Anyway, the polite word for that stuff at the bottom of the glass is sediment.  Sediment is the result of that very complicated process known as sedimentation.  That’s where the stuff that seems hidden at first settles out and becomes visible.  When you ladle the water into the glass the motion keeps the sedimentary product afloat and depending on what it is it seems invisible.  But the sedimentary product is heavier than water and starts to sink to the bottom.  It’s sort of a natural purification process.

Now, I bet you didn’t know it but in the Greek of the New Testament there’s a word that describes that process of sedimentation.  It’s hypostasis. Breaking the word down, hypo means under or below and stasisroughly means standing so put them together and it means “that which stands under” sort of like foundation.   Hypostasis means “that which is more real”.  In the process of sedimentation, the sediment is the hypostasis, the more real stuff that at first was hidden but becomes visible in the water as it settles out.  Medically speaking, when you feed a baby, the milk goes through the hidden process of digestion and then you have the hypostasis of the brutal reality of a loaded diaper.  

Philosophically speaking, hypostasis is the reality of the stuff of our lives.  It’s what arises from the hidden processes of cause and effect or the stuff that comes out of left field.  It’s the reality that arises from our plans and motives and dreams.  Hypostasis is the real stuff we have to deal with.

Well guess what?  Paul uses hypostasis to define what faith is.  He says, “Faith is the hypostasis of the hoped-for things; the coming to light of unseen things.  I have to warn you this is a different way of looking at faith than we have become accustomed to.  Paul is saying there is a hidden, behind the scenes realm of God acting in history to save and heal his very good creation and especially humanity and like sediment, faith is the real, tangible things of God’s actions becoming visible.  It’s as real and strong as a dandelion plant poking through in the middle of an asphalt parking lot.  It’s as beautiful and symbolic of hope as snowdrops and crocus blooms in early March.  Faith is the sedimentation into reality of the hoped-for things in Christ, the inbreaking of God’s kingdom, the real tangible evidence of God’s love.  Faith is better defined as the actions of faithfulness, both God’s faithfulness and our own. 

We tend to understand faith as a subjective reality, meaning something that goes on inside of me.  For example, our NIV translation of that verse reads: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  The NRSV reads: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.”  Faith seems to be a feeling of certainty.  When somebody says “I have faith”, they usually mean the belief or the feeling or the intuition or a just plain irrational agreement to ideas that there is a God we can trust.  In that sense, faith is purely subjective.

        But what Paul is trying to say here about faith is that it is the objective, outside ourselves, reality of the very real things that God is doing in history that are coming to light, that are being evidently and really manifest. What we call “my faith” should rather refer to our participation in what God is doing instead of simply what I believe or trust. Read the rest of the chapter and you will notice that it is all about God working through people to set the stage for his saving of his very good creation especially humanity in, through, and as Jesus Christ. Faith is more about what God is doing in us than whether I think or feel the right things about God, about Jesus.

Paul said it well in Galatians 2:20 where he says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the flesh, I live in the faith that is of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Or, “…I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God who loved me or gave himself for me.”  It is likely that Paul is reflecting a bit on what Baptism is.  For him, Baptism was a real participation in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  Paul believed he had died with Christ when he went under the water.  The life he lived after coming out of the water was "new life" in Christ, a new life in which Jesus was living in and through him by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Paul, the persecutor of Christians, had had a life re-orienting encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus that left him not only knowing Jesus was who he said he was, (the Lord, the Messiah, the Son of God) but Paul suddenly became a faithful servant of Jesus and an integral part of Faith, the sphere, the realm, the inbreaking reality of what God is really doing to save his very good creation and especially humanity.

So it is with each of us.  We are each part of the reality, the hypostasis, the sedimentation of God’s acting in history to bring about the world’s hoped-for saving by means of the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.  God has done things in our lives to create in us a sure sense that we are his beloved children, that he is watching over us, and he creates in us a sense of loyalty to Jesus.  These inner workings by God are often hidden to the world like particulates swirling around in a freshly ladled glass of Great-grandma’s water.  But in time we begin to act according to the love of God in Christ that God has poured into us, the Living Water of the Holy Spirit.  Nurtured by daily devotions and Christian fellowship we begin to do things for others that are part of God’s acting to bring the hope and love of Jesus to them.  Also, when we organize together and as a congregation do things we feel led by God to do, well, that’s the sediment of, the becoming real and visible of the reality of the Kingdom of God.  Faith isn’t so much about what we believe as it is about Jesus living in and acting through us.  Faith isn’t so much about us being able to say what we believe, but rather our being able to point out what God is doing in our midst.  I hope this makes sense.  Amen.

 

Bless The City

Jeremiah 29:4-7; Acts 2:36-47

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You folks here in Chesley (and some of the Elliot’s over in Williamsford) may have heard the name Adam Scott Elliot.  He was a miller and in 1858 he purchased the land upon which the Village of Chesley sits and became the town founder.  He did some time in Williamsford too.  But it appears that he spent most of his life here in Chesley.  He is accredited as being the town founder.  He cleared the land and he and his son John, a storekeeper and good citizen, did a lot to bring in business and develop the fledgling town so that by 1867 the wee village had a population of roughly 60 and a sawmill, gristmill, a couple of stores, and a shoemaker. The Chapter on the Town of Chesley in a work known as History of the County Bruce, Ontario, Canada says this about Adam Elliot: “Active and enterprising, he was a successful business man. In religion a staunch Presbyterian of the old school; kindly of heart, he did much good. Chesley has every reason to be proud of the man who was its founder.” ^[1]  He died in 1899.

John H. Elliot was especially instrumental in developing the town and the surrounding roads for business and for bringing the railroad to town.  The town land was owned by his father and him.  When he surveyed lots, he didn’t keep every other lot for himself for future profit as a person driven by greed would have done.  Rather, he sold them for $20 per lot and gave people as long as they needed to pay.  He also started the town’s first bank.  He died May 11, 1901.  The town council passed a resolution upon his death in which was stated: “He was at all times most anxious to render assistance to all proper schemes for promoting its (the village’s) welfare, and he has left us a noble example in the many sacrifices he made to improve the material condition as well as the mental and moral welfare of the residents of this village. In him the business men have lost a wise and prudent adviser and the poor a generous friend.”^[2]  Like his father, John Elliot was a Presbyterian.

With respect to churches in this town, in the first decade there is nothing much to report.  In 1870, a resident writing on town life declared that sermons in Chesley were like angels’ visits, few and far between.^[3]  But by 1875, another resident reported two gatherings.  One was a Canada Presbyterian congregation pastored by Rev. John Bethune that met in a log house somewhere the second concession.  The second was a Baptist congregation without a minister at the time.  Apparently, the Baptists were the first in establishing a preaching outpost in 1859.  The History then goes on to catalogue the arrival of the Associate Presbyterian Church in 1873, the Methodists in 1875 who became the United Church in 1925, and the Church of England and a German Evangelical Church which both built buildings in the mid-1880’s.

With respect to Geneva, the History writes: “Following close in point of time to the Baptists, the Presbyterians commenced to form the nucleus of a congregation afterwards to bear the name of the Geneva Presbyterian Church. The little body of worshippers met for worship in the log school-house which stood on lot 26, concession 3, of Elderslie. Every other Sunday from 1860 for a number of years the Rev. Geo. Bremner, the then lately ordained minister at Paisley, conducted the services. At times the village part of the congregation held services in Elliot's Hall. In 1872 a church was built in Chesley, and on October 20th, 1874,' the Rev. John Bethune was inducted as minister of the congregation. He was succeeded in 1879 by the Rev. John Ferguson, who after a most successful pastorate passed to his reward in 1890. It was while Rev. Mr. Ferguson was the minister of Geneva Church that the present commodious church building was erected, [The old church was sold for $1,000 to the Church of England congregation.] the opening of which took place January 11th, 1885, the Rev. Dr. Grant, Principal of Queen's University, officiating.”^[4]

On June 9^th, 1888 a fire struck the downtown businesses of Chesley.  As the buildings were made of wood, nearly the whole of Mainstreet burned.  There was a very interesting photograph taken from a hillside on the north east of town.  It was taken after the fire damage was cleaned up and shows block basements waiting to be built upon.  Just off center of the photograph, is Geneva, the Presbyterian Church.  The only recognizable church building in the picture.  Not to brag or anything but the picture speaks volumes to the role Presbyterians played in the founding of this town.  We were always there and prominent.

I found that brief chapter on Chesley quite interesting if not exciting to read.  This town was founded by Christians who were seeking the well-being, the peace, of the town in which they lived.  The spiritual and moral life was important.  This was very much unlike the towns that were popping up out West like Deadwood and Dawson City, where people were settling for reasons of economic prosperity.  Alcohol abuse, gambling, and human sex trafficking were prominent.   Having good morals and a place to worship was not on their minds.  But here in Chesley, Christians who sought the welfare of the city were central to having a peaceful and prosperous place to live and raise a family.

Here we gather 150 years later.  Chesley is facing the issues that most rural small towns face.  The days of an industrial base have passed.  The downtown businesses come and go.  There’s plenty of stuff for Seniors to do, but the lack of industry means a lack of children.  There’s also a drug problem among the younger generations.  The funeral home is likely the most successful business in town (and you’ve got the best one around!).  It’s a fight to keep a doctor in town and the hospital open.  Churches are struggling and are slowly closing one by one.  Residentially, there are some beautiful homes and some really wonderful people here.  Some newer housing developments are springing up as Chesley is more and more becoming a retirement/bedroom community.  

There are not many children in the area.  Of those you do see, a good many are of Amish Mennonite who have bought a lot of the farms in the area.  Of historical note, in the early 1900’s this church had a Sunday School enrollment of 104 boys and 102 girls and was taught by 23 teachers.  That’s unimaginable.  Camp Kintail, just south of Kincardine, is the flagship of Presbyterian Church in Canada’s camping program.  It doesn’t see numbers like that during a week with a full contingent of campers.

Geneva has grown smaller but our members are still involved in the community.  We serve in the Agricultural Society and help with the Fall Fair, Women’s Institute, the Fire Department and the Hospital Auxiliary, and enjoy curling.  But sadly, these civic organizations are struggling for participants just as are the churches.  There’s no rest for the weary.  Our fundraiser meals are an opportunity for people in the community to sit down together to a good meal.  They have the feel of a family reunion of good friends.  This church was founded by Presbyterians who needed a place to worship.  Now our surrounding community(s) are majoritively not Christian with no need for churches. 

All that said, it doesn’t change the fact of our fundamental nature as a congregation, a congregation that continues to seek the well-being of the town.  Our calling is the same as God’s calling to Abraham when he was in his late 70’s and 80’s – to go and be a blessing.  We must continue to bless our respective communities.  Just as it was said back in the days before there were churches in this town that a sermon was like an angel’s visit, few and far between, so each of you are a living sermon in this town.  The faith, hope, and love you each embody as disciples of Jesus and the depth of friendship that you share together after years of fellowship is living water to hurting people who don’t know how to sing the song of praise that everywhere surrounds them.  Bless this city!  Amen. 

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^[1] The Town of Chesley; History of the County Bruce, Ontario, Canada; https://electricscotland.com/history/canada/bruce/chapter28.htm

^[2] Ibid.

^[3] Ibid.

^[4] Ibid.