Faith as a Muscle

"If it don't kill ya, it just makes you stronger."
"The struggle you're in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow."
The letter of James even describes difficult times as times of joy because they test our faith and thereby make it stronger.
Faith is like any other muscle: if you don't use it it gets weaker. If you use your muscles regularly, and challenge them by adding weights or running/walking/cycling/swimming faster, your muscles will get stronger. They will be sore. You will be tired. But your body will only get stronger.
It's the same way with faith. If you challenge it by dealing with struggles in your life and accepting them, your faith will grow stronger. I know it's a stretch but what if God gave us those struggles to help us exercise our faith? To help our faith grow stronger?
We can't see that in the moment. When we feel discouraged, stressed, downtrodden, worried, exhausted. In that moment we can only hold on and try to keep going. But looking back we realize how much we have learned during that time, and how God has carried us through.
I've experienced that and I've heard people tell me about their own experiences.
Just like working out your body, it takes effort, and determination, and practice.
It also takes a certain openness to want to see God in all of it. God is not one to force Godself on us. God offers us unconditional love and unlimited grace. But we will only receive that if we are willing to let God in. Which also requires effort, and determination, and practice.
But oh, how good it feels when you realize how strong you are. How strong God is. 

How We Experience God

Yesterday, many churches celebrated Trinity Sunday: God is Creator, God is in Jesus Christ, and God is Spirit. God gives life, God shows us how to live, and God inspires us. 

Generations of scholars have tried to figure this out: How can God be experienced in three different ways, and yet be one and the same God?
I'm not going to try to figure that out, and I don't think we need to. God is beyond our comprehension. A God that we can figure out wouldn't be God. We need a power that is greater than our own, and greater than our minds. We need a power that can blow us away!
Some people experience God in nature, in the created world.
Others see God in the face of the person on the side of the street, asking for help.
And yet others feel closest to God when they hear music.
These are three random examples of how we experience God. There are a billion more. That's the amazing thing about God: God comes to each of us in the way that we need it. God speaks to us individually in a way that only we can understand.
So instead of trying to figure God out, let's just be open to God speaking to us.
Because God is speaking, to me and to you!
Praise God! 

God's Spirit

Yesterday, we celebrated Pentecost: The festival of the Holy Spirit. As Christians we believe that God's Spirit is poured out on all of God's children, gifting us, inspiring us, empowering us to speak and share the good news about Jesus Christ. 

The Book of Acts tells us that people from all over the world had come to Jerusalem, and suddenly they heard their own language being spoken. They understood the message about Jesus because God gifted Jesus' disciples to speak in other languages!
If only it were that easy for us today: If only we could suddenly, effortlessly speak Spanish or Mandarin.
Are there ways that we can speak the languages of other people? Can we learn the language of another generation, another culture, another ethnicity, even another political view?
Listening is the first step to understanding others. Before we can speak to them we need to listen. Listen to their stories, listen to their experience and to their needs. When we truly listen, and truly want to understand, we will learn to speak their language. We will be able to share with them the gifts God has given us.
Language isn't only words. Music can be language, as can art, or dance. Your facial expression and your body can communicate openness and kindness, or fear and judgment. Everything you do (or don't do) communicates a message.
Let that message be love.
God, let our message be love. Send your Spirit on us that we may listen and speak in love.

Forgiveness

Last night I had the privilege of speaking at an interfaith event held at the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester. A Rabbi, a representative of the Sikhi faith, a Muslim, and I spoke about the concept of forgiveness in our faith tradition. We were all amazed by how much our faiths had in common: As human beings we are all sinners, no matter how hard we try to live a good life. We make mistakes, we hurt other people, we hurt ourselves and we act or speak against God's will. We are all in need of forgiveness. We know how difficult it is to forgive, and how freeing it can be. We know that we can't control what others do, we can only control our own decisions and actions. And we all believe that God is merciful and that it is not up to us to judge others.
Our Muslim brothers and sisters had their prayers at sunset, and we feasted on a wonderful meal, continuing our conversations. It was a time of learning, of laughter, of hospitality, and of hope: Hope that together, we can make this world better. We can learn to understand each other and don't have to fear one another. We all want a better world, where everyone can live in freedom and safety. We all want to reach our young people with the message of faith and hope, and we want to bring comfort to those who are struggling.
I had to officiate at the funeral for a child last week. It helped me put things in perspective. Life can be over so quickly. It's too short to be holding on to grudges or past hurts, to blame, or guilt. Life is too short for us not to forgive.
May God help us live in peace, and bring healing to our hurting hearts.

Easter

Christians all around the world are observing what we call Holy Week: the last week of Jesus' life. We remember how he entered the city of Jerusalem, had a last meal with his closest friends (known as the Last Supper or Communion), was arrested, tortured, and crucified. On Friday we observe the last hours of his life, and his painful death. 

Jesus was faithful to the end. He was scared, he was alone, he pleaded with God, he even shouted, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" But he believed this was God's will, and "he loved them to the end." (John 13:1) He loved the world to the end of his life.

But, it was not the end. It turned out to be a new beginning: Three days later, Jesus was raised from the dead to a new, eternal life. God used Jesus' death to show the world that God is stronger than fear, violence and even death. In the end, love won.

A couple of weeks ago we hosted a Faith Fair at Trinity: 7 different religions introduced their traditions and beliefs to kids and adults in a creative, playful way, with games, snacks, and crafts. Close to 100 people came to learn. Because they realized that if we want to live in peace, we need to learn about each other so we can break down the walls of fear and misunderstandings. It was a joyful, beautiful event and it made me appreciate the depth and wisdom found in other cultures and faith traditions. Nobody was trying to promote their faith. They were just happy to share what they believe and how they live. 

To me that was another example how love overcomes fear. 

For us as Christians, Easter is the epitome of that. As we celebrate, we pray that God may bring peace, love and hope to all people.

"We give thanks to the Creator and we pray that in the battle between love and fear, which is always raging in the human heart, love will triumph. Love will win. In the end, love always wins."

Henry Meloux, Mide (an Anishinaabe healer).

Forgiveness

As we're making our way through Lent and getting closer to observing the last few days of Jesus' life I've been thinking a lot about reconciliation and forgiveness.

We all know how hard it is to forgive. And even though we know that forgiveness does not mean we're condoning someone else's hurtful behavior, even though we know that we're punishing ourselves more than the other person, it is still so much harder to forgive than to hold on to a grudge. 

Jesus was betrayed, denied, and deserted by his best friends. He was innocently tried, tortured and executed in the most excruciating way. But he had dinner with those friends who would let him down. He served them bread and wine and said, "this is me, for you. And one day I will have dinner with you again in God's kingdom." And on the cross he prayed for those who got him there: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Jesus is all about forgiveness. What that means is that we are forgiven, too. No matter what we have or haven't done, Jesus forgives us. This is not a free pass, thinking that we will get away with murder and still be forgiven. This is just God's way of saying, "No matter what you may have done or thought, no matter how guilty you may be, it will not stop me from loving you as a person."

Knowing that can inspire us to do better. We will want to live a life of compassion and forgiveness because we experienced it first. We live a more faithful life not out of fear of punishment or to earn a reward, but because that's what God calls us to do, and that's how we fully live into the person God intended us to be. 

You are forgiven. You are loved. 

Go and do likewise. 

How Jesus Treats People

There's a famous story about a woman who was caught in adultery and people brought her to Jesus, saying that according to religious law she should be stoned to death. "What do you say?" they asked him. (Read the full story in the Gospel of John 8:1-11.)
Maybe they wanted to trap him. If he responded with "yes" or "now" he would be breaking either religious law, or the law of the Roman government. Maybe they didn't want to make the decision and wanted to load it off on him. He didn't take the bait. He didn't give them the answer they wanted. He took his time to think about it, and then he said, "Whoever among you is without sin may throw the first stone."
That was not the answer they were expecting. And one by one, they walked away.
Jesus doesn't condemn. Not even women who were always harshly judged, and considered their closest male relative's property. (As a sidenote, this woman may have been raped. Even non-consensual sex was considered adultery if the woman was married.) Jesus breaks the laws and customs of his time and treats people as a a person, not an object. All people. Even those who were considered second-class humans: women, people with disabilities, mental illnesses or diseases. People of other faiths and ethnicities. Jesus treated them all equal: As a person with dignity. A child of God.
Oh, Jesus, if only we treated people the way you did.
If only we stopped judging others and recognized that we are no better than they are.
If only we treated ALL people with dignity and respect.
What would our world look like if we did?